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National Association of County Engineers ~ February 2020
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Update from NACE President Tim Hens
Well Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow, so spring must be just around the corner. However, the National Weather Service claims that Phil is only correct 40% of the time; which given the 50/50 odds, seems rather weak. Of course, the NWS shouldn't be throwing stones if you ask me! There hasn't been much of a winter this year in the northeast or much of the northern states for that matter. So far, that is! Contrary to Phil's prognostications, there is still a bunch of winter in front of us!
I was fortunate enough to experience the warmer than normal winter temperatures in Minnesota a few weeks ago while attending the Minnesota County Engineers Association Conference. Typically the weather during the MCEA conference hovers right around 0° F and all of the cars with block heaters get plugged in so they can start when it's time to go home. Not so much this year. The temperatures were above freezing and you could venture outside in a hoody. Minnesota knows how to throw a conference. Fun night in the field house was a great ice-breaker and their new engineer welcome is as unique of an event (outside of the CLODS BBQ in California) that I have seen during my state visits. I was happy to not be labeled an "Other" when I announced during introductions that my alma mater was the Air Force Academy. Fortunately, one of my schoolmates, David Kramer, is the County Engineer in Winona Co, MN. MCEA had great sessions and I brought home some valuable information from the "10 Commandments of Working with your County Board". Minnesota has 5 living NACE Past-Presidents, more than any other state. I was able to spend time with Past-Presidents Duane Blanck, Sue Miller, and Rich Sanders. In fact, Rich and I got in some ice fishing and Rich was able to pull a 4 lb walleye into the shanty!
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NACE North Central Region Update
Jeff Blue, P.E.
As I put my thoughts together regarding NACE and the many opportunities it affords us as
members I am looking out the window at four inches of snow that fell last night in Champaign, Illin
oi
s and preparing for -15 degree wind chills that will inevitably keep our crews out chasing the blowing the snow for the next few days to keep our constituents safe as they go about their everyd
ay lives and assume that we will do our job of clearing the roads so they can do their jobs as well. It has become kind of the County Engineer's motto over the last few years to be the 'safety engineer" when it comes to local roads and streets within our jurisdiction. People increasingly want to come and go at all hours of the day and night and not have to worry about whether they or their family members will be safe on our roads, but this comes at a cost and we as professionals are constantly w
eighing the costs vs. the benefits of what we can and cannot do to make sure the roads are safe for the traveling public. As the NACE delegation chair to the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, I and the o
ther delegates are constantly reminded of this responsibility every time we vote on new initiatives to be included in the MUTCD. At the most recent NCUTCD meeting in Washington D.C. there was a pretty significant push to increase the edge line widths on all roads with an ADT over 1000 from 4" to 6". While this is a safety-related matter and will definitely help the connected and automated vehicles to detect the edge of the road and help all drivers better navigate our systems and keep their vehicles in the driving lane it comes with a significant cost and burden on the local road authorities. Therefore, through negotiations by your NACE delegation which includes engineers from Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, California, Florida and Illinois we were able to convince the NCUTCD Council to keep the warrant the same as written in the 2009 MUTCD in Section 3B.07 and recommend that the 6" stripes be standard for all roads over 6000 ADT.
Read On
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NACE Annual Awards- Call for Nominations
Deadline: March 5, 2020
Submit an Exceptional Engineer or Safety Champion for a NACE Award
NACE presents 3 awards annually:
- Rural County Engineer of the Year
- Urban County Engineer of the Year
- Project / Program Manager of the Year
These highest awards are bestowed to deserving NACE members, recognizing county road officials for their applications or management of efficient engineering management principles for the economic design, construction, maintenance and operation of public works facilities, roads, bridges or related projects.
David P. Brand Safety Award
This award recognizes an individual who has followed in Dave Brand's footsteps, having a positive influence on improving safety on the local, regional, state and national levels.
Accordingly since it considers life-time achievements and not discrete projects as such, the Safety Award may not be awarded every year.
Award Candidate Submissions
Nominations for all awards close on March 5, 2020.
NACE extends our sincere appreciation to Awards Chair Greg Parker, PE; Safety Chair Andy Avery, PE; and their committees for reviewing the application packets and selecting the recipients.
Visit
the Awards page to access the guidelines and nomination forms.
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Join more than 350 of your fellow County Engineers in Orange Beach, AL in April!
Delegates: Register today and make plans to get the most out of technical sessions on a broad array of topics, networking with potential vendors, and enjoying the gorgeous spring weather in Alabama!
Exhibitors:
Equipment spaces are almost sold out, but there are still indoor exhibit booths available. Learn more
here.
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Job Postings
Check out the latest job postings from our members
here.
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