Midwestern Consulting

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.

Water mains for fire suppression serving multiple buildings under the same ownership and on the same parcel can be designed to save money on expensive City of Ann Arbor tap, connection, and meter charges (see chart below).

Connection Charges for Fire Service Connections   (Effective 1/1/09)

A recent project included two hotels on one parcel.  Big money was saved on fees by eliminating one fire suppression tap.  Fire suppression was provided by extending the proposed 6” water line from one hotel to the other saving the owner $103,260.

A second project included three rental apartment buildings with a total of 896 bedrooms on one parcel. One 8” tap and a booster pump replaced three 8” taps reducing City fees by $406,880.

This concept can be used in the City of Ann Arbor where there are multiple buildings under the same ownership on a single parcel.  For example, a privately owned office park, a commercial or academic campus, or a retail center with multiple structures and tenants could be designed this way to save big money on tap, connection, and meter charges.

Earl Ophoff, LSA, is a registered landscape architect and senior project manager with Midwestern Consulting, Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Call Earl at 734.995.0200.

Will there be a FY 2011 higher education capital outlay bill?

Michigan House and Senate bills referred to committee in February to finance college and university building and renovation projects are stuck in their respective Appropriations Committees.

Both Senate Bill 1150 and House Bill 5858 seem to be going no where fast.  Each bill contains a “zero budget” for higher education spending.  The legislature needs to get a bill written and on the Governor’s desk by the end of September if there is to be any higher education spending from the state at community colleges and public universities in FY 2011.

Each year, community colleges and universities submit building construction “wish lists” to the state budget office.  If approved, the state pays 75% of the project costs for university projects and 50% of the costs of community college projects. 

The largest request from a university this year is from Wayne State University – $200,000,000 for a new multi-disciplinary Biomedical Research Building.  The largest community college request is from Oakland Community College – $32,065,000 for the interior renovations and additions on Building A in the Auburn Hills campus.

Design engineers, architects and construction trades benefit from the state’s spending on these big projects.  Passage of these bills would provide a huge boost to these employment sectors.

Design and construction rating systems like LEED include little recognition of the benefits of sustainable landscape and site design. The Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) intends to change that with a 4-star rating system that recognizes “ecosystem services”. 

LEED scores soon to incorporate landscape design.

These ecosystem services include global and local climate regulation, air and water cleansing, water supply and regulation, erosion and sediment control, hazard mitigation, pollination, habitat functions, waste decomposition and treatment, human health and well-being benefits, food and renewable non-food products, and cultural benefits.

SITES is a distillation of practices and principles for integrating “ecosystem services” into site development, as described in The Sustainable Sites Initiative: Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks 2009, released on November 5, 2009. It establishes and encourages sustainable practices in landscape design, construction, operations, and maintenance. 

Sustainable landscapes move beyond the typical green building do-no-harm/carbon neutral approach by sequestering carbon, cleaning the air and water, increasing energy efficiency, restoring habitats, and giving back through significant economic, social, and environmental benefits never fully measured until now. The U.S. Green Building Council anticipates incorporating the SITES guidelines and performance benchmarks into future iterations of its LEED® Green Building Rating System™.

SITES provides the first voluntary guidelines and rating system for sustainable landscapes, with or without buildings, and creates an essential missing link in green design.

Earl Ophoff, LSA, is a landscape architect and a senior project manager with Midwestern Consulting, LLC, Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Call Earl at 734.995.0200.

Midwestern Consulting uses hi-tech laser scanning instruments to investigate auto accidents

It is not always sunny in Michigan! 

The spring and summer rains nurture new plant growth and our state blossoms into the pleasant peninsula described in the state motto.  These seasons also generate roadway crashes that seem to be related to stormwater ponding in highway ruts. 

Vehicle crashes occurring during rainstorms are a growing trend, and Midwestern Consulting is frequently contacted by personal injury and defense attorneys seeking our counsel on whether hydroplaning conditions likely contributed to a loss of vehicular control.   Our engineers are recognized experts in determining roadway conditions that could result in loss of control during rainstorms and the specific location where these conditions were present in relation to initial vehicle rotation and point of impact. 

Important considerations include a review of Doppler Radar for the specific storm and time of the crash, the tire tread depth and pressure, and the shape of the roadway along the vehicle’s travel path. 

Using high-definition 3D laser scanning equipment, Midwestern Consulting creates accurate surface models of each highway rut and calculates the probable depth of water in each rut along a section of roadway.  When this information is combined with the tire and rainfall data we are able to identify the speed and location at which each vehicle tire could be susceptible to loss of surface contact.  This information is used by a certified Accident Reconstructionist to verify calculations regarding the location and speed at which hydroplaning began – and to more accurately determine the velocity at the point of impact. 

Hydroplaning crashes frequently result in serious injury or death.  The scientific engineering approach that Midwestern Consulting takes in determining whether hydroplaning conditions were present is valuable in assisting attorneys as they pursue their cases to benefit their clients.  Our experts frequently are called upon to explain the hydroplaning analysis in depositions and court testimony. 

Jim Valenta, PE, is a senior transportation engineer at Midwestern Consulting, LLC.  He provides expert witness services related to roadway design and traffic accidents. Contact Jim at 734.995.0200.