OHM | Architects. Engineers. Planners.

Sustainability Begins at Home…

advancingcommunities@ohm-advisors.com (Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc.) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:22:00 +0000

Don’t we know it! That’s why several years ago we planted a rain garden in our corporate office parking lot. These gardens not only help filter pollutants from stormwater, but also tie in with OHM’s goal of building sustainable communities.

But as any gardener will tell you, no good seed goes untended. By this fall, our rain garden was looking a little less garden, a little more rain forest. Fearing global climate change, OHM’s “Rain Garden Club” stepped in. After two evenings of clean up, about 20 bags and 20 bundles were loaded into trucks and delivered to the compost center in Livonia, Michigan – approximately 4,400 km north of the equator (give or take a few kilometers).

In the spring of 2012, the club will clean up the gardens from harsh winter weather and plant more native plants. Each rain garden is approximately 2,500 square feet in size – so lots of plants are needed.

John Hiltz and Vyto Kaunelis tame the OHM rain garden.

Managing Peak Water Usage, Part 3

advancingcommunities@ohm-advisors.com (Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc.) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 19:09:00 +0000

Welcome to the third part (the thrilling conclusion!) of our series on managing peak water usage. In previous posts we discussed how cities Troy and Novi reduced their water peak water usage by 30% with peak shifting. (Peak water rates occur when a community’s water usage during an hour equals or exceeds its maximum daily use amount.)

Northville, Oak Park and Auburn Hills are cities that reduced their peak usage rates through system optimization, cutting their water rates by 30-40% in some areas.

Bedroom communities with high water rates under the new rate system turned to a third approach: storage increases.

After suburbs with a high number of irrigation sprinklers found morning peaking factors climbing over 3.0, they looked at adding storage to their system. Not only would constructing storage tanks reduce water rates so dramatically to produce a 3 to 10 year payback, the communities would also gain the benefit of more reliable pressure, increased system reliability and increase fire protection.

In Orion Township, adding storage meant that it could go from a peak hour customer to a maximum day customer, shaving 25% off its annual water rates. This made building a 2.5 million gallon elevated storage tank a no brainer – rate savings alone would pay for the tank in less than five years.

By letting its customers “choose their own rate plans”, wholesale supplier DWSD recouped its own costs from peak usage and the resulting rate increases drove community awareness of peak water usage. Using different approaches - peak shifting, system optimization and storage increases - communities changed behaviors and changed their system operations.

Managing Peak Water Usage, Part 2

advancingcommunities@ohm-advisors.com (Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc.) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 21:58:00 +0000

In a previous post, we told you about three different approaches that municipalities used to successfully reduce water costs:

• peak shifting

• system optimization

• storage increases

We looked at how two communities – City of Troy and City of Novi – convinced citizens to conserve water, one using ordinances and the other education.

Now, let’s take a closer look at the second water management approach: system optimization.

A number of the southeastern communities experiencing large rate increases from their wholesale water supplier, Detroit Water & Sewerage Department (DWSD), already had storage facilities. The problem was that many of the communities’ operational systems had been designed in the 1970s, long before the housing boom of the 90s. Fortunately, engineering studies showed that minor operational changes or moderate capital improvements would reduce the peak flow from DWSD, reducing their water rates.

Controlling the Flow

The City of Northville, City of Oak Park and the City of Auburn Hills all reduced their water costs by making better use of their existing storage tanks. Adding remote monitoring systems, programmed to fill storage tanks during off peak hours, and to keep water pressures constant for users led to substantial savings.

The City of Northville saw a 43% decrease in water rates since installing a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system and making use of a DWSD water meter signal to maintain a set flow rate.

In the City of Oak Park, engineers modified the existing telemetry system and added a flow meter at the pump station to fill the city’s storage tank during the night. These changes reduced peak water usage by 32%.

The City of Auburn Hills combined minor operational changes with an odd-even grass watering ordinance for industrial and commercial users to cut their peak flows in half: from 3,600 gpm to 1,800 gpm.

System optimization is a smart investment, no doubt…but what about communities that don’t have existing storage? Turns out, adding storage can be a project that pays for itself in savings. Read about it in part 3 of our series on Managing Peak Water Usage.

Managing Peak Water Usage, Part 1

advancingcommunities@ohm-advisors.com (Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc.) — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 19:56:00 +0000

In the heart of the Great Lakes Region, water is in plentiful supply. But that doesn’t mean that it’s cheap. Delivering water to businesses and homes is a costly endeavor. The dwindling number of residents in southeast Michigan, the Rust Belt’s hardest hit region, combined with recession’s economic hardship spurred many communities to find ways to reduce water usage.

In a paper they delivered at the American Water Works Association’s national conference, ACE11, in June 2011, OHMers Carrie Cox, PE, and Vyto Kaunelis, PE, share case studies of how several southeast Michigan communities successfully trimmed costs by managing their water usage.

They describe three different approaches used by municipalities:

• peak shifting

• system optimization

• storage increases

The Back Story

Much like other regional systems with ample water supply, the water system in metropolitan Detroit was designed based on historical high usage, with conservative safety factors. Modern conveniences like automatic irrigation systems have driven peak usage upward. Rather than continuously upgrade systems to meet a demand that might not hold, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, wholesale water service supplier to 86 metro Detroit communities, opted for a new approach. DWSD let its customers choose the level of service they wanted to pay for. Communities and water authorities could specify annual volumes, maximum day and peak hour rates in their service contracts.

With the desired level of service was established, the communities had to figure out how to keep water usage below the thresholds, or pay costly penalties in the form of peak usage rates. The City of Troy and the City of Novi both opted to use peak shifting to change their citizens’ water consumption habits.

Peak shifting, the process of moving existing loads to off-peak periods, is commonly practiced in other parts of the US, but less so in the water-rich Midwest. Escalating infrastructure costs, shrinking population and diminishing economic base are forces that made peak shifting a desirable practice here as well.

Peak Shifting Results

The City of Troy reduced its peak water usage by 30% in the three years since it implemented a mandatory grass water ordinance that required odd/even grass watering and prevented irrigation between the peak usage hours of 6am and 10am. Interestingly, the unpopularity of the ordinance drive wide and frequent news coverage, which led to increased public awareness of the new rules.

The City of Novi opted to pursue an aggressive public education plan, rather than an ordinance, sending flyers and information to all its water customers. Those with billing questions were also given information on the benefits of odd/even grass watering and very early morning sprinkler settings. Two years into the education campaign, peak hour factors were down by 28%.

Want more water management success stories? Stay tuned! In the next post, we’ll look at system optimization to manage water usage.

More that You Bargained For: How the “Simple Method” could be Overestimating Stormwater Pollution

advancingcommunities@ohm-advisors.com (Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc.) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 16:56:00 +0000

In a guest editorial published in the May 2011 issue of Stormwater, the Journal for Surface Water Quality Professionals, OHM’s wizards of water, Scott Kaiser, GISP CFM, and Murat Ulasir, PhD PE, point out that a commonly used stormwater management planning model can overestimate pollutant loads by 20%. Kaiser and Ulasir share a formula refinement to more accurately determine pollutant quantities that they’ve dubbed “The Simple Method 2.0.”

The original Simple Method model was developed in 1987 as a way to estimate four regulated pollutants - total suspended solids (TSS), total phosphorous (TP), or total nitrogen (TN) – for land use and stormwater management scenarios in urban areas.

This method allows the user to input parameters such as pollutant load concentration, watershed area, and annual runoff to determine an annual load. The output typically yields pounds per year of pollutant loading into receiving streams or natural features.

So what’s wrong with being simple? It can be useful. The simple method provides a general planning estimate of likely storm pollutant export from areas at the scale of a development site, catchment or subwatershed. However, Kaiser and Ulasir caution that, because the simple method is widely discussed in water quality literature and used in public forums on water-quality projects, its potential for overestimating can cause problems. Those problems could take the form of disappointing results from post-BMP sampling and money wasted on overdesigned treatment structures.

Since Kaiser and Ulasir are the kind of guys who eat technical challenges for lunch (and then ask for seconds), they created a new model that removes the overestimation and refines the results. Their model replaces the annual runoff variable in the equation with what’s known as the “first flush” calculation. First flush describes the initial portion of the rain event that is considered to be the pollution-contributing portion of a storm (the early runoff that cleanses the landscape of pollutants.)

In Michigan, where OHM is headquartered, the first flush is measured at 0.5 inches, although that measurement may vary from region to region. The article describes the new Simple Method 2.0 equations, along with guidance on how to obtain accurate precipitation data from public sources, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA.)

The results? In a southeast Michigan example using sampled precipitation data, the Total Suspended Solids (TSS) value was about 21% less than the amount using the original simple method.

For more information on the Simple Method 2.0, or to get help with your community’s stormwater management planning, contact Scott or Murat at 888-522-6711.

OHM’s Busy Bees Build "Community" in Hancock

advancingcommunities@ohm-advisors.com (Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc.) — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 19:01:00 +0000

Ever seen a barn raising? It's an amazing display of community. In a matter of days, men, women, and children construct massive structures by hand. And did you know that when bees build a hive, it takes an entire colony – including the Queen? It was this idea of “community” that inspired our northernmost office to join the city of Hancock, Finlandia University, and other volunteers to assemble a new playground on Hancock Beach. By 9 am Saturday, June 4th, sun-blocked and fully-visored volunteers were assembled with tools in hand. By 2:00 pm, four posts and a platform stood as the result of their efforts.

No, a playground (barn or hive) we did not make, but a community we were. Nearly 40 people turned out to help with this event, not including countless others who donated money and support through the Hancock Rotary. A fun time was had by all, and OHM still holds fast to the idea that by working together, there’s nothing we can’t accomplish for our communities and friends. And, as any DIYer will tell you, only the Amish and the bees can do anything in a weekend...

Stay tuned to hear more as we put the final pieces together on this project.

Update on Retroreflectivity

advancingcommunities@ohm-advisors.com (Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc.) — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 14:54:00 +0000

New Signage Rules Intended To Make Signs Easier To Read.

The San Francisco Examiner (10/25, Begin) reports, "In an effort to make street signs easier to read, the Federal Highway Administration is requiring communities to replace all street signs with ones using what is known as mixed-case lettering. Instead of 'LEAVENWORTH,' for example, signs will have to read 'Leavenworth.' The new rules also require all city signs to be changed to better reflect light by 2018." And "the changes have communities across the country grumbling." But "federal officials said that despite some misunderstandings in national media about the rule changes, many of the costs associated with new signs would be the same if they were replaced." FHWA spokeswoman Cathy St. Denis said, "Signs that are easier to read will help us make roads and the people who drive on them safer."

For more information on FHWA rule changes and how retroreflectivity impacts your community, contact stephen.dearing@ohn-advisors.com

Mad About Thoroughly Modern Roundabouts

advancingcommunities@ohm-advisors.com (Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc.) — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 13:20:00 +0000

What's not to love about modern roundabouts? They're faster, safer and so-o-o much prettier than a traditional intersection. In case you aren't convinced that they're the greatest thing since, well, paved roads, check out this presentation, delivered by OHM's genius road designer, Jim Marcinkowski. (Before gracing OHM's doors, Jim worked for CALTRANS, so you'll see a couple of slides from those good 'ol days - note the Pinto behind the donkey - you just don't see sweet rides like that anymore!)

This presentation, Modern Roundabouts: Coupling Safety and Mobility, delivers a primer on roundabouts, the differences between roundabouts, traffic circles and rotaries, and the important rules of roundabouts. It answers those timeless questions:

How do you drive in those crazy circles?
Who has the right-of-way in a roundabout?
Why are roundabouts safer? (Roundabouts have a stunning safety record - a 90% reduction in fatalities over a traditional intersection.)
How do I ride my bike through a roundabout?

Sit back and enjoy the show!

Modern Roundabouts: Safety & Mobility Wrapped in a Pretty Package

View more presentations from OHM Advancing Communities.

Being Part of Something Bigger: Hilliard's 9/11 Memorial Uses Trade Center Artifacts

advancingcommunities@ohm-advisors.com (Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc.) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 20:58:00 +0000

As architects, engineers and planners, we like to say that we improve the quality of life for people. Heck, sometimes we even think of ourselves as heroes when we've solved a particularly tricky problem.

This Saturday, though, every one of us will, at one point or another, pause for a moment to think about real heroes. And in Hilliard, Ohio, the citizens and the city leaders will honor real heroes when they unveil First Responders' Park, the largest 9/11 memorial to date.

The park was created to honor the service personnel who responded to the 9/11 tragedy, as well as the civilian victims of the attacks.

The park, which incorporates three steel artifacts from the World Trade Center, will be located on Main and Center Streets in the heart of Olde Hilliard.

Among the first cities to send its public safety departments to assist with search and rescue efforts after the attacks, Hilliard’s connection to the victims of the tragedy runs deep.

“This memorial honors the willingness of our first responders, and so many others, to put themselves in harm’s way for the benefit of others. That commitment to the greater good is what makes this country great,” says Hilliard Mayor Donald Schonhardt.

“We had the opportunity, in that the land was available, and we wanted to make this happen, “ adds Norwich Township Fire Chief David Long.

The .633 acre park, designed by architecture, engineering and planning firm Bird Houk-OHM, is a contemplative space to remember and reflect on this life changing event. The park incorporates sculpture, intersecting granite walls etched with the names of the victims of the New York, Pennsylvania, and D.C. tragedies; as well as tiered fountains, a trellis resembling structural beams, and artifacts from the World Trade Center.

The project team was one of the first ‘civilian groups’ permitted by the New York and New Jersey Port Authorities to select items for the park’s design from Hangar 17 at JFK Airport where the fragments of the WTC Towers are housed.

“The experience was incredibly moving,” says Bird Houk Designer Tony Slanec.

Slanec says the items that were chosen demonstrated the sheer force and power of the event, including bent steel from the underground rail systems and structural I-beams from the towers.

Hilliard police department, fire department, and a local trucking company donated their time to bring the steel from New York to Ohio.

“This memorial is a reality because the members of the community made it happen,” says Schonhardt.

Perhaps the most compelling element of the park is the sculpture created by local artist Dale Johnson. The stainless steel sculpture incorporates silhouettes of assorted American lives doing everyday activities while over 2,000 lives were lost over the course of a few hours. This piece will be updated with a new “figure” annually for the next century as part of a high school design and scholarship competition.

“We want the park, and the event itself, to always be in our hearts. We think this sculpture is a good way to do this, incorporating the assistance of a new generation each year,” says Johnson.

Long adds, “It’s a place to remember so that we are better prepared in the future.”

The $1.4 million memorial was paid for through bonds and an ongoing public donations campaign. Students from Central Ohio Technical College donated their time to assist in the creation of the campaign video. Watch the video:

Charles Humphriss, Certified Arborist

advancingcommunities@ohm-advisors.com (Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc.) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 21:00:00 +0000

By day, Charles Humphriss is a quiet and unassuming environmental engineer, but by night...(well, actually, this is by day, too, 'cause whatever Charles does at night is his own business) he's a Certified Arborist!

That's right,a Certified Arborist. With a seal and everything. Charles took his lifelong love of nature and trees and parlayed it into a valued service that he can perform.

How do you get to be a Certified Arborist? It's a combination of experience and subject matter knowledge. Becoming a CA requires at least three years full-time experience working in the professional tree care industry. You also have to pass a 200-question examination on tree biology, identification and selection, tree-soil-water relations, tree nutrition and fertilization, tree planting, pruning concepts and techniques, tree preservation on construction sites, problem diagnosis and management, tree risk assessment, and more.

In our line of business, clients often use a Certified Arborist to conduct a Tree Survey or a Tree Inventory before starting a construction project. Having a complete picture of the trees on a site helps the developer (whether a public or private entity) determine the best course of action.

The survey will reveal information such as:

- Species of the tree based on scientific name.
- Physical measurements of the tree such as height and diameter.
- Age of the tree.
- Overall health of the tree.
- Life expectancy.
- Management recommendations.

Based on information from the tree inventory, the project can be designed to maintain certain trees and remove others. A landscape architect may build interesting site features around existing trees. Depending on the type of existing trees on the site, they may be replaced with other, hardier varieties.

Reinventing Suburbia: Best Practices in New Urbanism

advancingcommunities@ohm-advisors.com (Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc.) — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 20:54:00 +0000

From America's very first development, the cozy Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston, to today's vehicle-required sprawling exurbs, we've lost our way.

Now changing demographics and economics have brought the old methods of development to a (tire) screeching halt.

So what's this New Suburbia all about? Here's our take:

Reinventing Suburbia: Best Practices in New Urbanism

View more presentations from OHM Advancing Communities.

Conservation Development in Jerome Village: A Case Study of Responsible Development on the Suburban Fringe

advancingcommunities@ohm-advisors.com (Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc.) — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 21:08:00 +0000

Conservation development is a hot topic in community planning circles. It represents a new way of thinking about planning for development. Rather than choosing one of two extremes - rapid growth and anti-growth - community stakeholders and planners can pursue a third path.

The presentation below, Conservation Development in Jerome Village: A Case Study of Responsible Development on the Suburban Fringe, was created by Bird Houk, a division of OHM, based on one of its landmark projects. Jerome Village is a 1600-acre mixed-use development outside metropolitan Columbus, Ohio.

The case study discusses the principles of conservation design, the issues facing the citizens of Jerome and ways that communities can encourage developers to "do the right thing." Jerome Village is a great example of using the ‘best’ of Smart Growth and Conservation Development principles to create sustainable rural communities.

Conservation Development in Jerome Village: A Case Study of Responsible Development on the Suburban Fringe

View more presentations from OHM Advancing Communities.

Better, Stronger, Faster: Comparing UV Spot Repairs for Sewer Pipes to Cured in Place Pipe (CIPP) Methods

advancingcommunities@ohm-advisors.com (Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc.) — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 15:14:00 +0000

Repairing sewer pipes is a less-than-glamorous, but necessary form of ongoing maintenance for most communities. Luckily, science is developing new materials and technologies to make these repairs like Steve Austin's bionic alter ego: better, stronger and faster.

Trenchless technologies (subsurface construction works that don't require digging long trenches) have gained popularity for infrastructure repair work because of the minimal disturbance to the environment. One of the newest methods for repairing sewers is the quick seal UV spot repair system.

This brief article below from MWEA Matters gives an overview of the quick seal UV spot repair and compares it to traditional cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) lining methods. Reviewing the practical considerations of the quick seal UV system, the article also includes case studies in two municipalities.

Here's a quick rundown of the pros and cons of the quick seal UV spot repair method:

Pros
+ Cure time is reduced from 6-8 hours for CIPP to 10 minutes for UV spot repair, which means that final inspection can happen within minutes, rather than the following day.
+ It's temperature independent, making it possible to install any time of the year.
+ The UV cured liner is strong and a fraction of the thickness of traditional felt liners, allowing for future full lining repairs.

Cons
- The quick seal UV method is more costly.
- The UV spot system can only be applied to 6" to 27" diameter pipes.

Comparing UV Spot Repairs for Sewer Pipes to Cured in Place Pipe (CIPP) Methods

View more documents from OHM Advancing Communities.

Six Tips to Motivate Employees with Your Mission

advancingcommunities@ohm-advisors.com (Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc.) — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 15:04:00 +0000

In the March 2009 issue of CORP! magazine: Mission Makes Community Initiatives a Priority: Six Tips to Motivate Employees with Your Mission, we shared some the secrets that have landed us on the top of several best places to work lists over the last five years.

The 101 Best & Brightest Corporate Survey’s Community Initiatives section includes a list of 10 aspects that demonstrate a company’s support for community initiatives. When Kelly Jackson, human resources director for Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc. (OHM), completes the survey, she checks every item on the list.

“We didn’t build a program around the goal of checking every item from a list,” Jackson comments. “In fact, we don’t even have a formal community initiatives program. Community involvement is just part of who we are. It’s woven into the fabric of our company.”

Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc. is a Livonia-headquartered firm of engineers and architects committed to advising government and other public organizations on infrastructure issues. Since 1962, when former city engineers joined to found the company now known as OHM, clients have included government organizations.

During the first 20 years of operation, the firm pursued both public and private clients, but in the 1980s, the focus changed. “We asked ourselves what really made us excited to go to work every day and what we thought we could be best in the world doing,” John J. Hiltz, OHM president reflects. “And for us, it’s all about working with communities: large and small, developing and redeveloping.”

The commitment to community is reflected in OHM’s mission, Advancing Communities. Having a uniting focus has helped OHM inadvertently create a few best practices around community initiatives.

Consider Organizational Values in Selecting Talent

“We’ve never made it an explicit criterion, but when we stopped to ask ourselves what made someone an ‘OHMer,’ we discovered a common link. Many of our most successful employees, the ones who’ve really fit well culturally are individuals who’ve had a family member or role model involved in public service,” Jackson shares. While some engineers and architects may be motivated by working on high profile and prestigious projects, many of OHM’s staffers are spurred by a sense of involvement. Staff members value the opportunity to become integrated into a local community or public project over a long-term and serve as a trusted advisor.

Lead by Example

OHM encourages and supports staff involvement in the communities the company serves and those in which employees live. The management team doesn’t just preach a commitment to philanthropy, it leads by example. OHM’s past president is the chair of Michigan Technological University’s governing body. Managing partner and board chairman Dan Fredendall is active in education and dozens of charitable and community organizations. John Hiltz is chairman of the development authority for Livonia’s business corridor and recently served a stint on the school board. About 5 percent of staff members serve as elected or appointed officials in their resident communities.

Freedom to Make a Difference

OHM allows employees to determine where they contribute their efforts, rather than mandating a ‘corporate cause.’ From traveling to Haiti to build rain water collection systems for drinking water, to golf outings supporting Alzheimer’s research, OHM employees participated in more than 55 different organizations last year.

“People are more motivated to put their time and energy into something when it’s meaningful to them personally,” Jackson says. “We encourage employees to pursue causes closest to them, whether it’s education, charity or community related.”

Make it Easy to Do Good

OHM ties company celebrations and events to causes. The annual Employee Appreciation Week includes fundraising events, charitable donation drives and raffles. Football tailgates, summer barbecues and other events include the opportunity to wear jeans at the office for a $5 donation to a featured cause. One employee commented that making a donation to wear jeans made it feel like a special treat, rather than something taken for granted.

OHM allows employees to use the company’s resources to promote their causes and events. Company-wide e-mails, fliers in common areas and administrative support make it easier for employees and the company to create an impact.

Celebrate Efforts

Recognize and applaud when employees live the company’s mission. Company leaders publicly and frequently commend staffers for their contributions and achievements. A matching gift program that doubles an employee’s personal contribution, recognition at company-wide events, email messages, and personal conversations all make it clear that OHM values community initiatives.

Let Loose

Have fun with it! When OHM was named one of the top 50 civil engineering firms to work for in the nation, the not-so-stuffy engineering firm let down its collective hair with a Rock Star After Party. Employees got their groove on with a Nintendo Wii Battle of the Bands, Rock Star brand beverages and iTunes gift cards.

And keeping with OHM tradition, staffers let their inner rock star shine by wearing concert tees for a $5 donation to Rock for Kids, a Chicago-based nonprofit bringing music education to underprivileged children.

Retroreflectivity

advancingcommunities@ohm-advisors.com (Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc.) — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 14:42:00 +0000

New Rules for Retroreflectivity

Listen to the PODCAST!
How do you maintain the traffic signs in your community? Below is a simple self test. Choose the answer that reflects your standard practices:

We replace traffic signs only if they have been knocked down or if a resident complains about how poor they look.
On an irregular basis, during regular business hours, we sweep through parts of town and replace the traffic signs that seem the most faded or damaged.
At least once a year, we perform nighttime inspections to discover which traffic signs are no longer visible.
We track the age of traffic signs and replace all those that have reached a specific age.
We have a fancy instrument that measures the traffic sign face for minimum performance. We also have a schedule to routinely measure signs and replace those that are substandard.

If you checked answer 1 or 2, get ready for a change. In December 2007, the Federal Highway Administration published a new rule that requires minimum retroreflectivity for signs on public roads.

Retroreflectivity is the scientific term that describes the ability of a surface to return light back to its source. Retroreflective signs and pavement markings bounce light from vehicle headlights back toward the vehicle and the driver’s eyes, making signs and pavement markings visible to the driver.*

The key to compliance is to have a system in place. Essential elements of a compliant system include regularly inspecting signs and replacing those that no longer function adequately. If you checked answers 3, 4 or 5, in our self test, you have the makings of a management system. Your next step is to make sure that you know the new requirements, and then perform a quick review of your system to make sure that you are fully compliant. If you checked answer 1 or 2 in our self test, run (don’t walk) to your friendly engineering advisor and get help creating a system to manage this important asset. Deadlines for compliance will be here before you know it.

For help or advice interpreting the new requirements, or creating a plan to comply contact: Stephen Dearing, Manager of Traffic Engineering Services - 888.522.6711

ohm-advisors.com

Radar Reflectivity Analysis - A New Tool in the Sewer Collection System Arsenal

advancingcommunities@ohm-advisors.com (Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc.) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:34:00 +0000

With a D- grade from the American Society for Civil Engineers, there's no question that America's sewer systems are in rough shape. The EPA estimates that there are 40,000 Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSOs) each year. (That's when systems overflow spewing raw sewage into streets, rivers and basements.)

The most common cause of Sanitary Sewer Overflow stems from heavy rainfall events which cause massive infiltration of stormwater into sewerage lines. Blockage or rupture of sewerage lines also contribute to SSOs.

Municipal system owners look to civil engineers to determine the causes of SSOs and to design the most cost effective approach to eliminate them. The engineer's first step is often to perform a study to determine the causes and sources of the inflow and infiltration. An I/I study models the sanitary system, including determining how wet weather (especially those heavy rainfalls) will affect the system.

When it comes to wet weather responses, the antecendent moisture level can have a huge and vaying impact on the system's performance. From Wikipedia, antecedent moisture is a term that describes the relative wetness or dryness of a sewershed, which changes continuously and can have a very significant effect on the flow responses in these systems during wet weather. Antecedent moisture conditions are high when there has been a lot of recent rainfall and the ground is moist. Antecedent moisture conditions are low when there has been little rainfall and the ground becomes dry. So when you get down to it, a model that does not take antecedent moisture into account in determining a sewer system's capacity to respond to wet weather isn't really very accurate (or useful!) at all.

For more reading about hydrologic models that accurately account for antecedent moisture impacts, check out this overview of i3D, an antecedent moisture model:

Hydrologic model i3d white paper

View more documents from OHM Advancing Communities.

But wait, there's more! OHMers Tim Kuhns and Robert Czachorski recently presented a paper at the Water Environment Federation's national Collections Systems Conference. The case study outlined an inflow and infiltration modeling study in Scio Township, Michigan. The project demonstrated the value of a comprehensive approach that includes a highly accurate hydrologic model and radar reflectivity data to identify and correct a rainfall measurement error.

In the paper and presentation, Tim shares several interesting findings for a comprehensive approach to modeling:

-A continuous model that accurately predicts flows can be used to identify anomalies with rainfall and flow measurements. An event based model may not as easily identify these types of errors.

-A thorough evaluation of all error components (model prediction, rainfall, flow) should be completed for major calibration events to ensure model accuracy and confidence in the model results.

-Free and readily available radar reflectivity data can be used without pre-processing to assess the accuracy of rainfall measurements.

How Hydrologic Modeling and Radar Rainfall Analysis Can Overcome Rain Gauge Errors in I/I Studies

View more presentations from OHM Advancing Communities.

Opportunities and Football: Our Love/Hate Relationship

advancingcommunities@ohm-advisors.com (Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc.) — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 15:35:00 +0000

The article below appeared in the June 24th edition of the Livonia Observer:

There are two things that get John Hiltz really excited. One is his beloved and beleaguered University of Michigan football team. The other is the word opportunity. Especially the opportunity he sees for his nearly 50-year-old namesake company, Orchard, Hiltz McCliment Inc. of Livonia.

Known as OHM, Orchard, Hiltz McCliment Inc. was founded by former city engineers John E. Hiltz and Melvin “Ernie” Orchard as a municipal engineering firm.

When the company opened its doors in 1962, it had one client, the city of Livonia. OHM's staff of 20 worked on a landmark project for the city: designing 40 miles of sanitary sewer to bring municipal sewer systems to homes originally on septic tanks. This was the foundation of Livonia's urbanization and OHM's growth.

Fast forward 48 years and today OHM has offices in three states and works for clients across the country. And the services have expanded, too. Nearly 170 employees are on staff, including architects, civil, electrical and mechanical engineers, planners, urban designers, surveyors, grant writers, LEED-accredited professionals and information technology experts.

But it wasn't always an upward climb. Founder and former company president Ernie Orchard recently commented about the current economic recession: “What's happening now? This is kid's play. In 1980, there were companies that had to cut every employee and just the owners were left. OHM went from 45 people to 20.”

As the country recovered, OHM prospered. Orchard said: “We were lucky. We came out of the recession debt-free and were able to land a lot of new accounts. There was big growth after that.”

The new millennium's recession was already hitting Michigan hard when John Hiltz became president in 2009. At the same time, OHM's board of directors approved a strategic plan to double the economic value of this Michigan-based firm over the next five years. John looked hard for opportunity.

He found it in an unlikely place for a die-hard Wolverine: Columbus, Ohio. In the summer of 2009, OHM opened a Columbus office with a former staff member who had relocated to the city. Within a few months, leaders from OHM were in negotiations to expand operations by merging with a new company — one that Hiltz believed would bring that much-desired “opportunity.”

That new company was Bird Houk Collaborative, a 20-person firm offers architecture, urban planning and real estate economic analysis. Company owners had aspirations to expand the mid-Ohio firm's geographic reach with its urban planning expertise, but that effort grew difficult amid a decline in construction projects.

OHM's mission is Advancing Communities. Bird Houk billed themselves as The Placemakers, committed to making places better for people. Knowing that the challenge of integrating company cultures is where most mergers fail, Hiltz recognizes his good fortune in such a close match.

“I feel totally blessed to have come across Bird Houk, which has so many of the same values and vision,” he said.

In May, the two firms celebrated the merger with a tailgate-style party at Bird Houk's metropolitan Columbus office. Because most of Bird Houk (now renamed Bird Houk, a division of OHM) staff members attended Ohio State University, the party's theme poked fun at the U-M and OSU football rivalry with the tagline, “A House Divided? Services United!”

“I know there'll be one day each year when we're bitter enemies,” said Hiltz, laughing. “Fortunately, during the other 364 days, we're totally united in our focus to help communities redevelop because of shifting economic bases.”

Are You Sure You're Getting Your Money's Worth? VE it!

advancingcommunities@ohm-advisors.com (Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc.) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 20:31:00 +0000

This week we're talking briefly about an engineering concept that may not be widely known but is incredibly important, especially when it involves large, high-profile public works projects.

Value Engineering
Jim Marcinkowski, PE, Senior Design Engineer, with OHM’s Transportation group is a sought-after member for value engineering teams. Value engineering is an independent analysis of a proposed project, using a systematic approach to validate the effectiveness and cost of the proposed project plan.

Bottom line? When you're a project owner and the public is footing the bill, you want to make sure that you're getting the most value for the millions you're spending.

Here's a look at one of Jim's more iconic value engineering projects: the ramp rehabilitation at St. George Staten Island Ferry Terminals in New York.

The greater Ferry terminal area is a concentration of multimodal elements including bus, rail and automobile traffic. While the Ferry terminal itself had recently been reconstructed, the elevated bus terminal and adjacent ramps were in poor condition. Passengers disembarking from the ferry had to walk through a dark, dingy area, where water seeped through the dilapidated joints of the bus terminal deck above, to rain lead-infused drips onto their heads. Additionally, traffic surrounding the terminal area was congested, creating lots of delay for circulating buses and automobiles.

The City had planned a ramp repair project to be delivered as design/build that would keep the facility open throughout construction. At $175 million, this was the largest ARRA project in the US and the City wanted to be sure it was spending The People's dollars wisely. Enter, the value engineering team.

The value engineering study reviewed the conceptual design for the rehabilitation of ramp structures at the terminal and examined the methodologies to achieve the best value for all stakeholders. As a member of the VE team, OHM’s Marcinkowski analyzed all project documentation. Using his expertise in construction staging and maintenance of traffic he provided significant recommendations to maximize traffic flow to the ferry terminal and surrounding neighborhood, including a $4 million cost saving idea.

DOT & HUD to Give $75 Million for Sustainable Communities

advancingcommunities@ohm-advisors.com (Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc.) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 19:31:00 +0000

Get your grant writing pens ready, folks. (Shameless plug alert: or you can just call this guy.)

There's a brand spankin' new joint agency grant program designed to create sustainable communities. The US Department of Transportation (DOT) and the US Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have teamed up to leverage the agencies' transportation, land use, housing and community development resources to provide communities with funding to build more livable, sustainable places.

The new grant program stems from a recently announced interagency collaboration between the DOT, HUD and the EPA, known as the Partnership for Sustainable Communities. The Partnership is built on six Livability Principles:

1. Provide more transportation choices.
Develop safe, reliable and economical transportation choices to decrease household transportation costs, reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign oil, improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote public health.

2. Promote equitable, affordable housing.
Expand location- and energy-efficient housing choices for people of all ages, incomes, races and ethnicities to increase mobility and lower the combined cost of housing and transportation.

3. Enhance economic competitiveness.
Improve economic competitiveness through reliable and timely access to employment centers, educational opportunities, services and other basic needs by workers as well as expanded business access to markets.

4. Support existing communities.
Target federal funding toward existing communities – through such strategies as transit-oriented, mixed-use development and land recycling – to increase community revitalization, improve the efficiency of public works investments, and safeguard rural landscapes.

5. Coordinate policies and leverage investment.
Align federal policies and funding to remove barriers to collaboration, leverage funding and increase the accountability and effectiveness of all levels of government to plan for future growth, including making smart energy choices such as locally generated renewable energy.

6. Value communities and neighborhoods.
Enhance the unique characteristics of all communities by investing in healthy, safe and walkable neighborhoods – rural, urban or suburban.

Here are a few of our best thoughts on sustainable communities, placemaking and market based redevelopment:

Sustainable Suburbs: From Drivable Suburbanism to Walkable Urbanism

Walkability: The Key to Sustainable Suburbs

Redevelopment Revolution: Market Based Solutions

Sustainable Suburbs: From Drivable Suburbanism to Walkable Urbanism

advancingcommunities@ohm-advisors.com (Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc.) — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 20:37:00 +0000

In this information-packed presentation below, Jim Houk, co-founder of architecture and planning firm, Bird Houk Collaborative (now a division of OHM) shares best practices in suburban redevelopment – creating suburban sustainability.

Jim, a certified planner and market-based redevelopment expert, reviews the history of town planning, current social, demographic and psychographic trends, and shares best practices in making places better for people.

What is suburban sustainability? It’s the sweet spot where people/lifestyle, the planet, and economic prosperity intersect.

I don’t know about you, but sounds like a great place to me.

Sustainable Suburbs: From Drivable Suburbanism to Walkable Urbanism

View more presentations from OHM Advancing Communities.

Green Stormwater: LID with GIS

advancingcommunities@ohm-advisors.com (Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc.) — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 13:52:00 +0000

Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMP) are rapidly evolving and gaining significant popularity as a method to fight non-point source pollution. But knowing where to place BMPs in the ground to effectively treat stormwater can be tricky.

By using GIS, you can review several environmental variables such as BMP location, size, and mitigated runoff volume. And by analyzing orthoimagery, DEMs, existing infrastructure, soils, and right-of-way, users within organizations can more efficiently and effectively plan and optimize their BMPs.

Often BMP placement is determined on a site-by-site basis. Using GIS and existing spatial datasets allow you to evaluate many sites and perform large scale planning efforts to get the most out of each BMP location. Effective planning at the local or watershed scale will make it easier to prioritize BMPs.

In this presentation delivered at an ESRI User Conference, GIS analyst and Environmental Planner Scott Kaiser, GISP, CFM, describes the step-by-step methods used to plan and choose stormwater BMPs with GIS.

Green Stormwater: LID with GIS

View more presentations from OHM Advancing Communities.

Scott Kaiser is the green stormwater guru. A GIS Analyst and Environmental Planner with OHM, Scott has more than eight years experience in GIS, focusing on water protection.

Testing Feedburner Updates

advancingcommunities@ohm-advisors.com (Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc.) — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:38:00 +0000

This post is to test Feedburner updates. Did you recieve an email notifying you of a new post from OHM Advancing Communities?
Test2

Sizing Water Storage Tanks

advancingcommunities@ohm-advisors.com (Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc.) — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 18:41:00 +0000

The blackout of '03 made municipal water storage a serious issue. Even though the blackout itself is a distant memory, public works directors and water system personnel continue to grapple with how to maintain enough storage in community distribution systems. Luckily, a general rule of thumb can be applied that combines best practices and regulations in a simple formula.

Determining Distribution Storage Needs (Opflow) author Murat Ulasir, PhD, PE, explains that while most community decisions regarding storage amounts are driven by regulatory standards, engineering judgments, community need and financial capacity, the two most important factors are:

-Regulations
-Functional design considerations.

Regulations establish minimum storage capacity based on average daily consumption, peak demands and whether the community provides fire protection.

Functional design considerations include three basic design components:

-Equalization or supply volume (supply volume)
-Fire protection volume (fire volume)
-Volume for other emergencies, such as power outages or water main breaks in supply lines (reserve volume).

For more details on calculating water storage volume, including a handy rule of thumb calculation, read the rest of the how-to article from Opflow magazine:

Water Supply: Determining Distribution System Storage Needs

View more documents from OHM Advancing Communities.

Modern Military Facilities: Leaner and Greener

advancingcommunities@ohm-advisors.com (Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc.) — Tue, 25 May 2010 20:45:00 +0000

Here's a project that has some of our team members feeling excited, like kids playing toy soldiers.

OHM is the Designer of Record, helping the US Army Corp of Engineers revamp part of its “old Kentucky home” at Ft. Campbell, in the southwestern part of the state.

Comprised of six new buildings and two additions to existing buildings, the project –51,000sf - was launched with the requirement to earn the Silver Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certification. (The LEED Green Building Rating System™ is the nationally-accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high-performance green buildings.) Instead of LEED Silver though, Ft. Campbell's new buildings are getting a "free upgrade" to qualify for LEED Gold status. All that without an increase in scope, schedule or cost!

These projects are being built using the delivery method called Design-Build, in which one source has sole accountability for architecture, engineering and construction. Design-Build projects differ from traditional design-bid-build projects in that they allow for the overlapping of design and construction. That means construction can begin after only a portion of the final detailed design has been completed, reducing costs and schedule. Minnesota’s Department of Transportation used Design-Build to replace the collapsed 1-35W bridge in Minneapolis, opening the new bridge in record time.

Walkability: Key to Sustainable Suburbs

advancingcommunities@ohm-advisors.com (Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc.) — Tue, 18 May 2010 19:19:00 +0000

When it comes to advancing communities, walkability is a hot, hot topic right now. The Infrastructurist, a blog focused on America's infrastructure, recently featured a post that caused big electronic buzz, How Cul-de-Sacs are Killing Your Community. The post highlights a research study performed at the University of British Columbia of the effects of cul-de-sacs in neighborhoods in King County, Washington. The study found that neighborhoods with cul-de-sacs, rather than interconnected streets, promote more automobile use.

The Infrastructurist post [May 7] reports that the UBC research and others show that the higher a neighborhood's walkability, the greater the walking and biking. More walking and biking results in less air pollution, less fuel use and thinner residents.

The Michigan Municipal League's magazine, The Review just published an issue focused on walkable communities. In it, Dan Burden of www.walkablecommunties.org share his 12 Characteristics of a Walkable Community.

1. Intact Downtowns
2. Residential Densities, Mixed-Income, Mixed Use
3. Public Space
4. Universal Design
5. Key Streets are Speed Controlled
6. Well-Linked Streets and Trails
7. Properly Scaled Design
8. City/Village is Designed for People
9. Community is Thinking Small
10. There are Many People Walking
11. The Community and Neighborhoods Have a Vision
12. Decision Makers are Forward Thinking

Besides being focused on "place making" as an essential part of advancing communities, we're working with one of our long-time client communities to create a more walkable village. In future posts, I'll share some of the steps the village is taking to increase pedestrian access, safety and a ssense of "place."