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WILLETT, HOFMANN & ASSOCIATES, INC.
Consulting Engineers

Land Surveying - Transportation - Structural - Environmental - Architecture

 

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NOVEMBER 2009
HIGGINS AT WHA BECOMES PLS

DIXON, IL – November 24, 2009 – Willett, Hofmann & Associates, Inc. is proud to announce that employee Chris Higgins has become an Illinois Professional Land Surveyor (PLS).  As part of their employee growth program, WHA encourages all employees to further their education and attain professional licensing.

 

To become a PLS, candidates must complete four years as a surveyor-in-training (SIT) under the guidance of a PLS and pass a written examination. The examination covers legal aspects of surveying in Illinois, such as subdivision regulations and condominium plat laws, as well as general surveying analysis and how to retrace surveys and determine property boundary locations.

 

Higgins has over 13 years of experience in land survey work.  He started out as the instrument man on a crew, later became a crew chief and currently manages projects.  Over the past few years Higgins has developed a niche in surveying for wind farms.  The complex surveys involve working with large areas of land with many land owners, often located in multiple townships.  The wind farm surveys require establishing the overall boundary, as well as each turbine location within the boundary, to ensure that turbines meet local county setback restrictions.

 

Higgins received a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Technology from Western University.  Higgins also completed ABET accredited Southern Illinois University – Carbondale survey classes as well as attended a number of survey seminars and IDOT Technology Transfer classes.  In addition to his new Illinois license, Higgins is also a licensed Professional Land Surveyor in Wisconsin and Iowa.

 

Higgins lives in Walnut, IL with his wife, Emily, and their children Chelsea, 11, and Braydon, 6.  He works out of the Dixon office of WHA.   

 

Willett, Hoffmann and Associates, Inc. provides land surveying, civil and structural engineering, agricultural engineering, architectural services, and grant and loan funding application preparation from offices in Dixon, Freeport, Rockford, Joliet and Sterling, Illinois and Monroe, Wisconsin.  

 

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Chris Higgins, PLS

 

 

NOVEMBER 2009
ROHDE AT WHA BECOMES SIT

FREEPORT, IL – November 4,  2009 – Willett, Hofmann & Associates, Inc. is proud to announce that employee Jeff Rohde has passed his state examination to become a Surveyor In Training (SIT) in Illinois.  As part of their employee growth program, WHA encourages all employees to further their education and attain professional licensing.

 

To become an SIT candidates must have a degree in land surveying or a related science from an accredited college or university and must pass an exam on the fundamentals, principles and practice of land surveying. 

 

Rohde will work for four years under the guidance of a Professional Land Surveyor (PLS), after which he can apply to take the Professional Land Surveyor exam. 

 

Rohde received an Associates of Applied Science in Engineering Technology with an emphasis in Construction from Morrison Institute of Technology in 2001 and a Bachelors of Science in Industrial Technology with an emphasis in Construction Management from Illinois State University in 2003.

 

Rohde started as a summer intern for Gastel & Associates, P.C., now a part of Willett, Hofmann & Associates, working as a technician for both the surveying and civil engineering departments, and has been a full-time employee since 2003.  His experience in two crucial departments gives him a unique prospective to see a project from all possible angles. 

 

Jeff lives in Freeport with his wife Beth and their son.

 

Willett, Hofmann and Associates, Inc. provides land surveying, civil and structural engineering, agricultural engineering, architectural services, and grant and loan funding application preparation from offices in Dixon, Freeport, Rockford, Joliet and Sterling, Illinois and Monroe, Wisconsin.  

 

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Jeff Rohde, SIT

 

 

OCTOBER 2009
TWO AT WHA WIN ISPE AWARDS

DIXON, IL – October 26,  2009 – Willett, Hofmann & Associates, Inc. is proud to announce Jerry Hinrichs, P.E. and G. Matthew Hansen, P.E., were both honored at the Illinois Society of Professional Engineers’ annual conference.

 

Jerry Hinrichs, P.E., was awarded the Professional Engineering Management award honoring his professionalism, reputation for ethics, and excellence in managing, leading and teaching through example.  Each of ISPE’s 21 chapters has the opportunity to nominate just one professional engineer from the chapter, and Hinrichs was nominated by the Rock River Chapter to represent Northwest Illinois.  Each chapter submits a lengthy application that includes their candidate’s educational and civic background, professional and personal history, and current employment.  Candidates are judged on their achievement of technical goals, how well they encourage and inspire technical and professional growth among their staff, and their demonstration of professional ethics. 

 

Hinrichs retired from Willett, Hofmann & Associates in May of 2009 after almost 40 years in transportation engineering.  He began his career after obtaining a Civil Engineering degree from the University of Wisconsin – Platteville in 1970, and is a registered engineer in both Illinois and Wisconsin.  Hinrichs joined WHA in 1991 and served on the Board of Directors as the Director of Transportation from 1997 to 2008. 

 

Hinrichs grew up in Round Grove and graduated from Morrison High School in 1965.  Hinrichs and his wife Sandy live in Oregon and have two grown sons.  John and his wife Laurie live in Tinley Park with their two children Ryan, 7 and Cooper, 2.  Doug lives in Los Angeles and teaches AutoCAD, an engineering software program, at a trade school.

 

G. Matthew Hansen, P.E., was awarded the ISPE Mentor of the Year award for exemplifying the ideal image of a mentor.  Hansen currently mentors four engineering interns in the Environmental Engineering Department of WHA, and has seen many former interns go on to receive their professional engineering license. 

 

Matt Hansen has eighteen years of experience in environmental engineering designing water and wastewater systems, and is a member of the Board of Directors at WHA.  Hansen received his Civil Engineering degree from the University of Wisconsin – Platteville (1991) and is a registered engineer in both Illinois and Wisconsin.  Hansen has spent his entire career at WHA. 

 

Hansen grew up in Walnut, Illinois and went to Walnut High School.  He and his wife Kari live in Sterling and have two children: Cody, 12 and Carly, 9. 

 

Willett, Hofmann and Associates, Inc. provides land surveying, civil and structural engineering, agricultural engineering, architectural services, and grant and loan funding application preparation from offices in Dixon, Freeport, Rockford, Joliet and Sterling, Illinois and Monroe, Wisconsin. 

 

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Jerry Hinrichs, PE

 

 

Matt Hansen, PE

 

 

JUNE 2009
WHA CLIENTS RECEIVE STIMULUS FUNDS

DIXON, IL – June 9, 2009 – The first of Illinois’ state-wide American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus funds for environmental infrastructure projects went to four northern Illinois communities: Pecatonica, Dixon, LaMoille and Rockford.  The engineers of local engineering firm Willett, Hofmann & Associates, Inc. (WHA) designed the water treatment projects and prepared the loan documentation for the City of Dixon and the Village of LaMoille projects.  During construction WHA will also perform construction observation and project administration for the same two projects.

 

City of Dixon

Phase II (Wells No. 6 & 8) of the City of Dixon’s three phase radium reduction waterworks improvement project has been chosen to receive $4,134,201 of stimulus funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  The City will be required to pay back $3,100,651 of the funding as a 20-year loan with zero percent interest and the remaining $1,033,550 funding portion will be forgiven.  Over the course of the 20-year term of repayment, the City will see a total savings of over $2,200,000 when compared to a conventional loan with 2 ½ percent interest on the full amount.  The shovel-ready project has been awarded to Sjostrom & Sons, Inc. of Rockford and is slated to start construction immediately. 

 

Construction on Phase I, radium reduction facilities for Wells 7 & 9, was completed in March and is effectively removing over 97% of the radium in the wells.  Phase III, reducing radium in Wells 3 & 5, is scheduled to start construction in the spring of 2010.

 

WHA designed new water treatment facilities for six of the City’s seven wells using a pressure filter system and hydrous manganese oxide process to remove the naturally occurring radium and other contaminants.  Along with radium reduction, the filter system also removes iron, manganese and arsenic from the water supply.  The system works by first adding a controlled amount of hydrous manganese oxide into the water, with the radium ions naturally attaching themselves to the manganese particles.  The treated water is then filtered through sand and other filter media to remove the manganese particles along with other unwanted contaminants before being distributed through the City’s water distribution network and into residents homes and businesses.

 

WHA designed the improved treatment facilities using a three phase plan, improving two wells at a time in order to spread out the cost of the project and allowing the City to continue to provide adequate water to its residents. 

 

WHA Environmental Engineering Department Head Robert M. Gasper, P.E., and WHA CEO Ronald J. Steenken, P.E., S.E. both attended the press conference on the morning of Friday, June 5 hosted by Mayor James Burke to announce the funding.  Steenken stated “We are pleased to have had a part in securing stimulus funds for a project that is so important to the residents of Dixon.”

 

Village of LaMoille

The Village of LaMoille has been chosen to receive stimulus funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in the amount of $211,000 along with an additional $324,000 DCEO Public Facilities Grant for their waterworks improvement project.  The Village will be required to pay back $158,250 of the funding as a 20-year loan with zero percent interest and the remaining $52,750 funding portion being forgiven.  Over the course of the 20-year term of repayment, the Village will see a total savings of over $528,125 when compared to a conventional loan with 2 ½ percent interest on the full amount. 

 

The shovel-ready project has been awarded to Stenstrom General Contractors of Rockford and is slated to start soon.   

 

The Village of LaMoille uses a pressure filter system to purify their drinking water, filtering water under high pressure to remove iron and manganese contaminants.  However the existing pressure filters were constructed in 1936.  They are undersized for the growing community, and had become pitted and near the end of their useful life.

 

WHA designed an improved pressure filter system that would remove the iron and manganese.  WHA also performed a water system rate analysis and rate modifications were recommended to ensure there is adequate revenue to pay for operation, maintenance, replacement and debt service expenses into the future. 

 

Willett, Hofmann and Associates, Inc. provides land surveying, civil and structural engineering, architectural services, and grant and loan funding application preparation from offices in Dixon, Freeport, Rockford, Joliet and Sterling, Illinois and Monroe, Wisconsin. 

 

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MAY 2009
SCHROEDER AT WHA BECOMES SIT

DIXON, IL – May 26, 2009 – Willett, Hofmann & Associates, Inc. is proud to announce that employee Adam Schroeder has passed his state examination to become a Surveyor In Training (SIT) in Illinois.  As part of their employee growth program, WHA encourages all employees to further their education and attain professional licensing.

 

To become an SIT candidates must have a degree in land surveying or a related science from an accredited college or university and must past an exam on the fundamentals, principles and practice of land surveying. 

 

Schroeder will work for four years under the guidance of a Professional Land Surveyor (PLS), after which he can apply to take the Professional Land Surveyor exam. 

 

Schroeder was raised in Fulton and attended Fulton High School.  He attended Morrison Institute of Technology and received his Associate Degree in Applied Science in Engineering Technology with emphases in Construction and Surveying in 2005.  In 2007 he graduated from Southern Illinois University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Technical Resource Management with an emphasis in Land Surveying.  He had worked at WHA as a summer intern while attending SIU, gaining real-life experience to compliment his formal studies.  Schroeder began working full-time in the WHA Dixon Office Survey Department in 2007.

 

Schroeder and his wife, Katie, live in Tampico. 

 

Willett, Hofmann and Associates, Inc. provides land surveying, civil and structural engineering, agricultural engineering, architectural services, and grant and loan funding application preparation from offices in Dixon, Freeport, Rockford, Joliet and Sterling, Illinois and Monroe, Wisconsin. 

 

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Adam Schroeder, SIT

 

 

APRIL 2009
TWO AT WHA BECOME LEED ACCREDITED PROFESSIONALS

DIXON, IL – April 8, 2009  – Willett, Hofmann & Associates, Inc. is proud to announce that two employees, Thomas Houck and Alan Hulstedt, have passed the US Green Building Council requirements for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) accreditation. 

 

The LEED Green Building Rating System is a point based system where building projects can earn LEED points for specific green building criteria using standards for environmentally sustainable design and construction in six categories.  The categories are sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy & atmosphere, materials & resources, indoor environmental quality and innovation in design.  Professionals with a firm knowledge of  sustainable building design and the skills and understanding to successfully steward the LEED certification process may take the Green Building Certification Institute exam.  Those who pass the exam are considered LEED Accredited Professionals and may use the “LEED AP” acronym after their name.

 

Thomas Houck is head of the architectural department at WHA.  He has 20 years of design experience, and is a licensed professional architect in Illinois and Wisconsin and a licensed professional engineer in Illinois.

 

Houck received a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Bradley University in 1985 and a Master of Architecture from the University of Illinois at Urbana in 1990.  Houck lives in Dixon with his wife Christie and daughters Hailey and Hillary. 

 

Alan Hulstedt is an architectural intern in the Dixon office of WHA.  He is working towards architectural licensure through the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards Intern Development Program, a requirement to become a licensed architect in Illinois. 

 

A Rockford native, Hulstedt graduated from Hononegah High School in Rockton.  He attended Judson College in Elgin for two years, then transferred to Southern Illinois University – Carbondale and graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Architectural Studies.  Hulstedt lives in Davis Junction with his wife Jennifer and daughter Mylee.      

 

Willett, Hofmann and Associates, Inc. provides land surveying, civil and structural engineering, architectural services, and grant and loan funding application preparation from offices in Dixon, Freeport, Rockford, Joliet and Sterling, Illinois and Monroe, Wisconsin. 

 

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Thomas Houck,

A.I.A., P.E., LEED AP

 

 

Alan Hulstedt, LEED AP

 

 

 

JANUARY 2009
CAPTAIN SWIFT TIMBER COVERED BRIDGE WINS THIRD ENGINEERING DESIGN AWARD

DIXON, IL – January 2, 2009 – One little bridge in Princeton Township has won three very big awards. 

 

At the November 5, 2008 Wood Solutions Fair held in Minneapolis, WoodWorks North-Central presented Willett, Hofmann and Associates, Inc. (WHA) with an Engineering Award for the Captain Swift Timber Covered Bridge.  WoodWorks presented awards in four separate categories to projects that exemplified the outstanding use of wood in non-residential projects.  The Engineering Award presented to WHA was to recognize engineering firms that specify, design or build commercial, industrial or institutional projects using wood.

 

This is the third peer reviewed award WHA has received for the design of the Captain Swift Bridge this year.  In February WHA was presented with a Special Achievement Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), and in May WHA received the Juror’s Favorite Award from the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois (SEAOI).

 

The Captain Swift Timber Covered Bridge crosses Big Bureau Creek in Princeton Township and was designed for Princeton Township, Bureau County and the City of Princeton, Illinois. 

 

Covered bridges of the past were designed for limited use of horse-and-buggy traffic and are unpractical today.  What makes the Captain Swift Timber Covered Bridge unique is that unlike a typical covered bridge, this one has two lanes of traffic and is built to modern highway standards - semi trucks and even farm combines can safely travel the bridge.  Made entirely out of wood, it is the only two lane timber covered bridge in Illinois.

 

The key to the bridge is its unique combination of 19th century design with 21st century materials.  The strength of the bridge comes from its burr arch design, an idea patented by Theodore Burr of New York in 1804.  Willett, Hofmann & Associates engineers used the traditional design but replaced cut lumber with “glulam” lumber, a wood product manufactured by gluing laminated lumber together to increase the strength and length of the wood.  While Burr and his fellow 19th century bridge builders were limited by the height of available trees, glulam lumber allowed WHA engineers to use lumber that is longer and stronger than any tree, making the two-lane bridge possible. 

 

The bridge has already attracted sight-seers to visit the unique bridge in its rural setting, and the design of the bridge includes a parking area to accommodate visitors.  In addition to bringing tourist dollars into the area, the Captain Swift Bridge is designed to save taxpayers money.  Wood bridges are immune to the effects of salt that deteriorate steel structures during Illinois’ harsh winters, and the roof of the bridge itself will keep the structure dry and prevent wood rot.  The outer skin of the structure is Douglas Fir, which will age to a lovely chocolate brown and the attractive natural color will make painting unnecessary, further reducing maintenance costs.  With proper maintenance a timber covered bridge can last 150 years or more, which amounts to a savings for many generations of tax payers.

 

The lead engineer on the project was Brian Converse.  Converse is both a licensed professional engineer and a licensed professional structural engineer, and has almost 20 years of experience in structural engineering and bridge design.  Converse works out of the Dixon WHA office, and lives in Geneseo.

 

Willett, Hofmann and Associates, Inc. provides land surveying, civil and structural engineering, architectural services, and grant and loan funding application preparation from offices in Dixon, Freeport, Rockford, Joliet and Sterling, Illinois and Monroe, Wisconsin. 

 

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DECEMBER 2008
BRANDON JANES SERVES WITH "ENGINEERING MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL"

DIXON, IL – December 8,  2008 – The holiday season is a time for goodwill towards our fellow man.  Local engineering intern Brandon Janes of Willett, Hofmann & Associates (WHA) had an opportunity to experience international goodwill firsthand during an engineering mission trip to Rwanda in July. 

 

Janes’ experience was part of Engineering Ministries International (EMI), a non-profit, non-denominational Christian mission group.  EMI organizes teams of architects, engineers, surveyors, CAD technicians and construction managers to design infrastructure improvements in the developing world.  Their motto is “Designing a world of hope.”

 

Janes’ project was an EMI  partnership with Kids Across America and their sister organization, Kids Across Africa.  With a team of 12 composed of architects, engineers and one surveyor, their project was to design a Christian sports camp near the town of Musanze in Northern Rwanda on a 120 acre site overlooking Lake Burera.  The area was made famous by the movie “Gorillas in the Mist,” and the volcanoes surrounding Lake Burera are the only natural habitat for silver back mountain gorillas. 

 

The camp will include 10 girls cabins, 10 boys cabins, indoor and outdoor meeting facilities, kitchen and dining facilities, and extensive sports fields.  The sports facilities will include a ropes course, a boat dock, a World Cup sized soccer field, and an Olympic sized swimming pool.  When camp is not in session it will not stand idle.  The plan includes using the facilities as a training ground for Olympic athletes.  Janes noted that there currently is not an Olympic sized swimming pool in Rwanda, so aspiring athletes train in hotel swimming pools. 

 

The campers will be children who have been affected by genocide, and the hope is that the camp will build Christian leaders of tomorrow by healing the deep generational wounds the killings have inflicted.

 

To understand the children they are building the camp for, the trip included a visit to the Kigali Memorial Centre.  Opened in April of 2004, on the tenth anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide, the museum is built on a site where over 250,000 people are buried.  Janes said, “The Genocide Museum is an experience, to say the least.  They show you how it developed, what occurred, and the reconciliation.  Its surreal.” 

 

The pain of genocide, Janes notes, is still there.  “It’s awfully hard to express in words all the emotions that this subject means to these people. There are no longer people’s groups, they are all Rwandan.  There are memorials everywhere.  Everyone has a story.” 

 

Janes said his job in the camp design was to “design everything related to the water and wastewater on the site,” which included a wastewater treatment plant, a sanitary collection system, a water distribution system, and the related water treatment process.  A lot to put on the plate of a fresh-out-of-college budding engineer, but Janes confidently remarks “Sounds like a lot, but you do what you have to do.”

 

But he wasn’t feeling quite so confident at the project’s onset.  The site was beautiful, but his thoughts weren’t on the visible beauty, he was focused on what was underneath.  Janes notes “They literally wanted us to design a kids camp on the side of a mountain and on a steep peninsula.  All I could think about was, ‘How am I going to get piping through all this rock!’”

 

As if he wasn’t feeling overwhelmed already, Janes had a meeting with the head sanitary engineer of the country who said that Janes’ design would “set the pace” for the rest of the region.  In our country wastewater is tightly regulated.  Permits are required, inspections are conducted, and local ordinances dictate the size of detention and retention basins, maintenance responsibilities, and sewer connection procedures, all for the purpose of keeping our drinking water safe and our sewage thoroughly treated.  But Rwanda doesn’t have any regulations, and will depend on the EMI design to set the standard for future development. 

 

Janes noted on the youth of his teammates.  Of the twelve of them, only four were over age 30.  The lead architect was 24, the civil engineer was 25, and Janes, the environmental engineer, was just 25. 

 

Inspiration came from the EMI and Kids Across Africa leaders, who served as both project managers and spiritual guides.  With the realization of his responsibilities sinking in – all scheduled to be completed during a short two-week visit – Janes looked up at Jonathan Nimrod, president of Kids Across Africa, and said “But I’m only 25.”  The president’s response was “Big deal, quit your whining and realize that God put you here for a reason.”  Janes said that it was exactly what he needed to hear, and what he would have said to someone else in the same situation. 

 

Janes noted that having complete control over a project of such magnitude was scary, but that he found it forced him to step up and lead.  Says Janes, “It gave me a greater confidence in what I am doing, having that kind of responsibility.” 

 

Why did I go? I wanted to try my hand at missions and see if that’s a road I need to take.  Would I go back?  In a heartbeat.  I can easily say that it was one of the best experiences of my life, and I would highly recommend a short term missions trip for anyone who wants to serve,” said Janes. 

 

Janes grew up in Stillman Valley and graduated from Stillman Valley High School.  He attended the University of Wisconsin – Platteville, and worked as a summer intern for Willett, Hofmann & Associates while a student.  In 2007 Janes graduated with a degree in environmental engineering, then passed his exam to become a registered Engineering Intern (E.I.) and was hired full-time at WHA soon after.  Janes works in the Environmental Engineering Department under the supervision of licensed professional engineers to design water distribution and treatment systems.  After four years of supervised work he will be eligible to take the engineering exam to become a licensed Professional Engineer (P.E.).  Janes lives in Stillman Valley and works in the Dixon office of WHA. 

 

Willett, Hofmann and Associates, Inc. provides land surveying, civil and structural engineering, architectural services, and grant and loan funding application preparation from offices in Dixon, Freeport, Rockford, Joliet and Sterling, Illinois and Monroe, Wisconsin. 

 

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DECEMBER 2008
LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES RECEIVE IEPA LOANS

DIXON, IL – December 3,  2008 – The overall quality of water in Illinois has steadily improved over the last 35 years, due in part to the success of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s revolving fund loan programs.  The State Revolving Fund Loan program provides communities with access to long term (20 years) low interest (currently 2.5%) funding for water pollution and public water supply projects. 

 

Of the 31 communities throughout the state receiving a total of $108.7 million in wastewater loans and $66 million in drinking water loans during Federal Fiscal Year 2008, five were local communities working with the local engineers of Willett, Hofmann & Associates. 

 

Davis Junction received a loan of $11,846,600 for wastewater improvements.  WHA designed a new 800,000 Gallon per Day extended aeration Wastewater Treatment Plant and a connecting sanitary sewer system for the Village.   The plant is located East of U.S. Route 251 and South of Illinois Route 72.   

 

The City of Dixon was awarded a $5,217,402 loan for the first phase of their three phase Radium Reduction Waterworks Improvement Project.  Phase I includes the design and construction of the radium reduction facilities for City Wells No. 7 & 9.  The second phase for the City’s wells No. 6 & 8 is scheduled for construction to start in the spring of 2009 with Phase III for wells 3 & 5 following in late 2009 or early 2010. 

 

The Village of Ohio received a $1,160,000 loan for a waterworks improvement project.  Ohio’s water had been in compliance, but with the IEPA’s lowering of the minimum allowable amount of arsenic MCL it would not be.  WHA designed a new water treatment plant with a gravity filter, chemical feed equipment and a new building to improve the water of the existing well. 

 

The Village of Milledgeville received a loan of $1,135,508 to construct a new 250,000 gallon elevated water storage tower and new well building.  The new water tower replaces the Village’s 110 year old hydro pneumatic tanks and well building. 

 

The Village of Mount Morris was awarded a $706,382 loan for drinking water improvements after receiving notice that a well exceeded the IEPA’s maximum level for combined radium.  WHA designed a new well to replace the well that was out of compliance. 

 

The loans are revolving loans.  Principal and interest payments from current loans go back into the kitty to be loaned to other municipalities. 

 

Ronald J. Steenken, P.E., S.E., CEO of Willett, Hofmann & Associates, states “Many times a municipality doesn’t have a choice in making water improvements – it is something that just has to be done.”  Steenken notes that funding is often out there, but municipalities don’t always know where to look.  “We are proud that we can offer Illinois municipalities so many choices in loans, grants and other assistance so that the taxpayer feels the pinch of safe water improvements as little as possible.  That’s important to us – we all have to go home and pay our own taxes, too.”

 

Willett, Hofmann and Associates, Inc. provides land surveying, civil and structural engineering, architectural services, and grant and loan funding application preparation from offices in Dixon, Freeport, Rockford, Joliet and Sterling, Illinois and Monroe, Wisconsin. 

 

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OCTOBER 2008
WHA APPLAUDS CIVIL ENGINEERING SCHOLARSHIPS

DIXON, IL – October 20, 2008 – The Illinois Department of Transportation has announced their first Civil Engineer Scholarship Program, and local engineers are applauding the incentive.

 

A growing number of civil engineers are nearing retirement age, and the scholarships are intended to bring more young people into careers in civil engineering.  “We’ve noticed it in the industry, as well as in our own work force” reports Ron Steenken, P.E., S.E., president of local engineering firm Willett, Hofmann & Associates.  For example, the head of the WHA transportation engineering department, Jerry Hinrichs, is planning to retire next year.  Steenken notes “By that time Jerry will have worked as a professional engineer for almost 40 years.  We need students in engineering now so that we will continue to have 40-year veterans like Jerry in the future.”

 

The IDOT scholarship plans to award up to 20 scholarships for up to $7,000 each academic year.  Students need a high school grade point average of at least 2.5 on a 4.0 scale or 3.125 on a 5.0 scale, and must be admitted to or enrolled in a select Illinois pre-engineering or civil engineering program.  Applicants must also include two letters of recommendation and complete an essay question. 

 

Steenken notes “Hopefully, some students who are leaning towards majoring in math or science, but aren’t really sure what direction they want to go, will consider civil engineering as a career.” 

 

For more information visit www.dot.il.gov/scholarships

 

Willett, Hoffmann and Associates, Inc. provides land surveying, civil and structural engineering, architectural services, and grant and loan funding application preparation from offices in Dixon, Freeport, Rockford, Joliet and Sterling, Illinois and Monroe, Wisconsin. 

 

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JUNE 2008
WHA Hires Geoffrey F. Smith, P.E.

DIXON, IL – June 5, 2008 – Willett, Hofmann & Associates is proud to announce that Geoffrey F. Smith, P.E. has joined their staff as the Transportation Department Manager. 

 

Smith has twenty-five years of experience in transportation engineering, with twenty-two of those years spent at the Illinois Department of Transportation.  He has a diverse background in all aspects of planning, developing, and maintaining transportation systems for both public and private entities. 

 

Smith grew up in northwest Illinois and graduated from Mount Carroll Community High School with the class of 1981.  He received an Associates of Science in Civil Technology from Morrison Institute of Technology, an Associates of Science Degree in Pre-Engineering from Highland Community College, and a Bachelors of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois.  In 1994 he received his professional engineering license.   

 

Smith lives in Dixon with his wife, Robin, and three daughters.  He works out of the Dixon office of Willett, Hofmann & Associates. 

 

Willett, Hoffmann and Associates, Inc. provides land surveying, civil and structural engineering, architectural services, agricultural engineering, and grant and loan funding application preparation from offices in Dixon, Freeport, Rockford, Joliet and Sterling, Illinois and Monroe, Wisconsin. 

 

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MARCH 2008
WHA Design Wins Engineering Excellence Award

DIXON, IL – March 6, 2008 – Thirty-six  Illinois firms were recognized for excellence in engineering before an audience of over 300 engineers, clients and government officials at an Awards Luncheon held February 8, 2008 at the Crowne Plaza, Springfield, Illinois.  The firms were recognized for award-winning engineering projects in the American Council of Engineering Companies of Illinois’ Thirty-Seventh Annual Engineering Excellence Awards Competition.  The competition recognizes outstanding projects designed by private practice engineering firms from the State of Illinois.

 

Local engineering firm Willett, Hofmann & Associates, Inc. won a Special Achievement Award for their project, “The Captain Swift Timber Covered Bridge,” which was designed for Princeton Township, Bureau County and the City of Princeton, Illinois.  Special Achievement Awards are given for projects worthy of special recognition of the engineer for achieving engineering excellence.

 

Covered bridges of the past were designed for limited use of horse-and-buggy traffic and are unpractical today.  What makes the Captain Swift Timber Covered Bridge unique is that unlike a typical covered bridge, this one has two lanes and is built to modern highway standards - semi trucks and even farm combines can safely travel the bridge.  Made entirely out of wood, it is the only two lane covered bridge in Illinois.

 

The key to the bridge is its unique combination of 19th century design with 21st century materials.  The strength of the bridge comes from its burr arch design, an idea patented by Theodore Burr of New York in 1804.  Willett, Hofmann & Associates engineers used the traditional design but replaced cut lumber with “glulam” lumber, a wood product manufactured by gluing laminated lumber together to increase the strength and length of the wood.  While Burr and his fellow 19th century bridge builders were limited by the height of available trees, glulam lumber allowed WHA engineers to use lumber that is longer and stronger than any tree, making the two-lane bridge possible. 

 

Also unlike vintage covered bridges, the Captain Swift Bridge has a 21st century electrical system.  For fire protection, the bridge has a heat detection system that is wired into both the fire department and the police station.  It also has a webcam that currently feeds into the fire department and police station, but will soon also be on the internet for viewing by the public anytime.  The bridge has lights both inside and outside the structure, intended to aesthetically illuminate the structure and also increase security. 

 

The bridge is expected to be a tourist draw, and has already attracted sight-seers to visit the unique bridge in its rural setting.  In addition to bringing tourist dollars to the area, the Captain Swift Bridge is designed to save taxpayers money.  Wood bridges are immune to the effects of salt that deteriorate steel structures during Illinois’ harsh winters, and the roof of the bridge itself will keep the structure dry and prevent wood rot.  The outer skin of the structure is Douglas Fir, which will age to a lovely chocolate brown and the attractive natural color will make painting unnecessary, further reducing maintenance costs.  With proper maintenance a timber covered bridge can last 150 years or more, which amounts to a savings for many generations of tax payers.    

 

The lead engineer on the project was Brian Converse.  Converse is both a licensed professional engineer and a licensed professional structural engineer, and has almost 20 years of experience in structural engineering and bridge design.  Converse works out of the Dixon WHA office, and lives in Geneseo. 

 

Judges for the 2008 Engineering Excellence Awards Competition were:  Dr. Robert H. Dodds, Jr., Head of the Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois;  Roger Driskell, P.E., Engineer of Construction, Illinois Department of Transportation - Division of Highways; Joseph Lorenzini, P.E., Chief Engineering Officer, METRA; Chuck Spitzack, P.E., Chief of Project Management, United States Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island; Nicholas Venuso, Assistant Chief Engineer, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago; Senator Dale Risinger, P.E., Illinois Senate

 

Willett, Hoffmann and Associates, Inc. provides land surveying, civil and structural engineering, architectural services, and grant and loan funding application preparation from offices in Dixon, Freeport, Rockford, Joliet and Sterling, Illinois and Monroe, Wisconsin. 

 

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OCTOBER 2005
WHA Merges with Gastel & Associates, P.C.

DIXON, IL – October 6,  2005 Two long established firms combined with the announcement that Willett, Hofmann & Associates, Inc., the oldest land surveying and engineering firm in Northwest Illinois, has combined with Gastel & Associates, P.C., Freeport’s oldest land surveying and engineering firm, on October 6, 2005.  The merger creates a combined force of unmatched expertise for the region.

 

All current offices and staff remain in operation, and the joint venture has offices in Dixon, Rockford, Freeport, Joliet and Sterling, Illinois and Monroe, Wisconsin.  The new entity results in a staff of over fifty with a total of 12 licensed Professional Engineers, 4 licensed Structural Engineers, 5 licensed Professional Land Surveyors, and 1 licensed Architect.  Willett, Hofmann & Associates, Inc. has been retained as the firm name.

 

Gastel & Associates, P.C. was founded in 1970 and has been providing professional civil engineering, agriculture engineering and land surveying in the Freeport area for the past 35 years.

 

Willett, Hofmann & Associates, Inc. was founded October 1, 1966 as the product of the merger between two Dixon firms: C.K. Willett, Consulting Engineers, established in 1935, and Robert Hofmann and Associates, established in 1953.  For 70 years Willett, Hoffman and Associates has been providing land surveying, civil and structural engineering, architectural services, and grant and loan funding application preparation from offices in Dixon, Rockford, Joliet and Sterling, Illinois.

 

Ronald J. Steenken, P.E., S.E. serves as the president and general manager, with Craig L. Geiser, P.L.S. and Mike Leslie, P.E, S.E. serving as co-managers of the Freeport and Monroe offices.

 

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Last Updated:  03/05/2010
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