Blog

Waldo Boulevard Well Worth the Wait

Written By: Troy Robillard, PE, Ayres Slicing through the City of Manitowoc’s north side, this roughly 3-mile-long urban reconstruction project had it all when it comes to road project complications, all spread out over two years of construction.Slicing through the City of Manitowoc’s... Continue Reading

Drones for Leading-Edge AEC

Written by: Shawn O’Shea, AICP, ASEL, sUAS and Jeff Powell, sUAS of MSA Professional Services Technology is integrated into our lives like never before — from smart phones with 100,000 times the computing power of the Apollo 11 computer, to using technology to manage complex systems... Continue Reading

Going the Distance to Keep Business in Mukwonago

Written by: Ryan T. Amtmann, PE, Ruekert & Mielke, Inc. The Village of Mukwonago was in the early stages of siting a new business park when a growing local business, Banker Wire, approached the Village Administrator with their plans for expansion. Banker Wire preferred to keep their... Continue Reading

Historic Plaza Gets New Life

Bruce Morrow, PLA, LEED AP, Ayres Many communities have them: Cool spaces that no longer function to their full potential. Downtown Sheboygan had one of these spaces, and the City also had very good reasons to fix it. Mead Library Plaza was introduced in the 1970s with a bang. The City hired... Continue Reading

Benefit Cost Analysis Evaluates Safety Benefits of Roadway Improvement Alternatives

Written by: Laura Schroeder, P.E., PTOE, RSP, raSmith Benefit Cost Analysis (BCA) is a valuable tool that is becoming increasingly important to state and local governments to understand if a roadway improvement is economical and as a tool in comparing multiple improvement alternatives. To conduct... Continue Reading

Bark River Restoration Rescues Failing Banks, Invigorates Downtown Delafield

Written by: Brian Pehl, PE, Short Elliott Hendrickson Challenge The Bark River Restoration in Delafield began as a volunteer effort by the Friends of the Bark River community group, who were seeking to clean up the river and make this natural feature more accessible and inviting to users. Yet,... Continue Reading

Game On at Glendale Landfill Site

Written by: Bill Honea, PG, Ayres Located only four miles from Milwaukee, the small community of Glendale, Wisconsin, is recognized as “one of the most progressive of the northeast Milwaukee suburbs.” Recently, the City demonstrated this to be true once more, teaming with planning... Continue Reading

Is it time for a diet?

Wellness in the form of trimming travel lanes; rejuvenates a community. Continue Reading

Navigating one of the Largest Water Expansion Projects in Wisconsin

Written by: Kenneth R. Ward, PE; Ruekert & Mielke, Inc. In 2017, the Racine Water & Wastewater Utility (RWWU) partnered with Ruekert & Mielke, Inc. (R/M) to embark on one of the largest water system expansion projects ever in the state of Wisconsin; one that would allow the utility to... Continue Reading

Statewide Aerial Imagery Positions Wisconsin’s Public, Private Sectors for the Future

Written By: Zachary Nienow, GISP, Ayres The Wisconsin Regional Orthoimagery Consortium (WROC) is unique by design, formed to improve the way cities, counties, state and federal agencies and the private sector obtain vital orthoimagery and lidar data – and that it does. Governmental... Continue Reading

Historical Bridge Preserved While New Structure Restores Transportation to Rural Community

Written By: Jonathan Olinger, PE- R.H. Batterman & Co. Inc After 110 years, it was time to upgrade the single span, single lane steel structure spanning the Turtle Creek in the Town of Turtle, Rock County, Wisconsin. The existing steel structure, originally built in 1910, was no longer... Continue Reading

New Fire Station Fills Gap in Underserved Community

Written By: Paul Hansen, PE, IMEG Corp. Most people don’t think about the time it would take emergency personnel to reach them until they are in a life-or-death situation. But in an emergency, they want the fastest possible response to their 911 call. Prior to the completion of the new Fire... Continue Reading