Association awards
Richard West
John Grindeland
Jim Grube
Tom Klatt
Minnesota County Engineers Association
2006 County Engineer of the Year
MCEA recognized Otter Tail County Engineer Richard West as the County Engineer of the Year for 2006. West, with more than 30 years of experience in engineering, has been the county engineer in Otter Tail County since November 1990. He has served as president of MCEA and is active in several MCEA committees.
Special Projects of the Year
Fillmore County Engineer John Grindeland and his staff were recognized for their work on the CSAH No. 40 project, a 4.5-mile stretch of the original State Highway (TH No. 30), first constructed in the 1920s. TH 30 no longer met the criteria as a state highway and was turned over to Fillmore for the challenging project, which involved replacing three bridges. One unique design involved a drainage structure utilizing a drop inlet along with a cantilevered outlet and a cable concrete reinforced plunge pool. The plunge pool acts like a bowl under a faucet, minimizing erosion. The terrain and aesthetic aspects of the adjacent land also contributed to the modification of the design speed from the standard 55 mph to 45 mph.
The design team was headed by Grindeland and included Assistant County Engineer Tom Miles (project manager); inspectors Darrel Schmitt, Jim Thorson, Tom Scheevel, and Ron Means; and surveyors Gene Voight and Jarad Carolan. Special design consultant was TKDA of St. Paul, Minn.
A second Special Project of the Year Award was given to the Anoka County Highway Department for its school-zone safety project. The summer Exchange will have detailed coverage of this project.
Work Zone Safety Award
Crow Wing County (County Engineer Duane Blanck) and Hennepin County (County Engineer Jim Grube) were recognized for taking the extra steps to provide safe work zones for workers and the traveling public. These counties demonstrated compliance with state work-zone traffic control standards and guidelines, applied innovative work-zone procedures to improve safety, conducted local efforts to promote work-zone safety to the public, and held county worker safety education.
MCEA Appreciation Award
Margaret Donahoe was recognized for her tireless work to promote transportation throughout the state for nearly 20 years. She has worked as the editor of the Legislative Update, a production of the Minnesota Transportation Alliance, and also has worked for the Minnesota Transportation Study Board and the Minnesota State Transportation Budget Division.
City Engineers Association of Minnesota
Engineer of the Year
CEAM named Mark Burch as the Engineer of the Year for 2006. Burch is the public works director and city engineer for the City of White Bear Lake.
Project of the Year
CEAM announced that Columbia Heights is the winner of the Municipal Project of the Year award for 2006 for its project, “Industrial Area Redevelopment/Huset Parkway Reconstruction.”
North Central Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers
These awards are presented to section members of affiliates to recognize exemplary service to the profession. Bernie Arseneau of Mn/DOT has been named the 2006 President’s Award winner for demonstrating honorable achievements in the last year or over the course of his career. The Young Transportation Professional of the Year is awarded to Chris Chromy of Bolton & Menk for work as a “rising star” in the organization and profession.
Minnesota Public Works Association
The Minnesota Chapter of the American Public Works Association was awarded the 2006 Presidential Award for Chapter Excellence. Outgoing MPWA president Tom Klatt accepted the award at the MPWA Fall Conference.