Otak is celebrating Engineers Week by sitting down for coffee with Sean Clark, senior project manager and passionate engineer! Check out the video and the transcription below:
“My name is Sean Clark, and I’m a structural engineer.”
What is your role on the structural team?
“I work a lot with architects. I also work a lot with the civil department, and water and natural resources – we do a whole lot of retaining walls on the side of roads, so I work with the transportation department as well.”
“The structure is basically anything in the built environment, and that encompasses different people at Otak, so it’s a wide variety.”
What excites you about the field of engineering?
“What excites me the most I think is the amount of technology and new types of construction. I get really excited when somebody’s like, ‘Ooh, we can use titanium rods to strengthen this girder.’ You know, something different.”
“Elegance in design is efficiency, you know? So, I take pride in being able to give an elegant design to somebody’s problem. One of the interesting ones that I’ve got recently is that we’re doing a rain shed in Hawaii. So, one – it’s Hawaii, and two – the seismic there is just crazy, it’s built on the side of a volcano. It’s really interesting to see how my part is just structures, but to get the water to all these people involves a lot of different disciplines.”
What do you enjoy most about being an engineer?
“I think what I love about engineering is that every day I create. It takes a lot of imagination, it takes a lot of work, it takes a lot of knowledge, but there’s just nothing better.”
With several gaps in bicycle and pedestrian facilities and two deficient bridges along Laporte Avenue, this corridor in Northern Colorado was redesigned to suit the multimodal goals of the community. Otak led the bridge and roadway design – including local art, an emphasis on sustainable materials, and a historic bridge railing monument – in completing this project with a construction manager/general contractor (CMGC) delivery method.
For a corridor that had experienced persistent safety issues involving bicyclists and pedestrians, this project is part of the city’s Low Stress Bicycle Network and was recognized by the North Front Range Metropolitan Planning Organization (NFRMPO) as a high priority area for improvement. The corridor also provides access to Poudre High School with significant bicycle and pedestrian activity within proximity of the school and residential neighborhoods. Using EcoPact concrete – a low carbon concrete mix from Holcim – the roadway design addresses many locations that lacked sidewalk and curbs, as well as often narrow bike lanes were not well defined. In all, the multimodal project improves vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian safety along the corridor by addressing deficient sidewalks, adding bicycle lanes, and adding a center reversible turn lane, replacing two deficient bridges (east of Taft Hill Road and north of Grandview Cemetery), upgrading the roadway with curb and gutter, and other traffic improvements.
We’re delighted to share some additional award wins – this time for our project work in the Puget Sound region. The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) Washington has awarded two projects from our bridge engineering team with Silver and Gold-level recognition!
ACEC Washington represents the gold standard for the business of engineering in Washington state, creating an environment that encourages quality, safe, impactful, and sustainable solutions for both the built and natural environments. They are the leading organization for promoting engineering companies through professional knowledge and exceptional services for communities across the state, and we’re grateful to be recognized on behalf of our teams who accomplished this award-winning work.
Learn more about each winning project on their respective project pages, and hear directly from our clients on what makes these wins so special.
Dungeness River Bridge – Best in State Gold Award: Social, Economic, and Sustainable Design Considerations
As the firm providing lead design consulting services, bridge engineering, architecture and landscape architecture, and building structural engineering, our approach to this project was creating a space where critical infrastructure and the environment’s natural surroundings intersect. This created a meaningful and useful finished product for the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe based on their input and desired outcomes:
“Aesthetically and functionally, the bridge is superb. We are thrilled with the innovative wishbone design, and the flow of traffic merges and splits seamlessly. The Tribe routinely receives rave reviews about the bridge from trail and Nature Center users.”
– Randy Johnson, Habitat Program Manager for the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe
Willapa Littell Bridge – Best in State Silver Award: Successful Fulfillment of Owner/Client Needs
As prime consultant on this project – Otak performed a variety of essential services including project management, survey, environmental services, bridge and civil engineering, landscape architecture, stormwater management, and CMI work. The challenge for the client was mitigating safety hazards thanks to a highly popular trail combined with a dangerous at-grade crossing on a high-speed state highway while addressing aesthetic concerns among community members. With special thanks to our partners in overcoming speed bumps on the way to final delivery, the project now stands as a testament to innovative engineering that not only functions well, but is also a sight to behold:
“Constructing a 250’ span bridge over a busy highway with little to no lay down/staging area was a challenging endeavor. Otak produced a design that satisfied permit requirements, design requirements, and was aesthetically pleasing, definitely exceeding our expectations.”
– Tim Bell, Project Manager for the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission
View the rest of the winners on the Seattle DJC’s official website here, along with their write up on the Dungeness Bridge and river restoration here!
As part of efforts to improve affordable housing for the communities of Vancouver, Washington, The Elwood adds 58 low-income-housing units to a previously undeveloped 0.80-acre site. In leading the civil design from schematic design through final site planning, Otak also prepared various project permitting submittals.
Complete Site Civil Design Components to Improve a Community’s Affordable Housing
Located on NE Fourth Plain Blvd near the intersection with NE 62nd Avenue, The Elwood consists of five, three-story wood framed buildings that include a total of 58 multifamily residential units. A number of site improvements in the design include access from NE Fourth Plain Blvd, onsite parking and circulation, utilities and landscape. Public right-of-way improvements were focused on the installation of new street trees along the frontage of the project site. Project permitting submittals covered the Type II Land Use Application, the City Engineering Submittal, and the Underground Injection Control registration, while a trip trip generation and distribution report was also completed as required by the city.
To improve traffic safety and stream functionality, a replacement bridge on NW Stringtown Road was added at the crossing of Prickett Creek in Washington County, Oregon. In leading the design and delivery of the new structure, a multidisciplinary Otak approach paid special attention to the impacts on adjacent properties, where transportation elements required more space than the existing, outdated treatments.
A Replacement Structure to Improve Transportation Elements and Stream Design
An existing timber bridge on NW Stringtown Road was found to be structurally deficient, prompting Washington County to make plans for its replacement. The new structure includes a wider box culvert with a natural bottom, improving the stream channel of Pricket Creek. With a superelevated roadway, design elements for the bridge also include road widening, guardrail design, and the reconstruction of existing driveways. Close coordination with property owners made space for these updated roadway features while a joint permit application process led to approval for the widened culvert.
Located along a steep slope between U.S. Highway 6 and the Eagle River, the Eagle Valley Trail provides a multi-use path connecting the communities of Edwards and Walcott, Colorado. The project required extensive collaboration with regional agencies to address the corridor’s challenging topography. In leading the design, Otak also provided a feasibility study and multiple alignments for consideration, including a creative approach that altered the highway to reduce the need for structures on the trail.
A Multi-Use Design and Creative Structural Approach to Fit a Challenging Mountain Corridor
The final design for Eagle Valley Trail met a number of distinct challenges – including maintaining constructability while reaching a specific width – presented by steep mountainous topography and in limiting impact to the adjacent Eagle River. This was successfully achieved in part by utilizing a cantilever concrete trail, with counterbalanced structural slab, supported on an existing concrete wall. The trail’s original design included a new asphalt multi-use path, a pre-fabricated single-span steel bridge, and structural retaining walls along the banks of the Eagle River. After five fundamental section types were developed and discussed, a two-phase approach to this project allowed the team to collaborate with CDOT and ECO Trails to ultimately approve an alteration of the lane configuration of U.S. Highway 6, reducing the need for retaining walls and a bridge. Hydraulic, environmental, and wildlife studies verified the validity of the recommendation prior to final design.
Including five boardwalks, a bridge, and 20 retaining walls, North Creek Trail extends 2.5 miles outside Bothell, Washington to traverse sensitive wetlands and a canyon that holds North Creek itself. In leading the project, Otak provided trail and roadway, stormwater, and structural design as well as construction support services for the first phase of construction as the design of phases two and three were completed. That effort included review and responses to RFIs and close coordination with the County project manager and construction inspection staff.
An Urban Trail and Structural Design to Minimize Impact to Sensitive Wetlands
This urban trail segment connects an existing segment near SR 524 with North Creek Park. To minimize environmental impacts and simplify permitting, micropiles support the boardwalks that carry the regional trail over sensitive areas. A 1,383-foot, 14-span prestressed concrete girder bridge crosses the canyon where North Creek runs, including 800 feet of surrounding wetlands. In accommodating ADA grades along the crossing, several portions of the bridge are 30 to 40 feet in the air. Because of the difficulty and sensitivity of constructing a long bridge through the wetlands, a detailed alternative analysis was performed evaluating varying span lengths, foundation types, construction methodologies, access, along with pier and superstructure types. The pedestrian bridge over North Creek would be constructed as part of phase three.
Adjacent to Little Boston Road, a 0.75-mile section of trail was designed and constructed as the principal nonmotorized connection to the Tribal Administrative Campus for the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe.
A Pedestrian Trail Designed for Tribal Administrative Access
The pedestrian trail consists of a ten-foot-wide paved trail with a number of amenities that also includes three pedestrian bridges, five stream crossings, and 7,600 square-feet of retaining walls. In limiting impact to to the area, the project included environmental mitigation as well as utility relocations, driveway and frontage restoration along 15 homeowner sites. As the prime consultant for design and construction Otak provided civil and structural engineering, landscape design, geotechnical investigation, environmental mitigation design, community engagement, construction document preparation, permitting, and construction management.
As a major east/west arterial, McGilchrist Street carries significant traffic volumes for the area surrounding Salem, Oregon. The corridor, which provides a vital connection to downtown access as well as I-5 via Highway 22, would undergo multiple phases across three segments of roadway improvements aimed at traffic, railway, bicyclist, and pedestrian use. In leading the roadway design, Otak prepared a corridor analysis and feasibility study, as well as the engineering design and stream analysis to accommodate multiple creek crossings.
Roadway Design Intersects Stream Analysis for an Improved Corridor and Fish Habitat
The roadway design of McGilchrist Street traverses existing railroad tracks along with crossings at Clark Creek as well as the East and West Forks of Pringle Creek. Widening throughout the corridor with additional turn lanes at major intersections featuring new traffic signals – including the realignment of the 22nd Street intersection to a four-leg intersection – aim to reduce traffic congestion while bike facilities including a 10-foot-wide protected cycle track and pedestrian crossings encourage active transportation. In facilitating multiple creek crossings as well as widening of an at-grade track crossing for a Union Pacific Railroad mainline, stream analysis also identified solutions to alleviate bank over-topping and chronic flooding from the creek channel onto adjacent properties and over the existing roadway. Two culverts – including three-sided culvert with a natural bottom to accommodate the road widening – along with large wood debris add to this approach while also improving fish passage and habitat.
An aging and underutilized park in Vancouver, Washington, was redesigned to meet current safety and accessibility guidelines. In updating the design and amenities of Dubois Park, Otak developed a master plan – as well as subsequent construction support – to address a variety of goals based on input from the community.
A Park Site Plan to Meet Diverse Community Recreation Priorities
Originally installed nearly 40 years prior, Dubois Park underwent an extensive public engagement process to produce a preferred site plan that met community needs for recreation. For the 2.3-acre park that was largely underutilized, its redesign balanced a widely diverse set of priorities from the public. From sustainable materials and planting design to universally inclusive public amenities and creative play opportunities, the design placed an overarching emphasis on enhancing recreation opportunities for all ages. Park layout, topography, and program were adjusted and publicly presented to demonstrate respect for various concerns and how they were addressed. The park has received praise from both neighborhood users and park staff for preserving the woodsy quality of the park while also increasing it’s utility for the community as a whole.
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