Bee Branch Creek Railroad Culverts and Pedestrian Tunnel Project Award PresentationCity of Dubuque
City Council Meeting
Presentation(s) # 01.
Copyrighted
June 17, 2024
ITEM TITLE: Bee Branch Creek Railroad Culverts and Pedestrian Tunnel Project
Award Presentation
SUMMARY: Representatives from Strand Associates will present the city with two
awards from the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC)
for the successful completion of the Bee Branch Creek Railroad Culverts
and Pedestrian Tunnel Project.
SUGGESTED
DISPOSITION:
ATTACHMENTS:
Description Type
MVM Memo City Manager Memo
Staff Memo Staff Memo
THE C
DUj!BQTE
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Bee Branch Creek Railroad Culverts and Pedestrian Tunnel
Project — Award Presentation
DATE: June 13, 2024
Dubuque
WAWca 914
ii
2007-2012.2013
2017*2019
Project Manager Steve Sampson Brown is providing background information on the Bee
Branch Creek Railroad Culverts and Pedestrian Tunnel Project — Award Presentation.
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Mic ael C. Van Milligen
MCVM:sv
Attachment
cc: Crenna Brumwell, City Attorney
Cori Burbach, Assistant City Manager
Gus Psihoyos, City Engineer
Steve Sampson Brown, Project Manager
Deron Muehring, Water & Resource Recovery Center Director
THE C
DUUB---&-FEE
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
TO: Michael C. Van Milligen - City Manager
FROM: Steve Sampson Brown - Project Manager
Dubuque
AA•Amerlu My
2007-2012.2013
2017*2019
SUBJECT: Bee Branch Creek Railroad Culverts and Pedestrian Tunnel
Project — Award Presentation
DATE: June 12, 2024
INTRODUCTION
This memo is requesting permission to present the city council with two awards from the
American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) for the highly successful
completion of the Bee Branch Creek Railroad Culverts and Pedestrian Tunnel Project.
DISCUSSION
Representatives from Strand Associates of Madison, WI who was the lead consulting
engineer on the project will present the city council with the 2024 ACEC Iowa Grand
Prize Award and the 2024 ACEC Wisconsin Best of State Award.
These awards acknowledge the successful completion of the project which vastly
improved stormwater conveyance and pedestrian/bike safety by utilizing creative design
tactics and strategies that solved several complex engineering challenges presented by
this unique project.
Project elements included installation of six, 8-foot diameter stormwater culverts, each
200 feet long, under the CPKC rail yard using tunneling methods that resulted in
providing the capacity to convey up to a once in 500-year rainstorm event. This
tunneling methodology allowed for railroad operations to continue unimpeded during
construction. In addition to the culverts under the railroad tracks, the box culverts
installed under Garfield Avenue as part of the earlier Upper Bee Branch Creek Project
were extended to a new buried junction chamber (or transition structure) where the flow
from the Upper Bee Branch Creek joins with stormwater flow from the historic Bee
Branch storm sewer that still remains in service. The combined storm flow is now routed
under the railroad tracks through the tunneled pipes into the Lower Bee Branch Creek
through an outfall structure. The outfall structure includes a flood gate with a pump
station to control the water depths within the Upper Bee Branch Creek segment and a
plaza overlook area was created for citizens to enjoy viewing the Lower Bee Branch
Creek.
This project also incorporated into the flood control system the 1920's vintage box
culverts that ran underneath the railroad tracks, by converting them to serve dual
functions: additional high -capacity flood conveyance and daily use as a grade separated
hike/bike path under the rail yard.
Due to the funding contributions made by local, state, and federal partners to support
the overall Bee Branch Watershed Flood Mitigation Project, Dubuque citizens will see a
return on their investment of more than $7 saved in property flood damage for each $1
spent on construction costs.
SSB/ssb
cc: Gus Psihoyos — City Engineer
Deron Muehring — W&RRC Director