allendale irrigation and fish screen

Allendale Canal and Fish Screen Allendale Canal and Fish Screen is part of the Flint Creek Water Project, owned by the Montana Department of Resources and Conservation (DNRC) and operated by the Flint Creek Water Users Association. The Montana Department of Justice’s Natural Resource Damage Program (NRDP) funded the project to improve irrigation efficiency and benefit fisheries in Flint Creek. The Allendale Canal is the largest and furthest downstream in the Flint Creek Water Project. It often takes a significant percentage of Flint Creek, especially later in the season when irrigation demand peaks from farms around the Drummond area. Allendale diverts Flint Creek water andRead More →

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vigilante stadium project

Vigilante Stadium Lighting Design Helena Public Schools’ Vigilante Stadium is in Helena’s South-Central neighborhood and home field to both Helena High and Capital High schools. In the fall during football season, it is busy nearly every Friday night as both schools take turns hosting home games and again throughout the spring for middle and high school track meets. The Problem The stadium, with its 1970-era HID lighting system, regularly sent the district’s maintenance staff scrambling for replacement parts that were extremely difficult to find and, in most cases, obsolete. Most of the poles had at least one fixture that did not function, and the lightingRead More →

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pump station solutions morrison maierle

Solutions to Help Accelerate Pump Station Construction Schedules Have you ever been up against a wall with your water distribution system? Has your pump station reached or even gone beyond maximum capacity? Do you find yourself scrambling to keep up with new developments? If you’re experiencing any of these scenarios, chances are your current pump station might be at the end of its lifecycle, and you need to plan for a new one. With all the problems you’re experiencing, you needed that new pump station yesterday. To help facilitate schedules while meeting various needs with future improvements, sometimes you need to explore alternatives. Fortunately, thereRead More →

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lighting controls

Beyond the Switch: Understanding Lighting Controls By Brian McDivitt, PE – Ever since the late 1800s, electrical circuits have used simple switches to turn lights on and off. In recent decades, energy codes have been encouraging innovation to reduce the amount of energy consumed by electric lighting. With lighting controls now starting to involve new functionalities such as automatic control of plug-in receptacles, many building owners find themselves wondering: what happened to the basic switch on the wall? The lighting controls components used in a building depend on the needs of the owner and the building’s function and size. Some components can wire into buildingRead More →

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generator oversized

Why is My Generator So Oversized? By Garth Stevens, PE – It’s a warm sunny day, and your facility is at full capacity, with everything humming along just right. Suddenly, the utility power drops out, and everything goes dark. You’re not worried, though, because you have a well-maintained generator that backs up your critical loads. Within seconds, the generator is up and running, and the loads transfer to the backup power. Since you are conscientious about maintenance, you head out to the generator building to check the load on the generator. All the backed-up loads are up and running, and you want to make sureRead More →

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play paxson morrison maierle

Commitment to Our Communities: How a Puddle Became a Playground “It all started with a puddle,” said Maria Chesnut on an afternoon Teams video call when asked about an effort she fondly refers to as her “passion project.” This puddle-come-playground Maria’s referring to is an expansive improvement effort she’s been collaborating on with several other dedicated Paxson School parents and grandparents in Missoula. While dropping off her son and daughter at school, Maria, a senior structural engineer from Morrison-Maierle’s Missoula office, noticed a huge puddle that was blocking a main access to the building and playground. Even as the remainder of the playground dried up,Read More →

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bend structural engineering mass timber clt

Seven Benefits of Panelized Mass Timber By Reed Newcomer, PE – Mass timber has become increasingly popular in the building industry in recent years and has placed exposed wood construction into the limelight. Given its many benefits, it is understandable why mass timber has gained popularity. Aside from being aesthetically pleasing, research has shown that mass timber buildings can provide occupants with both physical and psychological benefits. The characteristic properties of wood and proportioning of mass timber panels also provide numerous advantages to building owners that are deeper than just architectural appeal. While there are many other reasons to consider mass timber for your nextRead More →

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wastewater lagoon design morrison maierle

Staying Safe: Design Solutions for Sewage Lagoons By Rika Lashley, PE – One of the first things that comes to mind when designing a new or rehabilitated lagoon is treatment capacity. As engineers we often focus on functionality first. However, equally important is the ability to safely construct, operate, and maintain the facility. Addressing lagoon safety measures early during design can also help during construction and installation of the lagoon liner and equipment. There are several elements that can be incorporated into the design of a new lagoon (or installed during the upgrade of an existing lagoon) to facilitate safe access where needed and assistanceRead More →

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engineering design for building maintainability

Designing for Ease of Building Maintenance By Doug Downie – A good friend of mine once worked at a building maintenance company and would occasionally download with me that day’s work challenges. One theme that kept getting repeated was how difficult it was to maintain the equipment he had to work on. I often use the analogy of the three-legged stool for how buildings can be designed. The three legs are: Permittable – All designs must meet this minimum level from the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) in order to receive a permit to build.  Constructable – Various aspects of a design are challenging to build, which is relatively common.  Maintainable – A design that locatesRead More →

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How to Stay Safe Around a Wastewater Lagoon By Stephanie Seymanski, PE and Rika Lashley, PE Have you ever used a Slip ’n’ Slide? It can be great fun, just as long as it doesn’t empty out into a wastewater treatment lagoon! If you have nightmares of this nature, please read on. Many smaller communities across the country rely on lagoon systems to treat their wastewater. Historically, lagoons were lined with clay liners and overlaid with riprap. Accessing the water surface of these lagoons was also relatively easy and safe. However, over the past couple of decades, synthetic liners have replaced the older clay linersRead More →

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grading optimization tool

Rethinking Site Grading with Civil 3D Grading Optimization Site grading can be a challenge. As designers, we work around cut/fill slope constraints, ADA requirements, and minimum and maximum grades that all require grading. Engineers know that it takes time to address each project’s unique grading constraints, and it’s not uncommon to create multiple grading plan iterations during design to arrive at an optimal solution. All told, this process can take days or even weeks and can cost project owners time and money. There must be a more efficient way. Enter the Grading Optimization tool, debuting in the Architecture Engineering & Construction (AEC) Collection of AutodeskRead More →

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preliminary engineering report

What is a PER and Why Prepare One? By Stephanie Seymanski, PE – The Montana State Legislature wrapped up their 2021 session thereby replenishing planning grant funding for preparing Preliminary Engineering Reports (PER). So what does this mean for municipal officials in Montana’s cities and towns and what is a PER? If you’re new to this funding process, here is some basic information on PERs and how they are prepared. What is a PER? A PER evaluates the condition, capacity, and function of a water, sewer, storm, or irrigation facility. Typically, a PER focuses on an existing facility, but may also evaluate a new facility.Read More →

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cross laminated timber manufacturing

Cross-Laminated Timber: Considerations for the Entire Design Team By Chandra McCarthy, PE – Mmmm. Smell that? That lovely, earthy wood smell? All that timber… Okay, so maybe your nose can’t actually smell the fresh lumber scent as you walk through a new building with abundant timber, but your eyes sure can see it. Furthermore, the sensory appeal of mass timber is only one of its many favorable attributes. It’s no wonder mass timber in general, and cross-laminated timber in particular, are rapidly gaining popularity. While some mass timber products closely resemble their steel and concrete cousins in both form and function, this isn’t necessarily theRead More →

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