AYRES ASSOCIATES: Southeast News & Events

Transportation Leadership Announced

Martin Hanson, PE, has been promoted to the new position of director of transportation relations. Bruce Ommen, PE, succeeds Hanson as vice president for Midwest transportation operations.

In his new role, Hanson will focus on assessing and expanding transportation market opportunities for our 13 offices and developing strategic relationships in the industry. President Thomas Pulse, PE, praised Hanson for his ability to build relationships with transportation design and construction firms and governmental agencies.

"Marty will continue to develop his contacts on the state level as it relates to transportation policy and funding but will expand his role into the national arena, where he will monitor and interact with national leaders in the transportation field," Pulse said.

Ommen, who previously served as manager of transportation engineering, will oversee groups providing transportation engineering, structural engineering, construction observation, and related services in our Wisconsin and Arizona offices.

"Bruce has an exceptional understanding of our Midwest transportation division and market," Pulse said. "In his new role he will build on the regular involvement he already has with staff in our Wisconsin offices and increase his involvement with our Arizona staff."

Instructors Win National Highway Institute Awards

The Federal Highway Administration’s National Highway Institute (NHI) has designated James Schall, PhD, PE, and Peter Lagasse, PhD, PE, Instructors of Excellence for fiscal year 2010, based on their superior expertise and learner-focused instruction in NHI courses in urban drainage design, culvert design, highway hydraulics, and bridge scour.

The designation reflects consistently high evaluations from transportation professionals who take the courses. Schall and Lagasse are vice presidents in Ayres Associates’ Fort Collins, Colorado, office.

Ayres Associates also received the NHI Team Administrative Award for its training work in fiscal year 2010.

Founder Wins Lifetime Achievement Award

The Daily Reporter has announced its 2011 Newsmakers of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award goes to Owen Ayres, founder of Ayres Associates. The Milwaukee-based publication focuses on the construction and engineering industries.

Ayres started the firm in 1959 in Eau Claire, and he continues to mentor the firm’s young engineers, architects, and scientists today. The company bears the cultural imprint of integrity, innovation, and employee ownership that Ayres instituted from the beginning.

And, at age 86, Ayres is still going strong, arriving at the office around 7:30 a.m. each workday. He is known for going out of his way to get to know the younger employees and taking them out for coffee or lunch, encouraging their efforts to design a better future for Ayres Associates and for the communities where it does business.

Ayres is also known for the humility he expresses regarding his success in business. From his World War II military service to his philanthropy to the many twists and turns he navigated in his engineering career, Ayres often chalks it up to good luck and to the people he hired.

Clients Boost Ayres Associates in Preference Poll

Ayres Associates ranked 21^st in the nation among road and highway design firms and 19^th in the nation among bridge design firms in Roads & Bridges magazine’s annual Go-To List for Design Firms.

Roads & Bridges sent its 2011 voting ballots to more than 10,000 government officials and asked them which design firm they preferred to work with. Unlike other rankings, the Go-To List reflects project owner preference, not gross earnings.

ENR Ranks Ayres 251^st Largest

Ayres Associates is ranked the 251^st largest design consulting firm in U.S. in the latest rankings by ENR magazine.

Presentation Dissects Design of Dual Lane Roundabout

Ourston Roundabout Engineering rendering

Leah Ness, PE, PTOE, an Ayres Associates traffic engineer, presented a recent case study regarding lessons learned in the design of one of Wyoming’s most complex roundabouts.

Converting three closely spaced signalized intersections into one dual lane, five-leg roundabout intersection with high projected traffic volumes presented many challenges on the Cheyenne project, says Ness, a nationally certified professional traffic operations engineer. The project – at the juncture of three streets – needs to minimize adjacent right-of-way impacts while simultaneously providing a design that is expandable to a three-lane roundabout if traffic levels rise to more than 5,000 entering vehicles per hour by 2035 as projected.

The roundabout, with a 2011 construction start, is Cheyenne's third roundabout and its first in a high-traffic-volume arterial location. Besides providing adequate traffic flow, the planned roundabout will reduce possible severe-angle vehicular conflict points to five, compared with 100 potential severe-angle conflict points in the three signalized intersections the roundabout will replace, Ness says.

Ness delivered her presentation at the Arizona Spring Conference of the Institute of Transportation Engineers/International Municipal Signal Association in Phoenix. Part of the presentation is available at http://www.youtube.com/user/222infiniti?feature=mhum#p/a/u/2/qYeG81176dw.

Engineer Earns Traffic Certification

Leah Ness, PE, has received certification as a Professional Traffic Operations Engineer (PTOE) after meeting the prerequisites and testing requirements of the Transportation Professional Certification Board. Ms. Ness, who serves clients nationwide, is one of only 38 consulting firm professionals in Wisconsin who hold PTOE certification.

Ms. Ness' certification is part of Ayres Associates' efforts to remain at the leading edge of the traffic engineering field. Ms. Ness, who is a registered professional engineer with eight years of traffic engineering experience, successfully completed an all-day examination on the following areas of expertise:

traffic operations analysis
operational effects of geometric design
traffic safety
traffic control devices
traffic engineering studies
social, environmental, and institutional issues

Poorly designed or outdated designs for streets, intersections, and traffic controls can trigger travel delays and even safety hazards. Ms. Ness' PTOE certification means she is particularly well-qualified to analyze traffic and develop designs that meet future traffic and intersection capacity needs while accommodating the demands of potential development and greatly reducing hazards. Furthermore, PTOE certification requires renewal every three years, involving at least 45 hours of professional development, to keep Ms. Ness at the cutting edge. For more information on our traffic services, contact Leah Ness.

One Week, 44 Emergency Bridge Inspections,
One Happy Client

Ayres Associates quickly put its bridge inspection experts in motion after the City of Atlanta called to seek this specialized service for 44 bridges lapped by eight days of continuous rainfall. The call came about 4 p.m. on Friday, September 25. Within a few minutes Ayres Associates was shuffling schedules across the country to make it all happen.

After a morning planning meeting with the City, inspections began about noon on Monday, September 28. By Thursday afternoon the 44 inspections were done. By Friday afternoon the City had the inspection reports in hand, complete with CADD drawings and hundreds of photos. Other inspectors performing similar work for Atlanta submitted hand-drawn sketches.