Engineering Chaos

Ahhh, that week between Christmas and the New Year, when everybody and their grandmother take off for a vacation, leaving the three of us still at work to get lots of things done without the ringing telephone to interrupt us with a bizarre question from a client who’s more ocnfused than a dyslexic in a spelling bee. On the subject of confused clients and phone calls, I’m reminded of a call several weeks ago that made such a profound impact on me, I made sure to note it on my time sheet with the description “Stupid Question” next to the typical job number and cost code. It was this phone call that made me realize that, in my 3 years since graduating, I already know more about engineering than many of the clients I work for, many of whom have 20+ years of so-called “experience” in the field. Normally, this might be an occasion to be proud of all my knowledge I’ve gained in such a short time, if not for the sobering fact that these people I deal with are likely making millions of dollars on these projects.

The phone call went much like this:

Alfred A. (client): “I need you to come out to the site right now. It’s an emergency! The pond you designed could collapse at any minute.”

Me: “Calm down. What’s the problem.”

A.A.: “There’s a lot of water in this pond, and I don’t think there should be any in there.”

Me: *laughing* “Of course there is, the pond is supposed to have water in it, especially since it rained this morning.”

A.A.: “But not this much!”

Me: “How high is the water?”

A.A.: “Really high. You need to get out here right now.”

Me: “Look at the headwall near Lot … Is the water up to the top of the headwall?”

A.A.: “Yes it is.”

Me: “Is the pond still being used as a sediment basin*?” (*During construction, a pond is designed slightly different than how it will appear after everything has been completed, and during this phase it is referred to as a “sediment basin”.)

A.A.: “Yes. Why?”

Me: “When we design a sediment basin, we’re required by the county to provide more storage than in the pond when it’s completed. That means the water levels are usually higher, and if that headwall was built correctly, then it sounds like the water should be right at the top of it.”

A.A.: “…”

Me: “Are you still there?”

A.A.: “I’ve never heard of that before.”

Me: “Well, now you know. Any other questions?”

A.A.: *click*

On an unrelated note, I learned the other day that my two favorite [/sarcasm] clients at the Greenbelt station project (Sandi G. and Tom T.) are apparently a couple. That would explain a LOT.

Came in to work today to discover that, because I took the day off yesterday, my time sheet was approved before I could complete it. Unfortunately, that means my leave time yesterday, and my time today won’t show up on my next paycheck (I’ll have to wait 3 weeks now), but at least I’ll eventually get paid.

However, I’m happy because I found a bag on my desk when I arrived that contained a bottle of wine from one of the area’s biggest homebuilders (Pulte Homes) thanking me for all the work I’ve personally done on the Greenbelt Station project to keep things moving forward. I only wish our client understood or appreciated as much as the homebuilders just how hard we’ve worked on this development.

On a side note, I think I may have found a new addiction:? Guitar Hero II. *ashamed*

Before I begin my daily rant, I’d like to give everyone a brief overview of what I’ll be ranting about. As many of you know, I’m a civil engineer working in the Washington, DC area. Some months ago, I was put in charge of my very first large-scale project … which just happened to be the most technically challenging project our little office has ever undertaken. As part of this project (called “Greenbelt Station”), we are constructing several hundred townhomes, several apartment buildings, high-rise offices and shops overtop of a 100-year old gravel mining pit, which today, has a consistency somewhere between quicksand and air. Not only will this be the most geotechnically complicated project ever undertaken here, it will also be the most logisticaly complicated project in this office, and that’s because it lies within the city limits of Greenbelt, MD. A city with it’s own bizarre cast of city planners and engineers who are constantly at odds with county and state requirements. Needless to say, their layout requirements, at best, have caused havoc with our goals of designing this site to meet county and state environmental requirements, as well as the requirements of all the utility companies. At worst, they simply contradict. I’ll go much more in-depth in later blogs whenever clarification is needed, but combined with an aggrivating and perpetually confused client, the project is essentially a clusterf***!

Today’s adventure begins when our client, or the site’s project manager, Sandi G. shows up tp sign some plans that are ready to be approved by the county. These “sediment control” plans are approved by an agency that operates independently from the county, and their job is to ensure that all construction that takes place must not allow sediment (mud, silt, etc… ) to wash off the site onto neighborhing properties, or worse, into streams and rivers. As a result, they have many different tools that we utilize to prevent this runoff, including a device called silt fence. (You have probably seen these around construction sites: It’s a short fence made of black fabric strung between wooden stakes, or in the case of “super silt fence”, black fabric strung across a chain link fence.)

Silt Fence

While signing the plans, Sandi G. asked me: “Can I grade over here to start building the exercise trails?” (pointing to a spot outside of the approved limits of disturbance, or “LOD”).

“No, you don’t have a permit to grade in that area yet. We’re working on that permit right now.”

“What if I do it anyway?”

“Then the county can shut you down and fine you.”

“How will they ever know?”

“If a county inspector ever comes out there and sees the work past the silt fence, he’ll know.”

“Not if we bury the silt fence.”

This conversation, surprisingly, it more the norm than the exception. Our client is not only ignorant of many of the county and state’s environmental rules, but resistant to follow them. Worst of all, they frequently try to enlist our help to break the rules, which my refusal to do so has frequently made me the target of angry phone calls and emails.

However bad Sandi G. might be, at least she communicates with us (to varying degrees of success) on a regular basis, and allows us to opportunity to explain the situation to her. Unlike the site construction superintendant Tom T. Of all the people I have dealt with in my career, Tom T. is easily the most blatantly dishonest I have ever encountered. He will call us and request one thing, then turn around and yell at us because he claimed he asked for something different. In one phone call with him, he threatened “I’ll sue you and the entire company!” in response to a cut sheet we provided him that called for additional dirt to be placed in a low area … that he assumed by eye sight alone had been graded properly.

Today’s adventurewith Tom T. combines his blatant disregard for the law (and honesty) with the cluelessness of a particular engineer at the city of Greenbelt, whom we shall call Jim S. Last week, Tom T. requested that we restake the LOD (not giving us any clearer indication of what he wanted). I notified the surveyors to use the LOD approved by the most recent grading permit, which does not include construction of an excercise trial along a stream and through wetlands. We began to do this, and Tom T. confronted our survey crew, led by my roommate Larry C., to get off his site because he felt they were staking things out wrong. They left. On Monday, he called and harassed us because we weren’t on-site, staking out the LOD like he requested, so we sent our surveyors back out on super-short notice to resume the work. Today, the city inspector, Jim S., showed up to view the site … and immediately shut them down. His justification? He couldn’t find the limits of forest preservation on the plan he had. The plan he had was a sediment control plan, and the limits of forest preservation should NOT appear on that plan. He told me to just add them. I told him the county will not let me add it to the plan. He told me to do it anyway. I told him again that the county won’t allow it, and that there is a completely seperate plan, already approved by the county AND the state, that shows the limits of forest preservation, called a “Type 2 Tree Conservation Plan.” He claimed that he had never heard of such a plan, and wanted me to just add it to the sediment control plan that he had in his hands at the moment.

Eventually, we reached a compromise: I sent him a copy of the plan he had never heard of, we stake out the limits of forest preservation on-site, and our surveyors filed an official request with the developer to remove Tom T. from his position. As I write this, the survey department is compiling a full list of all contradictions, lies, illegal practices, and complaints against him… which should take quite a while.

And so the saga continues.

My first post here! I felt it was about time to start a blog where I could finally begin to detail the crazy experiences that happen to me regularly. It might be boring for some, but I hope SOMEONE out there enjoys it.