Day: June 11, 2019

TAMC Culvert Project Selected as 2019 Project of the Year, Awarded to CTT

APWA 2018 Award with five people including two recipients

Michigan Tech has experts in innovation making a statewide impact: Chris Gilbertson, PhD, PE, and Scott Bershing, both at the university’s Center for Technology & Training (CTT). Gilbertson, associate director, and Bershing, technical specialist, received a 2019 Project of the Year award from the Michigan Chapter of the American Public Works Association.

Gilbertson and Bershing were technical experts on the project team led by the Michigan Transportation Asset Management Council’s (TAMC) Bridge Committee. The Bridge Committee received a charge from the state and responded with the 2018 Michigan Local Agency Culvert Inventory Pilot Evaluation to learn about its county- and city-owned culvert assets.

In seven-months’ time, the project team developed a culvert data collection method and assessment system. They also made updates to Roadsoft, the asset management software developed by the CTT and used by Michigan’s local road-owning agencies. And, they recruited and deployed 49 local road-owning agencies in Michigan to test the data collection and assessment processes on nearly 50,000 culverts.

“The TAMC and Michigan Tech received the award, but the success of the pilot would not have been possible without the efforts of many others around the state,” commented Gilbertson.

Bershing said, “This was a good example of multiple agency cooperation, working together under a tight time frame and deadline to complete the project.” That collaboration helped the TAMC to estimate Michigan’s total number of culverts at 196,000 with a replacement value of $1.48 billion. It also found that Michigan’s local agencies own and maintain 7.3 to 9.2 million feet of culvert assets—or 1,798 miles (the distance from Houghton, Michigan to Miami, Florida)—with most being corrugated steel pipe. Another key finding from the pilot was that a majority—67.2 percent—of culverts held a condition rating of a 6 or better on a 10-point scale.

Participating agencies benefitted not only from the results but also from the processes developed by the project team. These processes gave the agencies useful strategies for managing their assets and guidance for developing proactive management strategies.

“It’s rewarding to be recognized for the hard work we put in on this project”, said Bershing. Gilbertson echoed his colleague, saying, “I’m honored that we were recognized by the APWA for the work that we put into the culvert pilot last year. We are truly thankful to all those individuals who made this possible.”

Gilbertson and Bershing share this recognition with the entire project team and the 49 participating agencies.  Without their support, this culvert project would not have been a success.

The final report for the pilot study is available on the TAMC website: https://www.michigan.gov/documents/tamc/TAMC_2018_Culvert_Pilot_Report_Complete_634795_7.pdf

Michigan Tech Surveying Engineering Attends MiCareer Quest


MiCareer Quest Expo Booth

Michigan Tech Surveying Engineering participated in MiCareer Quest Northwest 2019 in Traverse City on Thursday, May 22 at the Grand Traverse County Civic Center.  MiCareer Quest is a “multi-industry career exploration event” sponsored and supported by industry, employers, trades, and educators throughout Michigan.  The event, primarily put together by Michigan WORKS!, is an effort to expose students to a myriad of career opportunities.  The Michigan Society of Professional Surveyors Outreach and Education Committee, headed by Jason Juilleret, PS, a Land Surveyor with Gourdie-Fraser and Michigan Tech grad, secured a booth for the Society, inviting Michigan Tech to participate along with two Surveyors from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.  Professor of Practice, Joe Foster, was able to bring a virtual sandbox and information about Michigan Tech, specifically the Surveying Engineering program to share with the 2000 9th grade students from 30 different school districts.  The event gave the students the opportunity to experience 60 employers representing 100 different occupations.  Michigan Tech was unique as it was one of the educators in attendance, giving the opportunity to spread the word of Michigan Tech, Surveying Engineering and the Surveying Profession as a whole.

For more information on the event, visit here.