Three
South
Dakota Mines seniors
didn’t want their final design project to be just an academic exercise to cap
their engineering degrees. They wanted to see the project built, installed and
making a difference in the community. Civil engineering majors Joshua Fleming,
Christian Heinrich and Cody Allen dedicated themselves to doing whatever needed
to be done to make that happen. Even if they had to raise the money and install
it themselves.
The
students accomplished their goal in late April when they placed their finished
product at Trinity
Eco Prayer Park in the park’s stormwater collection
channel.
“Between
making report deadlines, presentations, meetings, purchase orders,
manufacturing, installation; and all of our work in other classes, we
constantly felt like we were going to fall behind on the project,” said
Fleming. “However, we are extremely excited to have hit the point to get it
installed.”
The
team lined up anonymous donors to help pay for project materials and made
arrangements with All Metal Manufacturing to donate time to build the structure,
which is called a weir, that was installed at the park.
It
all started when the team met with Trinity Eco Prayer Park Director Ken
Steinken in January to talk about the potential for a senior design project at
the park, which is located in downtown Rapid City at 4th and St.
Joseph Streets. This is not the first time the park has served as a living laboratory for Mines students. As part of the park’s mission to be a
model for sustainability, the park has welcomed previous Mines students’ design
and research projects. The park has also hosted tours for design professionals,
scientists and municipal planners.
The
team heard about the research and drainage renovations which are underway at
the park and were interested in getting involved in some way. Project manager
Jason Phillips of TerraSite Design explained the need to design a plate
that would enable future researchers to measure the amount of stormwater that
flows into the park, which also serves the dual purpose of a stormwater
detention facility. He also mentioned that funding for the plate was not
included in the current phase of construction.
Inspired
by Phillips, who is also a doctoral environmental engineering student at Mines,
the senior trio caught the vision for the project. They proceeded full speed
ahead to map out the stages of their project to research, design and vet the
project, which included extensive calculations to determine if the plate would
be able to handle the force from a typical high-volume Black Hills cloudburst.
They
also built a scale model to run simulations to confirm their findings. And they
met with Steinken and Phillips to make sure they approved of the proposed
design. After the meeting they proceeded to finalize their plan in preparation
for the presentation of their project at the end of the semester.
None
of this is unusual since that's what all senior projects are supposed to do.
“This team took it to the next level when they made contacts to raise money to
pay for the necessary materials and arranged with All Metal Manufacturing to
donate services to make the plate,” said Park Director Steinken. “Plus they offered
to install it themselves, as long as someone could provide them with a hammer
drill to do it.”
The
team estimated the installation would take about two hours. But due to some
unforeseen issues it ended up taking closer to 10 hours. However, the team had
no regrets about the additional effort and time required to see their idea
turned into a reality that will be in the park and facilitate research for many
years to come.
“I
wish it would have gone according to plan a little bit better,” said team
leader Fleming. “But I’m happy with the final product and getting it done all
the way to the end."
“As
frustrating as it is, I think the experience you get from actually doing the
project is pretty important,” added Heinrich.
The
students will present their project Wed., May 5 at 1:50 p.m. in the
Civil/Mechanical Engineering Building on the Mines campus in room 310. The
presentation can also be viewed online at here.