Midwestern Consulting

Posts Tagged ‘Midwestern Consulting’

Midwestern Consulting Project Improves Saline Park

May 16th, 2012 No comments
Saline River at Mill Pond Park

Saline River at Mill Pond Park

In late April, City of Saline, Michigan dignitaries re-dedicated a newly built bridge over the Saline River in the city’s Mill Pond Park.  The Bowley Bridge and surrounding river bank had been damaged during a recent flood.  Midwestern Consulting was asked to provide design and construction project  management for new plantings, soil erosion control and a new steel structure. The re-dedication ceremony celebrated the opening of the new bridge and its heritage.

Midwestern Consulting was the lead consulting engineer for the bridge replacement and bank stabilization project.  The project consisted of removal of the original Bowley Bridge and replacement with ADA approach ramps as well as 100 feet of stream stabilization/restoration. The City provided the conceptual design and selected what materials to use.  Midwestern Consulting provided engineering design of the shoreline improvements and approach ramps. Highlights of the project include the use of Rosetta Stone block and Envirolok vegetated sandbags (both used along the stream banks) and creation of a flat, easy access area to the water’s edge for kids.

Photo courtesy of SalinePatch

Photo courtesy of SalinePatch

Chelsea DDA approves $40,482 design contract for sidewalk, parking lot improvement projects

September 28th, 2011 Comments off

From www.AnnArbor.com, July 21, 2011:

The Chelsea Downtown Development Authority has hired Midwest Consulting to provide engineering designs for three city sidewalk projects and a parking lot improvement project.

However, several members expressed concerns at a DDA meeting Thursday about the $40,500 contract cost, and two members voted against it.

Included in the contract are proposed brick bump-outs, which are larger rounded sidewalks to calm traffic, at the intersections of M-52 and Van Buren, Summit and Orchard streets, as well as at the intersection of M-52 and North Street.

Also under consideration are sidewalk bump-outs adjacent to the Common Grill and Cleary’s Pub on Main Street (M-52) for possible sidewalk dining areas.

Parking lot improvements also are proposed for city lot behind the Purple Rose Theatre.

The total cost for the engineering services for the projects is $40,482 since the DDA opted for “an economy of scale” — to have the company do the design work at one time, bundling the four projects into a single phase, rather than having the design work done piecemeal.

“That way, the DDA can select the project elements that best fit their priorities, schedule and budget,” the proposal letter states.

Once designed, the DDA will have an idea of the cost of construction, and can make decisions about which projects it would like to move forward on this year.

DDA Chairman Pete Flintoft reminded board members that although they don’t have cost estimates for the construction, the authority has a bonding capacity of about $3 million.

These projects were part of a long-range study done by Howard Deardorff and Lincoln Poley Architects, who were hired by the DDA to help them determine what should be done to improve Chelsea’s downtown.

Had the board decided to do these projects individually at different times, the consulting fee price would have been $50,060.

Since all but one of the improvements is expected to take place along M-52, which is under the jurisdiction of the Michigan Department of Transportation, the state will be “the primary review and approval agency,” according to the letter from Jim Valenta, senior project manager for Midwest Consulting.

The DDA would like to see the improvements take place before the end of the 2011 construction season, which typically ends in November.

“I’m surprised,” Flintoft said of the resistance from some of the board members. “I thought that this met all of our criteria.”

He later reminded board members that a previous meeting they’d authorized the scope of the proposed sidewalk and parking lot work.

Mayor Jason Lindauer said that the city had a “history of working with Midwest Consulting,” which provided a good “end result” and he thought the contract price was a fair one.

In addition, he said, “they’ve been involved in this whole process” from the start.

In the 7-2 vote, Paul Frisinger and Palmer Morrel-Samuels voted against it. There were also four members absent from the meeting: Pat Cleary, Mark Heydlauff, Jim Myles and John Hanifan.

Lisa Allmendinger is a regional reporter for AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at lisaallmendinger@annarbor.com. For more Chelsea stories, visit our Chelsea page.

Ann Arbor Allows Taller Buildings Along Certain Roadways

March 2nd, 2011 Comments off

Ann Arbor's “Significant Transit Corridors”

The new Ann Arbor area, height and placement regulations include a new zoning district, R4E/multifamily, that targets parcels that front on “significant transit corridors” as identified in the Master Plan.  These corridors, identified on the map above in blue, (the DDA boundary is shown in red) are:

  • Plymouth Road from US-23 to the DDA boundary
  • Jackson/Huron Road from I-94 to the DDA boundary
  • State Street from I-94 to the DDA boundary
  • Washtenaw Boulevard from US-23 to the DDA boundary

 The new R4E zoning regulations include:

  • Minimum 580 square feet per unit; maximum 75 dwelling units per acre
  • No height limit
  • Minimum 14,000 square foot lot area
  • Minimum 120 foot lot width
  • Minimum 40 percent “usable open space”*
  • Minimum 15 foot front yard setback/ maximum 40 feet
  • Minimum 10 foot side yard setback**
  • Minimum 30 foot rear yard setback***

The intent is to provide higher density residential along major transportation corridors.  The challenge is to achieve 75 dwelling units per acre while providing parking usable open space.

There is no established parking requirement at this point. The Ann Arbor Planning Department has this on their “to do” list and for now defers to the old R4C/D requirement of 1 ½ spaces per unit.   

The challenge for an off-campus student housing project is even greater since each unit may have up to six unrelated adults living in it and parking demand could be much higher. Some form of structured parking is likely to be required.   

Clarifications:

* There is no definition for “Usable open space” so the Planning Department defers to the definition for “Open space”: “The portion of a lot which is devoted to outdoor recreation space, greenery, and space for household activities.  Open space area may include, but shall not be limited to, lawns, landscaping and gardens, wooded areas, sidewalks and walkways, active and passive recreational areas, unenclosed accessory structures used for recreational purposes, permanent or seasonal water surfaces and protected natural areas.  It shall not include area covered by parking lots, driveways, refuse facilities, or enclosed accessory structures.”

**plus 1 foot additional setback for each foot of building height over 30 feet when abutting residentially zoned land; and 3 inches per foot over 35 feet height and 1 ½ inches per foot over 50 feet width

**plus 1 foot additional setback for each foot of building height over 30 feet when abutting residentially zoned land

 Earl Ophoff is a senior project manager and a registered landscape architect at Midwestern Consulting, LLC in Ann Arbor.  Contact Earl at 734.995.0200.

Save 40% On Your Next BIM Modeling Project

February 10th, 2011 Comments off
3D laser scan data can now be easily imported into Revit

3D laser scan data can now be easily imported into Revit

One of the most exciting developments in our industry in the past year has been the release of Imaginit’s “Scan to BIM” software that allows digital point clouds to be imported into Autodesk Revit. In 2010, Midwestern Consulting was selected as a beta tester for “Scan to BIM” and now have several projects under our belt using this revolutionary software.

As more and more AEC firms have moved to Autodesk Revit, we started becoming concerned about our ability to deliver files in our clients’ native format.  Midwestern Consulting had been using standard work-arounds such as Navisworks or 3D AutoCAD and then redrafting the information into Autodesk Revit. This costs the client two valuable things: time and money. In general, we have seen up to a 40% reduction in time spent managing the data point cloud and a roughly 40% reduction in project costs.  This is big news and should encourage AEC project managers to utilize the new tool.

According to the Imaginit website, “The Scan to BIM™ software add-on takes the ordeal out of the process of getting 3D laser scanning data into Revit. It enables you to import point clouds directly into Revit, visualize them directly in Revit, and interact directly in Revit with automated recognition and placement of walls and openings, as well as pipes and ducts.”

The user will “eliminate time spent working with point clouds outside of Revit – eliminate the ordeal of scanning to BIM. Work faster and more accurately, gain new revenue streams, and stay on top of client demands. The Scan to BIM software add-in for Revit actually makes scanning directly to BIM a reality.”

Brandon Walker, PE is a senior project manager at Midwestern Consulting, Ann Arbor, Michigan (734.995.0200).  Let Brandon know how he can help you save money on your next existing conditions modeling project.

Complete Streets at What Cost?

July 29th, 2010 Comments off

More of these pathways in Michigna's future?

The Michigan Legislature passed the Complete Streets transportation legislation yesterday.  Governor Granholm is expected to sign the bill into law soon.

The legislation is designed to make transportation engineers and city planners think about the needs of users of roadways other than motorists – mainly bicyclists and walkers.  If any of you have had the misfortune of riding your bike in the street and having rude motorists hog the roadway or honk at you in anger you know where this legislation is aimed.

We generally support this new design effort.  But what will it mean to cities, counties and townships?  Will the costs of acquiring new ROW access for sidewalks or bike paths, and their related constructon costs, be worth the effort to encourage residents to ditch their cars? 

If Michigan’s transportation engineers and city planners are serious in their efforts to promote a healthier lifestyle through walking and bicycle riding, there needs to be safe non-motorized pathways for people to use. 

But, we ask, at what cost?

What do you think?  Please leave a comment on this site.