This is my daughter, Andra

When she was eight years old.

 

 

Andra's all grown up now,

and this is what she does.............

 

 

 

It is the fortunate parent, indeed, who, when bragging about her children, has to include the curvature of the earth. 
 

A land developer approached Toman Engineering Company with the desire to develop a 150 Acre property into a PUD (Planned Unit Development). This agricultural property is located six miles north of Bismarck, North Dakota, and overlooks the Missouri River on its western side. This project is unique in that no development of this type has been attempted in this part of Burleigh County.
Once this project is complete, each lot will have gas, electric, cable tv, and rural water. The site dimensions are approximately 1,800 feet east-to-west and 4,500 feet north-to-south (six football fields x fifteen football fields). One hundred and twenty six total lots were created, 121 of those are residential, the other 5 either being commercial, recreational or non-buildable (green areas). The bay takes up about a third of the entire acreage.
The biggest challenge of this project was to design the bay and lots in such a way so no excavated dirt leave the site, and no extra dirt be brought in from another location. Andra had to make certain the bay was deep enough for water to the Missouri River. To avoid stagnation, an underground recirculation line will be installed on the north end connecting the bay and river. The dirt excavated from the bay then gets built up onto the building corridor (an area designated on each lot for a house to be built), and be at least one foot above the 100-year flood plain elevation (1638.8 ft).
After much trial-and-error, she accomplished this. The cut into the bay varied from 13 to 16 feet and the fill into the lots from 6 to 9 feet. The total material excavated exceeded 950,000 cubic yards. You'd end up with a pile of dirt 445 feet high, which is equivalent to a 45 story building.
Andra was accurate to the cubic inch.
To picture the magnitude of how much that is, imagine filling up a football field from endzone to endzone and its entire width (360' x 160').
The idea was to build a bay with one inlet connected to the Missouri River on the southwestern end of the property and with as many lots as possible. By creating four cul-de-sacs, Andra was able to create a total of 112 (3 commercial/recreational) lots with river/waterfront access. The photo indicates five cul-de-sacs, but the south one (on the right side of the photo) will be removed to make room for the boat slips. This photo was taken from the side window of a private airplane looking east and slightly south on November 5, 2004.
Two lots will be built for commercial use, including a possible restaurant/bar, convenience store and marina (See drawing). The south side will contain approximately 300 private boat slips available for rental. Several lots will be set aside for public boat ramps and parking. The lots north of the bridge at this time will be considered for condominiums.
Andra was not only charged with the subdivision and grading design, but all infrastructure including water, sanitary sewer, storm sewer and asphalt streets with curb and gutter (including the bridge crossing the inlet). She also had the responsibility for all construction staking. This entails setting points on the ground indicating how much dirt needs to be cut or filled at that location. This includes ground points, street centerline, storm sewer pipe, etc. (The utility elevation specs have not yet been completed).
After setting the original boundary points for the bay and control points to be used throughout the project, the construction company purchased a GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) system. Using this site as a test for their new equipment, she gave them the next series of points in an electronic file so they could set the points themselves. This saved the construction company, the owner and Toman Engineering time and money since their survey crews didn't need to spend so much time on the site, and the construction company didn't have any down time waiting for more stake points and grades.
After surveying the original site for existing surface contours and features, she submitted the preliminary plat to the City of Bismarck and Burleigh County Planning Boards for approval in December, 2002. Construction of the bay began in April, 2004. As of December 20, 2004, dirt is still being moved to take out the southern cul-de-sac and installation of storm sewer pipe emptying into the bay.