UMN ASCE MN Student Chapter Update

Greetings from the UMN ASCE Student Chapter! We are back for another semester of fun and informative events, although we are still not back on campus.

Our first general meeting of the semester featured a presentation by representatives from Kimley-Horn including 2020 graduate Catie Miller. It was great for our students to hear from a young engineer who shared about her experience in transitioning from school to career during the pandemic. In the coming semester we plan to keep up with our monthly general meetings hopefully with a mix of presentations by professionals and professors.

The year of 2021 is particularly special as we are celebrating the 100-year anniversary of our Student Chapter. The officer team is planning several events to mark the occasion in the upcoming months. At least one of the events will be a collaboration between the UMN Student Chapter and the MN Section; more information will be sent out as the details are finalized. In addition to events, we are having T-shirts made to commemorate the centennial. These shirts will be available to professionals for a small fee and free to all student members. An order form will be sent to the Section in the coming weeks.

The concrete canoe team has not been able to be in the lab this year, so there isn’t anything exciting to report regarding their progress. The team hopes this spring will offer opportunities to strengthen their competitive edge and engage with newer team members in order to set up the team for success next year.

If you have any questions or would like to support our ASCE Student Chapter in any way, please feel free to connect with the President, Renee Sailor (sailo011@umn.edu).

Infrastructure from the Past Drives a Community’s Future

By Tyler McLeete, PE , Stantec – North Loop Preservation

Just west of downtown Minneapolis lies the historic North Loop District. In its heyday, the neighborhood was home to a billion-dollar wholesale industry and its associated factories, warehouses, and railyards. Supporting this hub of industry was a network of infrastructure across 23 blocks of streets and alleys that, to this day, retain remnants of original paving materials (brick, cobblestone, and wood paver systems) and industrial infrastructure (loading docks, canopies, and abandoned railroad tracks in the public right-of-way).

However, with the modernization of distribution practices and the economic impact from The Great Depression, this previously thriving industrial neighborhood experienced a decline. In recent years, though, the area has undergone a significant transformation to become a vibrant, walkable urban neighborhood and a destination for entertainment, dining, and shopping, in part, due to the Target Field development attracting activity back to the area.

Pivotal to this revitalization was the ability for infrastructure to serve the area without infringing on its historic character.

Building a framework for success

With this goal in mind, the City of Minneapolis embarked on a comprehensive reconstruction project to improve over a mile of city streets. The success of the Historic North Loop Public Realm Reconstruction project involved thoughtful involvement of stakeholders and a dedicated vision of preserving historic elements and charm while adding modern amenities and accessibility.

The City hired Stantec to work with city planning and engineering staff to reach a preferred design for each heritage street and to outline a possible funding and implementation plan. Building on the Warehouse District Heritage Street Plan guidelines developed by Stantec and the City, Stantec prepared plans to reconstruct deteriorated pavement and improve pedestrian safety, while respecting and enhancing its historic character.

Stantec worked closely with the City to finalize preliminary design, including historic preservation treatments, and delivered a final detailed design package.

Developing consensus

This project involved many stakeholders throughout the development of the Heritage Street Plan and its subsequent street projects, including City engineers and planners, residents, companies with major real estate investments, small businesses, historic preservationists, potential investors, and the City’s Pedestrian Advisory Committee.

Onsite stakeholder tours and meetings helped bring disparate viewpoints to light and then built consensus through those conversations. As a result of this proactive approach, the community was enthusiastic to see its input realized by the time construction was underway.

Enhancing the environment

Because this area had been industrial for so long, it had not supported any greenspace or street trees for over a century.

With input from stakeholders, the City and Stantec learned that residents wanted trees incorporated into the new design for to enhance greenery. In addition to improving neighborhood aesthetics, the decision to include tree planting provided an opportunity to incorporate green infrastructure stormwater management facilities with the tree planting areas.

Tree beds were designed to receive sidewalk drainage to infiltrate the runoff, nourish the trees, and improve the quality of the stormwater that drains into the adjacent Mississippi River. Keeping historic character in mind, tree placement was also carefully planned to not impact loading docks or significant historic facades.

Maximizing authentic resources

In preserving the neighborhood’s historic roots, it was a priority to salvage as many original details as possible as part of the reconstruction project. Preservation included reusing existing materials such as vitrified clay paver bricks and granite curbs that had been installed in the early 1900s.

Because these reused bricks would be imbedded in pavement, the project team took a creative approach to pavement design. This process included determining a strength value for the bricks to ensure the roads would hold up well over time.

Notably, not every paver pulled from the street was salvageable so City staff and Stantec worked together to rate the pavers and determine which were adequate for reuse. In addition, the City’s Public Works Department saved bricks salvaged throughout the city, including those removed by developers working on new developments, those removed from utility projects, and similar bricks found under pavement from other reconstruction projects across the city.

Stantec also tracked down local salvage companies who kept these historic pavers in stock for resale and purchased the additional bricks needed.

The use of even a limited amount of historic material in a street reconstruction is unique, however it was imperative to do so to maintain the character of the neighborhood and keep in step with the Warehouse District Heritage Street Plan. This final product serves to honor this area’s unique past, while establishing a modern infrastructure framework that supports ongoing vitality.

This article was provided by Stantec, one of ASCE-MN’s sponsors. To see other benefits of becoming a sponsor, visit https://ascemn.org/sponsors or email treasurer@ascemn.org.

ASCE-MN Outstanding Engineer of the Year Award

Do you know of an exceptional engineer - someone who has continually shown dedication and excellence in their work and beyond? Here is your opportunity to nominate them for one of the most prestigious engineering awards in the state. What a great year to do so!

The Minnesota Section of ASCE has established the ASCE-MN Outstanding Engineer of the Year Award to recognize the outstanding contribution of local engineers to the civil engineering profession.

The selection criteria for this award includes:

• Outstanding technical contributions to the civil engineering profession.

• Outstanding professional and leadership contributions to the civil engineering profession

• Significant contributions to the local community representing the civil engineering profession.

• Outstanding contributions in the area of civil engineering education.

The recipient must be both a member of ASCE and the Minnesota Section.

The Board of Directors is soliciting nominations for this award, to be presented at our annual awards banquet this spring. ASCE members wishing to nominate a fellow member for this award must submit a letter of recommendation identifying their nominee and addressing the contributions of the nominee relative to the criteria above. Letters of recommendation must be sent to awards@ascemn.org by February 22, 2021.

That's only a month away so don't hesitate to take advantage of this excellent opportunity to acknowledge excellence in our industry. We are looking forward to highlighting these individuals!

Riley Dvorak

Director of Awards

awards@ascemn.org

Fall Newsletter is Live

This edition includes articles such as:

·     President's Message

·     Board & YMG Election Results

·     Award Winners

·     Student Chapter Activities

·     Articles from Sponsors Bolton & Menk and Kimley-Horn

Fall 2020 Newsletter

2021 Martin S. Kapp Foundation Engineering Award

The Geo-Institute announced that Mr. Ryan Berg, P.E., D.GE, F.ASCE has been selected to receive the ASCE 2021 Martin S. Kapp Foundation Engineering Award for “his expertise in geosynthetic-reinforced earthworks and retaining structures and for his lifelong contributions to the developments and applications of MSE walls, which helped create innovative solutions for practical problems.” Mr. Berg is a member for the Minnesota Section.

2022 Report Card Kickoff

We are ready to start Minnesota Infrastructure Report Card for 2022. After our inaugural report card (www.infrastructurereportcard.org/minnesota) in 2018, we are expecting to see familiar faces and new ones. First meeting is Nov. 10 at 8am CST Email reportcard@ascemn.org to get involved!

University of St. Thomas ASCE Student Chapter Fall Updates

On October 15, we hosted a virtual Lunch & Learn for students from 12-1pm, with Mohsen Tahmasebi Nasab, who is a new member of the civil engineering faculty at UST. Professor Nasab shared about his research and water resource engineering.

As of recent weeks we have assembled a team to compete in this year’s AISC Steel Bridge Competition. Our team has begun the planning stages of the elaborate process.

November 19th we are hosting a virtual Lunch & Learn for students from 12-1pm, with guest speaker Shane Ortlepp from TKDA. He will be discussing his career, the private sector, and giving industry advice.

Outstanding Engineer of the Year : Jason Staebell

ASCE-MN Section has named Jason Staebell, PE the ASCE-MN Outstanding Engineer of The Year 2020.

The Minnesota Section of ASCE has established the ASCE-MN Outstanding Engineer of the Year Award to recognize the outstanding contribution of local engineers to the civil engineering profession. The selection criteria for this award includes:

• Outstanding technical contributions to the civil engineering profession.

• Outstanding professional and leadership contributions to the civil engineering profession

• Significant contributions to the local community representing the civil engineering profession.

• Outstanding contributions in the area of civil engineering education.

• The recipient must be both a member of ASCE and the Minnesota Section.

Jason has nearly 20 years of engineering experience. After graduating from North Dakota State University, Jason spent 12 years at HNTB. Jason is currently a Principal Project Manager in the design division at Hennepin County, where he has worked for nearly 7 years. Jason has held positions in ASCE with the Younger Member Group as well as the Transportation Committee. He is currently the first-past president of the Minnesota Section, which caps off nearly a decade of service on the ASCE MN Board of Directors. In 2016, Jason accepted the challenge on leading a team to create Minnesota’s first state infrastructure report card. The report card was released in October 2018 and has been a crucial piece in educating the legislators and the public of the need to improve the states infrastructure. Jason has also served in leadership positions with MSES, where he just completed a term as president of the group. ASCE MN thanks Jason and recognize him for his outstanding commitment to the civil engineering profession.

ASCE YMG Fall Update

We would like to apologize for the lack of engagement from the YMG over the past six months. When the pandemic hit in March and everything went virtual, we frankly lacked ideas to maintain momentum and transition our events to virtual. The core of this group has long been in-person, large group social events that allow younger engineers the opportunity to meet people from outside their place of work. While we have failed to provide these opportunities and can't recover the last several months, the YMG will strive to provide some opportunities for networking over the fall and winter months to allow you to grow your personal and professional network in the Twin Cities engineering community.

The 2020-21 ASCE YMG Board is:

President: Matt Hardegger

Vice President: vacant seat

Past President: Cody Preisler

Secretary/Media Chair: Meredith Lis

Treasurer: Jacob Bray

Networking Chair: Felipe Ortega

Education and Outreach Chair: Chloe Weber

Awards Chair: Maren Mosley

The board is a great opportunity to expand your network, get involved in the Twin Cities engineering community, and open up a world of opportunities available to you through the national ASCE Committee on Younger Members (Younger Member Leadership Symposium, Central Region Younger Member Council, Legislative Fly-In, etc). If you have ideas for events you would like to see over the winter months and into 2021, we would love for you to join our monthly planning meetings. Please email Matt at ymg.president@ascemn.org if you are interested.

Sign up for our fall networking scramble now! Registrants will be grouped by activity comfort level and location, groups will then pick an activity the entire group is comfortable with to network! Sign up by 10/21, groups will be notified on 10/22 for activities to occur over the following two weeks.

Planning and Immigration

By Haila Maze, AICP, Bolton & Menk, Inc.

With the important exception of indigenous people, most United States residents today can trace their origins back to other nations. Despite this, immigration remains a controversial topic in many communities. This article will provide a brief history of immigration in the US, an assessment of its impacts, and suggestions on how planners can address current concerns.

History of Immigration

Immigration typically is motivated by both push (reasons to leave) and pull (reasons to come) factors. Since the original European settlement of the land that was to become the United States, there have been several major waves of immigration. The actual number of immigrants by year has ebbed and flowed during this time, in response to policies and restrictions governing immigration into the country, as well as events and conditions elsewhere in the world that precipitated immigration. Currently, over 8 percent of Minnesota, 5 percent of North Dakota, and 4 percent South Dakota residents are foreign born. Nationally, around 13 percent of residents are foreign born.

The relationship between planning and immigration began early. As industrialization and the inflow of immigrant workers and their families fueled rapid growth of cities, planners responded to public health and safety needs regarding access to improved living and working conditions. This has continued, with some changes in response to the unique needs of each time.

Source: US Census Bureau 

Impact

The impact of immigration on the United States has been immeasurable. In today’s perspective, there are many ways in which it contributes to society. Populating and repopulating areas. Like many developed nations, the native born birth rate in the United States has declined. Immigrants replenish the population with younger people.

• Filling job vacancies. Likewise, immigrant workers have come to play an important role in the workforce, as the native born one ages.

• Revitalizing retail and services. Immigrants are on average more entrepreneurial as well. This fuels growth of business and industry, especially small scale and startup enterprises.

• Making unique places. Immigrants from other cultural backgrounds can bring unique food, art, music, and other cultural distinctives that make places interesting and distinct.

• Diversity of insights and perspectives. In an era of rapid change, diversity is a strength. New approaches and ideas help to fuel creative solutions.

Source: New American Economy, 2018 data

What Can Planners Do to Help?

Despite the benefits associated with immigrant populations, many communities have expressed concerns about the nation’s ability to accept and assimilate immigrants. The following covers some of the issues facing communities related to immigration, and how planners can help with a proactive and constructive response.

Issue #1: Learning Curve

With people moving to the country, there is often a basic unfamiliarity with how things are done here. The ways of government, culture, society, and work may be significantly different where they come from. Information overload, balancing multiple priorities, and language barriers can add to the challenge.

Planners can assist with education and outreach to connect, inform, and include people in public processes. It may also be a reason to simplify rules and regulations, increase transparency of public processes, and work with liaisons and partners to make connections. These improvements can benefit not only new immigrant populations, but also many others who may be less familiar with these topics.

Issue #2: Cultural Distinctives

Another area of concern with immigrants may be cultural distinctives. Each culture brings its own practices with regards to food and drink, recreation, religion, business practices, dress, living arrangements, and social interactions.

Planners can assist by educating themselves and others on cultural differences of which they may be unaware. This can provide insight as to how regulations and practices might have unforeseen consequences and need to be adjusted to better accommodate newcomers – or on the other hand, how immigrants may need to be educated about these issues. Planners can also encourage recognition and even celebration of positive differences that bring value, interest, and variety to the community.

Issue #3: Assistance Needed

Probably the most challenging issue is that immigrants arrive in this country somewhat under duress. They may be refugees from conflict, or just seeking a better life than is available in their place of origin. As a result, they may need at least some initial assistance from the government or nonprofits to meet their basic needs before they are able to be fully self-sufficient.

Planners can provide referrals for needed programs and services, support affordable housing options, promote workforce development strategies, and even help to hire diverse workers and partners. It is important to acknowledge that solutions here can span the full political spectrum – both helping people in need through assistance and empowering those who have a desire to work to succeed here.

This article was provided by Bolton & Menk, Inc., one of ASCE-MN’s sponsors. To see other benefits of becoming a sponsor, visit https://ascemn.org/sponsors or email treasurer@ascemn.org.