2021 Engineering Excellence Grand Award Winner

Olsson Niobrara River Us 281

Olsson is awarded the 2021 ACEC NE Grand Award for their US Highway 281 Over Niobrara River Emergency Repairs.

In March 2019, a rare bomb cyclone hit Nebraska resulting in record snow fall, heavy rains, flooding, and massive ice build-up against Spencer Dam about five miles south of Spencer, Nebraska, causing a breach and severe flooding downstream. Floodwaters from the breached dam wreaked havoc on U.S. Highway 281 (US-281), an important highway maintained by the Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT). Flooding also created a new river channel, washing away approximately 1,300 feet of the existing US-281 embankment.

NDOT reached out to Olsson transportation professionals to help restore the roadway and bridge who began this emergency repair project March 22, 2019, within eight days of the destruction. Because access to the site was limited, Olsson used drones to photogrammetrically map the project area and collect the information needed to properly engineer corrective measures. Olsson’s in-house geomorphologist and hydraulics specialists analyzed the channel’s instability so bridge engineers could account for it in the designs of the temporary and permanent bridges. Olsson environmental professionals worked to ensure all proposed solutions would comply with the emergency Clean Water Act (CWA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Ultimately, two bridge structures were designed to restore access to this area. By committing key senior design staff to this emergency project, Olsson’s final design plans went out for bid on May 1, 2019 — just six weeks after NDOT’s notice to proceed. A temporary, one-lane bridge restored traffic on US-281 within four months. The permanent bridge replacement, and associated roadway and approaches, opened on October 15, 2020.

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Aaron Buettner

State Director

Aaron Buettner, PE, CVS leads Benesch’s Nebraska structural group, bringing more than 27 years of experience in structural engineering, project management and value engineering to every project he touches. His work spans highway, railroad and pedestrian bridges, and he has delivered public and private projects across the country involving a wide variety of materials and structure types.

Aaron’s technical depth covers the full project lifecycle, from structural design and in-service inspection to forensic evaluation and construction administration. He is proficient in multiple structural design and analysis software platforms and has a keen understanding of load paths and constructability. As a Certified Value Specialist (CVS), Aaron’s Value Engineering work has generated tens of millions of dollars in potential construction cost avoidance for clients ranging from state DOTs to transit agencies.

Notable projects include the Lincoln South Beltway, where his team designed 10 of 21 bridges on the freeway corridor; the N-12 Emergency Bridge Repairs in northeast Nebraska, where biddable plans for three flood-damaged structures were delivered in just three weeks; and the Penny Bridges Replacement in Lincoln, where value planning produced a context-sensitive solution that earned broad community support.

Aaron also serves as a Structures Specialist on Nebraska Task Force 1 (NE-TF1), which is one of 28 FEMA Urban Search & Rescue (US&R) teams located throughout the United States. In this role, he supports the search and rescue mission by assessing damaged structures, recommending structural hazard mitigation within those structures, and monitoring the structure for condition changes during rescue and victim recovery operations. During his tenure with NE-TF1, he has deployed ​on numerous missions within the state of Nebraska and around the nation to assist communities that have been impacted by emergencies or disasters.

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