Inside/Out Newsletter | Winter 2012 | Issue 44

INSIDE/OUT ISSUE 44

WINTER

NEWSLETTER

JANUARY 2012

Presence Expanded in California with Opening of New Irvine Office BergerABAM and its affiliate company, The Louis Berger Group, Inc. (LBG), have once again expanded their presence in California by opening an Irvine office. The companies also have offices in Sacramento, San Diego, and Lake Elsinore. The new office represents the two companies’ commitment to grow transportation and waterfront/marine services in the southwest region.

The new BergerABAM and LBG office, in a complex of five towers featuring granite and glass, is located just

BergerABAM and LBG are full-service off of Interstate 405 in Irvine, California. program management, civil and 5 years, as they execute their strategic expansion plans. structural engineering, architectural, Roger Patton, senior vice president of LBG, cosponsoring construction management, environmental, archeological, the new Irvine operations, adds: “The Louis Berger Group and urban planning and economic development firms with has successfully partnered with BergerABAM for over three over 60 years of service throughout the United States and in decades on significant transportation and waterfront over 90 foreign countries. development projects. The companies have many area clients, and a larger presence in the southwest area will “Our new Irvine office is the next logical step in increasing allow us to better serve those clients.” our level of service and competition within our firm’s growing California market,” explains Arnie Rusten, president To further broaden their reach, BergerABAM and LBG have and chief executive officer of BergerABAM. “Client service is recruited California native, David Woo, PE, as transportation our companies’ top priority. Our overall goal to expand the director. He will be based full time at the new Irvine office companies is driven by our clients’ demands.” and oversee its daily operations. David has 21 years of experience in transportation design, largely in the state of In business for over 60 years, BergerABAM has experienced California and the Southwest. “Throughout my career, I have steady growth, including new offices nationwide in the past (continued on page 2)

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worked on project teams with the Berger companies,” commented David. “They have a solid reputation in the transportation and waterfront industry. They have participated in some of the nation’s largest projects and are currently part of the design/ build team for the $600 million Evergreen Point Floating Bridge replacement project in Seattle, Washington, which is currently the world’s longest floating bridge. I look forward to expanding BergerABAM and LBG’s design/build expertise, transportation design experience, and pioneering roles in waterfront engineering throughout the California market.”

BergerABAM offers services in the areas of civil and structural engineering, planning, environmental services, public involvement, construction management and support, surveying, and dive inspection services. The firm specializes in land use planning for mixed-use, industrial, and institutional development; and engineering for buildings, transportation facilities, water resources and utilities, and waterfront and marine facilities.

LBG is an internationally recognized consulting firm that provides engineering, architecture, program and construction management, environmental planning and science, and economic development services. LBG has nearly 60 years in business and is affiliated with Berger Group Holdings, Inc. offering a resource base of 5,000 dedicated employees and affiliate firms in more than 90 countries.

Expansion of Firm’s Capabilities BergerABAM’s recently acquired Flores Lund Consultants (FLC) has over three decades of service providing engineering to the hospitality, entertainment, and recreational industries. FLC became a part of BergerABAM in April 2011. Bill Lund, founder, originally started the firm with Ray Flores in 1977 and continued the solid partnership until Ray’s passing in April 2011. FLC is located in California’s second largest city, San Diego, which boasts a several billion dollar tourist industry. FLC has provided civil and structural engineering for numerous tourist attractions and facilities around the Southern California region.

The world famous SeaWorld Adventure Park attracts 4 million visitors annually making it second only to Disneyland in theme park popularity. Attractions are added and improved regularly. FLC has provided extensive civil engineering services at the park for several decades. Projects have included extremely complex utility infrastructure system covering more than 230 acres, civil engineering for infrastructure on major expansions and new attractions, including river rapids rides, major animal exhibits, restaurants, extensive public improvements outside the park boundaries, and other themed attraction elements. The SeaWorld San Diego Journey to Atlantis attraction received the 2005 Art in Concrete award for unique finishes of concrete flatwork, including seeded glass, seashell and chemical staining techniques, among other projects that received awards.

FLC has worked on notable facilities, including the landmark 34-story, 530,000-square-foot Manchester Grand Hyatt hotel expansion located in the heart of downtown San Diego. The adjoining tower addition made the hotel one of the largest and tallest waterfront hotels on the west coast. The expansion included 750 additional guest rooms, a central library, a 30,000-square-foot ballroom, and 34,000-square-foot exhibit hall that connects the two towers. Also overlooking the beautiful San Diego Bay is the Marriott Hotel and Marina repositioning and renovation project that includes a new two-story structure that will house two 40,000-square-foot ballrooms. The two ballrooms stacked on top of each other offer expansive views of the city scape and an outdoor terrace with harbor views. Other projects in San Diego include the Pacific Beach Tower 23 Hotel, downtown Westin Gaslamp, downtown Hotel Indigo, and downtown Renaissance Marriott.

Presently, FLC is working on the Phase 3 expansion of the San Diego Convention Center and Hilton Hotel. The project will include approximately 1 million square feet of additional exhibition, meeting, and support space; a 250- to 500-room hotel; and a water transportation center. The proposed conceptual design for the $550 million bayside expansion will create a sustainable (continued on page 3)

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tourist attractions that incorporates the use of hardscape, horticulture, and art for the benefit of the public to gather, view, and enjoy the waterfront and skyline of San Diego. Sustainable design principles will be used in this signature waterfront project.

Low water use will be accomplished through drought-tolerant and native plants and an efficient irrigation system. The project involves site and utility infrastructure modification in a highly congested location in downtown San Diego.

In addition to the multitude of projects completed for the tourism industry, FLC’s experience includes educational, healthcare, government, and ports. FLC is the engineer of record for a number of high-profile Southern California projects, including the $68 million 35-acre residential suites at Cal Poly Pomona where FLC has been the campus civil engineer Located in the heart of downtown San Diego, the Manchester Grand Hyatt consists of two since 2006; the new $185 million ninetowers and is one of the largest and tallest west coast waterfront hotels. story Main Library in downtown San Diego, which is a stone’s throw from 5-acre waterfront public space, the largest ballroom along the waterfront and a civil role model of sustainability and the Pacific Coast and the largest contiguous exhibit space energy conservation; and the $563 million 515,000-squarewest of the Mississippi River. Numerous environmentally foot project to replace the existing Naval Hospital at Marine friendly options are proposed to make the expansion one of Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, which is the largest single the greenest buildings in the nation. Proposed eco-friendly project being funded by the American Recovery and features include energy efficient lighting, a photovoltaic Reinvestment Act, as well as one of the two largest projects system to offset energy use, a solar chimney, and use of within the U.S. Military. wind power, among other features. The project is targeting LEED Gold Certification. The six-level, 600,000-square-foot parking structure at the Convention Center is a project the FLC team completed in 2005.

FLC is currently providing comprehensive civil engineering services for the 3.3-acre Port of San Diego Ruocco Park project, located on the San Diego Harbor Waterfront adjacent to Seaport Village in the Marina District of downtown San Diego. Ruocco Park will serve as an interactive public space in the center of many popular

With offices in San Diego, Lake Elsinore, and Irvine, the extensive Southern California experience of FLC, combined with the strength and resources of BergerABAM, is a powerful combination that has created a solid footprint for BergerABAM within the southwestern United States. FLC is excited to be providing the firm’s core civil and structural engineering services to clients in the region and eager for clients to tap into the expanded services of planning, environmental, and construction management.

Editors / Writers [ Jana Roy | Dee Young | Jim Gladson | Abby Wood | Nora Bretaña ] Design and Production [ Jana Roy ]

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Creative Approaches Reach Beyond the Open House First the bad news – Despite high staffing costs and often low public attendance, open house events likely will remain a staple of public outreach for major planning and capital construction projects.

 Always ask about the stakeholder’s level of continuing

But there is good news too. A variety of agencies and companies are adopting additional outreach methods that supplement open houses using more direct and effective stakeholder education and involvement approaches.

 Take good notes. The interview summary must be

The Oregon/Southwest Washington Chapter of the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) recently hosted a half-day workshop titled “Public Meeting SOS 3.0 – Beyond the Open House.” The workshop, which attracted nearly 100 people to the City of Vancouver Water Resources Education Center, highlighted several successful methods to enhance stakeholder interaction.

Jim Gladson, BergerABAM’s Public Involvement senior project manager, spoke about the value of conducting stakeholder interviews early in a project to better understand issues and concerns of those residents, organizations, and businesses most affected by a project.

Open houses often occur later on in design processes or just before construction. Stakeholder interviews are best done at the earliest stage of the project as one-on-one or small-group conversations. This early assessment allows the project team to gauge community interest in and concerns about a project. These interviews often yield useful information or identify issues that project managers may not otherwise be aware of. Interviews are especially valuable for projects in areas where the project team lacks existing community relationships. Identifying and dealing with potential issues early can prevent project upsets and delays.

Jim shared the following tips for conducting a successful stakeholder interview.  Be an active listener. Don’t defend the project or argue.  Stay informal. This is an interview, not an interrogation.  Conduct the interview in a neutral or stakeholder-

selected location.

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interest.  Empower the stakeholder. Ask advice.

accurate.

The questions must be well thought out and the interview handled respectfully. The best questions are those that draw out the stakeholder’s level of awareness, opinions, perceptions, and potential concerns about the project. The interviewer can achieve this objective by asking a mix of open-ended and multiple choice questions that encourage the stakeholder to speak freely. Use a standard list of questions for each interview so the results are comparable, and always ask if the stakeholder has other comments beyond the official questions. Also ask how the stakeholder would like to stay informed and involved. Interviewers should avoid the temptation to defend the project against negative comments--the interviewer is there partly to educate, but mostly to listen and be educated as well.

During the workshop question and answer period, one participant asked who should conduct these interviews.

Jim said that consulting firms, such as BergerABAM, can do this work, but agencies can also do the work in house. If the latter, he said it is important that the interviewer be fairly knowledgeable about the project, but not be someone who is heavily invested in the work, such as a project manager.

This neutrality reduces, for example, the temptation to “correct” stakeholder misperceptions. Those potential misperceptions are actually important to know and can help shape the project communications plan and messaging.

Open houses will remain an element of public outreach for the foreseeable future. However, the rise of alternative, innovative stakeholder engagement approaches described at the IAP2 workshop may ultimately make the open house unnecessary, or at least used only in special situations.

Workshop presentation materials are available at http://www.slideshare.net/iap2cascade/social-media-inaction-a-virtual-open-house-for-the-willamette-river-bridge.

For more information contact Jim Gladson at jim.gladson@ abam.com.

Engineering Excellence Achievement The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) of Washington held the 45th Annual Engineering Excellence Awards banquet at the Bellevue Westin on Friday, 20 January. The event recognizes achievements in 12 engineering categories based on uniqueness and innovative applications; future value to the engineering profession and perception by the public; social, economic, and sustainable development considerations; complexity; and successful fulfillment of client/owner’s needs. Projects were awarded either platinum, gold, silver, or bronze honors.

The WUT Wharf Extension project met all design requirements while minimizing impact to operations and construction schedule.

Northeast 36th Street/SR 520 Overcrossing and Roundabout project improved traffic, circulation, and alleviated congestion.

BergerABAM was awarded two Silver Engineering Excellence Awards at the banquet. The City of Redmond, Northeast 36th Street/State Route 520 (SR 520) Overcrossing and Roundabout project was awarded a silver “Best in State” award for Original or Innovative Application of Engineering and New Technologies. A signature piece of the project is an approximately 50,000-square-foot landscaped doublediamond-shaped lid that spans SR 520. The two offset, adjoining landscaped lids prevented the project from becoming a much more costly tunnel project. This design was chosen due to the ability to use standard Washington State Department of Transportation girders that were laid perpendicular to the SR 520 alignment. Attempting to span along the centerline of the new roadway alignment would have necessitated the use of much longer and deeper girders adding additional costs to the project. The Port of Tacoma, Washington United Terminals (WUT) Wharf Extension project was also awarded a silver “Best in State” award for Complexity. WUT, one of the Port of Tacoma’s key tenants, wanted to expand shipping capacity by adding two

new super post-Panamax cargo cranes to serve the next generation of container ships. The construction of a new wharf extension to meet this requirement was complex due to the uncertainties of obtaining in-water work permits, working within the limits of two adjacent active marine terminals, and designing the new wharf to the latest seismic design criteria. By developing a phased approach and monitoring the schedule throughout the design phase, the project was successfully executed in a manner that limited the overall construction duration and avoided downtime during in-water work closures. Seismic criteria were achieved by strengthening the slope beneath the wharf extension using stone columns and connecting the wharf extension to the existing wharf using a fused joint that will prevent unexpected seismic forces to be transmitted to the existing wharf from the wharf extension.

Introducing Straightedge A straightedge is linear, sharp, and flowing — creating a connection between two points. We invite you to connect with us, share ideas and experiences, and join in compelling conversations as we offer insight into BergerABAM and our industry at our blog www.abam.com/blog.

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