Design and Construction

Engineering Design
The Engineering Division provides both in-house design as well as the management of consultant design contracts for capital improvement projects, depending upon project scale and scope.  The following are the major capital improvement programs:

  • Arterial & Collector Street Program - concrete and hot-mix asphalt pavement
  • Local Street Reconstruction Program - concrete and hot-mix asphalt pavement
  • Local Street Resurfacing Program - hot-mix asphalt pavement
  • Alley Rehabilitation Program
  • Sidewalk Repair Program
  • Full Depth Patching Program - concrete pavement
  • Bridge Repair Program
  • Pavement Preservation Program
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Community Improvement Program
The Engineering Division is responsible for implementing the City's Five Year Community Improvement Program (CIP).  This CIP is not a static document which fixes the community improvement projects which the City "must" complete during the next five years.  Instead, it should be viewed as a planning document or guide to what the City “believes” it is able to accomplish in the near future, given the constraints placed upon the City by itself or other factors.   The CIP is reviewed annually during the budget process and updated as necessary to reflect changed circumstances that may occur over time.

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Standard Specifications and Details
The Iowa Statewide Urban Design and Specifications (SUDAS) were originally developed in central Iowa to provide a common set of standard specifications and details for public improvements.  The thought behind the effort was that uniformity amongst cities would provide several benefits such as reduced construction costs, fewer contractor errors, increased collaboration as well as a mechanism for continual research and updating.  SUDAS is widely used at this point, with over 100 engineers representing cities, counties, Iowa Department of Transportation and consultants who meet annually in district meetings to approve changes and discuss new research ideas.  City Engineer Brent Morlok is currently on the SUDAS Board of Directors representing the Iowa Quad Cities.  Engineering staff is in the final stages of reviewing SUDAS and developing a set of supplemental specifications.  That draft should be available to send out to local engineers and contractors for review in the spring of 2022.

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Construction
Engineering construction staff oversees the construction of all public improvement projects, including roadway and sewer work.  They also provide observation for all residential and commercial subdivision developments.  Additionally, inspectors review utility work that requires excavation in any street, connections to manholes and other work in the right-of-way.  Active construction projects can be found on the Construction Updates page.