Video
Many of us have heard the saying ‘Well, if you don’t like the weather now, wait 5 minutes and it will change”. While this saying is probably not accurate in most situations, weather does change often and in some cases its due to meso-scale weather phenomenon. Meso-scale refers to the size of the weather phenomenon, which is generally a few miles up to several hundred miles. For this presentation the weather phenomenons that occur on the smaller side will be explored. This will include lake effect snow events, localized blowing snow events, and freezing drizzle/rain events among other high impactful winter maintenance weather events. Contrary to popular belief, lake event snow events can be predicted with a high level of confidence, at least from the occurrence of an event. One of the biggest issues is where will lake effect snow will occur. There are places within the United States that are logical locations for lake effect snow events but many locations will receive lake effect snow in convective type snow showers. This means snow will occur, with high snow rates, for a short duration of time. These snow showers can make winter maintenance decision making very difficult. In highly traveled locations it can also present travelers with dangerous travel conditions. This presentation will cover the conditions needed for lake effect snow events and how maintenance decision makers can analyze a forecast to make the best decision possible. Details of local blowing snow events and freezing rain/drizzle events will also be discussed. Case studies depicting the challenges of forecasting these situations will be presented and how maintenance supervisors can review these weather forecasts for their operations.
Value Engineering (VE) Studies are an important tool in the delivery of public works projects, but so often the concept of value engineering is misunderstood as simply being a process for reducing costs. In this session, participants will gain a better understanding of the true purpose of conducting VE studies for public works projects, they will be provided an overview of the VE Study process, and they will have the opportunity to see real world examples of projects that have benefited from the work of a VE Study Team. Additionally, with the global pandemic of 2020, VE Studies have also had to be modified in their format. While in-person study sessions have been the traditional approach and continue to be the preferred method, virtual VE studies have been accomplished through the use of numerous online applications to achieve the same end result. Value Engineering is also a niche service that very few professionals are certified to facilitate, and could be a opportunity for growing one’s professional career.
SUPPORTED BY THE DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION COMMITTEE Gender diversity in the operations end of public works is silently rising throughout the country. Women make up less than 20% of the workforce, but even this figure includes those who work behind a desk and in secretarial roles. In the operations end of public works, it is estimated that 99% of the “field” positions are held by men. This can be attributed to stereotypes, perceptions of gender roles, biases, and several other things. What can we do to make this industry a more appealing career option for women? There are so many national organizations for women in the public works field that have gone under the radar. Panelists will explore their own work experiences in the front line of public works operations and offer suggestions to other women and male mentors in the industry.
The goal of the City+Arch+River (CAR) project was to invigorate the Arch grounds and the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Park (Gateway Arch Grounds) by improving accessibility to everyone and expanding the park grounds and museum. Improvements included safe access from the city, creation of new spaces for events and public education, expanded museum space, additional park acreage and bicycle trails, children’s play areas, performance venues, and a lively, invigorated riverfront where locals and tourists alike will find new opportunities to learn, linger, and enjoy one of the world’s most recognizable icons. As part of the design team, CDI worked with Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc. (MVVA) to design and manage the stormwater improvements for the park grounds, which included stormwater management and water quality design elements. While redesigning the landscape and accessibility of the Arch grounds, the overall stormwater design needed to meet the federal water quality requirements per Section 438 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), as well as the review and approval requirements of the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District, the local stormwater permitting and sewer agency. Additionally, stormwater quality efforts were incorporated into the design to improve the quality and visibility of the existing reflecting ponds at the Arch grounds, which prior to the reconstruction were collectors of the large volume of stormwater run-off from the park grounds.
The City of Plano has approximately 1,000 linear miles sewer lines and has been conducting routine inspections system using in-house crews over the last five years for 12-inch and smaller lines. These activities were tracked and logged through the city’s work order system, Cartegraph, and downloaded to our CCTV data management system, GraniteNet, but that is where the data stopped. Unless there was a significant issue, the inspection was complete and the crews went on to the next task. While this process worked well, they were was gaining very little insight into the condition of their sewer system. As part of their recent Wastewater Master Plan, they worked with their consultant to conduct a risk-based assessment (RBA) to determine the current state of their sewer infrastructure. Through the process they identified a need to use the RBA condition assetssment and criticality assessment from the Waterwater Master Plan to enhance Cartegraph to ultimately develop a prioritized work plan for crews and a business process for maximizing the results of their data. Using the age and material data already populated in Cartegraph, they built generic degradation curves for our various materials to calculate an estimated condition score. For sewer mains that already had an inspection completed, they imported the NASSCO PACP structural index from GraniteNET to determine the condition score. They were also able to track our rehabilitation work in Cartegraph and use their relining projects to reset the estimated condition score of our lines. After reviewing the data in Cartegraph and consultant’s condition assessments from the Wastewater Master Plan, the results were significantly similar and they had a high degree of confidence that their Cartegraph process was working. As they continue to consume more data sources into our assessment, they are continuing to evaluate our parameters to ensure they maximize their investments in people, technology, and infrastructure.
Communities have extensive GIS & Storm Sewer Modeling Data available to them. This presentation walks through how communities can utilize this data to help plan, predict, and mitigate flooding within their communities. The overall goal of the presentation is to better educate individuals on how to build resiliency to urban flooding. The City of Burnsville (26.87 sq. mi.), like many communities throughout the Minnesota Minneaplis-St.Paul Metro, have a 1D City-Wide XPSWMM model. The City wanted to upgrade their 1D model to a 2D to create a model with the highest level of accuracy for their complex storm sewer network (Burnsville is the first community within the Metro to develop a City-Wide 2D model). The 2D model allowed the City to have a better understanding of current conditions a traditional 1D model wouldn’t be able to identify (i.e. surface flow velocities, erosion susceptibility of overland flow areas, EOF capacity issues in residential areas, and showing where overland flow conveyance points are most critical). The flood rasters and associated output data was then taken and integrated into a custom built Resiliency Model evaluating the Consequence of Failure versus the Likelihood of Failure criteria. The various parameters were then weighted based on input from City staff to determine the most critical aspects of their system such that the resiliency model would take these factors (weights) into account to determine which areas are the most “critical”. This approach removed any “bias” from the evaluation process allowing the City to develop a guiding document/living model the City can use for future planning & mitigation projects. All of the processes are fully dynamic allowing the 2D model and Resiliency Analysis to be rerun to re-prioritize the zones annually.
Examine safety, cost, liability and project timeline when raising manholes & catch basins structures to grade when repaving city streets. Look at the same four criteria for the known methods currently in practice to protecting motorist from exposed utilities and the transverse milled edge during milling and paving projects.
This presentation will include using the cutting edge technology of mobile LiDAR and TopoDOT for ADA transition plans. It will begin with a brief intro on ADA transition plans, the requirements, and the large amount of data needed to do it right. We will walk participants through methods for collecting data and for analyzing ADA requirements on desired elements. The various types of reports will be discussed, as well as how cities use them most efficiently – including a case study showing how the city of Pekin, IL used the technology to scan and improve the city’s entire sidewalk system. The goal is for participants to better understand the technology’s capability and see applications in their own cities.
Faced with a limited budget and a backlog of both maintenance and capital projects, the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas Public Works Department produced a data-driven project prioritization queue. Using input from the Planning Commission and the Board of Commissioners, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data was used to compute the scores of projects and compare their relative scores against a list of unfunded projects and produce a project queue that met the goals of the community. This presentation covers the engagement process, the data design process, the results and feedback, and future improvements.
Public works operations and maintenance staff excel when routines and standard procedures are in place, but public works rarely has the luxury of working without unexpected disruptions. The panel discusses operations…