County Commission | The Magazine June 2017 | Page 30

NEWS YOU CAN USE
Houston County takes home engineering
excellence award
C
Houston
County
ounties excel at finding – or
inventing – a way forward when
others see only roadblocks, and
Houston County’s recent project for the
local airport epitomizes this ability.
In fact, the Association of
County Engineers of Alabama
(ACEA) recognized the county’s
Road and Bridge Department, under
the leadership of engineer Barkley
Kirkland, with its 2017 John F. Courson
Excellence in County Engineering
Award.
The Dothan Regional Airport had
what was effectively a natural retention
pond just off the runway and very
much in the way of a new $75-million
flight training facility slated to create
100 jobs.
All members of the county crew had to earn certification from the Federal Aviation Administration
to work on airport property, and they accessed the job site via a secure entry/exit point staffed by
the Transportation Security Administration.
30 | COUNTY COMMISSION
Grant monies would cover only
half the cost of necessary drainage
improvements, leaving the airport
authority and chamber of commerce
in a holding pattern. In turn, they
attempted a “hail mary,” asking if the
county could get the job done for the
available $600,000.
The answer to that question was
“no,” but it was not the end of the
conversation.
“County engineering staff sat down
and scrutinized the original estimate,
looking at the needed equipment, labor
and materials that it would take to do
the job. They sharpened their pencils
and ‘value engineered’ the project
down to a cost of $900,000 from the
original estimate of $1.2 million,” the
award nomination stated.
How does “value engineering”
shave 25 percent off the project’s cost?
Here are some examples:
• Adjusting grades and adding
junction boxes to allow for shallower
pipe depths and open ditches;
• Swapping double lines of 36” pipe
for a single line of 48” pipe, which
also made drop boxes and inlets
less costly.
Grant dollars were still short, but
the chamber went back to the governor,
who kicked in an additional $300,000
so work could begin.
In the end, the county delivered
the project “on time, within estimated
budget and to the high standards of
the airport authority,” according to the
nomination. And, CAE USA moved
forward with its simulator-based training
facility for U.S. Army aviators. The
grand opening ceremony was in March
of this year.