Inland Development Partners Wins Grand Award for Braun Intertec – Arbor Lakes Corporate Center, Site Remediation and Hazardous Waste Treatment at the 2023 ACEC/MN Engineering Excellence Awards.
Braun Intertec, contracted by a joint venture between Inland Development Partners and Opus Development Corporation, served as the environmental and geotechnical consultant on a project to redevelop a property that included a 70-year-old unpermitted dump in the City of Maple Grove, Minnesota.
Braun Intertec developed a plan to investigate the contaminated site and develop a response action plan to remove 125,000 cubic yards of dumped waste and prepare the site for a large industrial building. As the excavation proceeded, a previously unknown black tar-like material was encountered. The substance oozed like lava—yet retained a spongy, bog-like consistency on a subzero day in Minnesota. Lab tests showed this substance contained hazardous concentrations of trichloroethylene (TCE) and lead, and had a pH of approximately one. There was no established method to treat these three conditions simultaneously and the development project was in jeopardy without a successful remediation plan.
Braun Intertec and its partner laboratory developed a cost-effective and unique onsite treatment technique to render the waste non-hazardous, using readily available construction materials and tools. This technique enabled Braun Intertec to dispose of the treated waste at a conventional landfill rather than hauling the unprocessed hazardous waste to a more costly permitted hazardous waste disposal facility located either in Canada or Texas.
This course of action saved the joint venture at least $2 million and enabled construction to move forward for the $28 million, 204,000-square-foot building that has brought more than 400 new jobs to the City of Maple Grove.
The American Council of Engineering Companies of Minnesota (ACEC/MN) is the leading business practice and policy advocate for consulting engineering firms in Minnesota.
Formed in 1949, ACEC/MN represents the interests of its member firms by providing information to the public and acting as a conduit to provide excellent consultation services in the field of engineering to potential clients. Its 150 member firms, representing over 7,500 employees, provide services to all segments of society, including federal, state and local governments, private industry, and the general public. You can learn more about the consulting engineering profession by going to #Engineering.GoFigure, which promotes the achievements of engineers both today and historically, locally and nationally.
ACEC/MN is a member of the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), the largest national organization of engineers engaged in the practice of consulting engineering located in Washington, DC. ACEC is a federation of 52 state and regional councils representing more than 600,000 engineers, architects, land surveyors and other specialists who are responsible for more than $100 billion of private and public works annually.
There are many ways ACEC/MN recognizes the work of the engineering community, its member firms, and volunteer leadership, as well as promising young students who represent the future of the engineering profession.
For over fifty years, the association has been recognizing outstanding engineering projects through the Engineering Excellence Awards. Minnesota engineering firms have entered their most innovative projects and studies on an annual basis and are recognized for the work they have done to make the state stronger.
