OHM Advisors' Projects Receive Highest Honors from ACEC Michigan

    LIVONIA, MI, March 17, 2018 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The community advancement firm of OHM Advisors, which provides architecture, engineering, planning, surveying, and construction consulting services, has announced that the Midland County Emergency UAS/GIS Assessment Project is the winner of the 2018 Surveying Eminent Conceptor Award from the Michigan Chapter of the American Council of Engineering Consultants (ACEC).

ACEC Michigan presented the award, its highest honor, to OHM Advisors and the Midland County Road Commission at the 53rd Annual ACEC Michigan Engineering & Surveying Excellence Awards Gala on March 10, 2018, in Grand Rapids. The statewide competition, hosted annually, identifies engineering and surveying achievements that demonstrate an outstanding degree of client satisfaction through innovative, cost-effective solutions.

As the consultant for the Midland County Road Commission (MCRC), OHM Advisors provided an emergency infrastructure assessment after historic flooding in June 2017 caused $7 million in damage to infrastructure and widespread road and bridge closures throughout Midland County. The OHM Advisors project team quickly gathered and presented the data collected at heavily damaged sites using unmanned aircraft system (UAS) technology (commonly known as drone technology) and GIS software. Although these are not technologies commonly used together, the approach proved to be quicker and more comprehensive than traditional surveying.

OHM Advisors' innovative approach cut project completion time nearly in half -three weeks earlier than expected - allowing OHM Advisors to pass critical information to the team assigned to design the repairs. The quicker project completion time also allowed MCRC to update residents on the conditions and status of repairs sooner.

Said Midland County Road Commission (MCRC) Director Terry Palmer, "I'm extremely pleased with how quickly they were able to get information to the design team for solutions. With so many other things to worry about, this was of incredible value."

ACEC Michigan also recognized the OHM Advisors/MCRC Team with an Engineering Honorable Conceptor Award - its second highest accolade -for the Midland County GRS-IBS Bridge Program. The implementation of this flexible, quick-build solution to replace aging single-span bridges throughout the County provided significant benefit in just a year - saving more than a million dollars in construction costs and outperforming similar-sized bridges during the flood in 2017. The project team presented their experience at the County Road Association (CRA) of Michigan Highway Conference & Road Show in Lansing, March 14, and will also present at the Michigan Bridge Conference in Ann Arbor, March 20.

About OHM Advisors: OHM Advisors (ohm-advisors.com) is the community advancement firm. Founded in 1962, we deliver award-winning work across the architecture, engineering, and planning spheres. With more than 400 employees in 13 offices throughout Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee, our team partners with leaders at all levels of government, school districts, developers, universities, and private companies, to create great places.

# # #