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In June 2024, historic flooding caused severe damage to Rock Valley, Iowa. The floods displaced 1,500 residents and submerged homes and businesses. The community faced significant infrastructure challenges, including contaminated water supplies and widespread power outages. To address the crisis, the State of Iowa applied for FEMA’s Disaster Recovery Temporary Housing Program (DRTHP), aimed at providing displaced residents with temporary housing through RVs and trailers.
DGR Engineering was tasked with designing and implementing the necessary infrastructure to support this temporary housing. The plan involved upgrading two locations—the Rivers Bend Campground and C&J Trailer Court—to accommodate 114 RV sites with full utilities. Despite the urgency and usual timeline of such projects taking years, DGR completed the necessary work in under two weeks, coordinating with multiple suppliers and contractors to quickly procure materials and equipment.
The project included the installation of sewer systems, water mains, lift stations, and concrete pads for the RVs, ensuring that both sites were ready for occupancy by the end of July. By early August, displaced families were able to move into the temporary housing units, which offered a safe haven as the community began its recovery. The rapid execution of this project exemplified the power of community collaboration and a highly responsive team working to provide essential support during an emergency.
DGR Engineering performed the boundary and topographic surveying as well as the site design of school building addition as a subconsultant of Architecture, Inc.
The school facility addition design included storm sewer upgrades, pedestrian facilities to multiple building levels, enhanced and expanded parking, as well as significant embankment work to match the existing site constraints.
The addition cut off an existing overflow drainage path so an enhanced storm sewer system capable of draining runoff from a 500 year storm event was designed and constructed.
This project required working with a building design team and ownership group to overcome design challenges and communicate with all project stakeholders. The facility was completed and opened in late fall of 2015 for the Central Lyon Community School District.
The project included full services for a 1.7 mile, double-circuit 115 kV line. The project required coordination with many different entities, including the utility company for relocating existing underground facilities, and with MnDOT permitting the line in the DOT right-of-way.
DGR services for this project included permitting, coordinating the design survey, design, construction administration, construction staking, and resident project observation.
The project included full services for 58 miles of new 115 kV line and 5 miles of new 69 kV line. There were four separate transmission line segments making up the project, each in a different location within the state.
DGR services for this project included permitting, right-of-way acquisition, surveying, design, construction administration, construction staking, and resident project observation.
In order to revitalize the Pearl Street Corridor and promote redevelopment in the city, Sioux City began a multi-phase, multiple-year project to replace paving and aging utilities and install new sidewalks, decorative street lights and traffic signals where needed.
Since the soils were soft and drainage was minimal, subdrains were installed along each side of the street under a drainage base. The subdrains were connected to the proposed storm sewer system.
DGR Engineering was selected as the most qualified firm to provide the design services for each of the three phases of the project. The projects included investigation of existing utilities in the area that in general were over 100 years old and planned improvements for utilities, paving, traffic signal and streetscaping items. Colored concrete, ornamental trees, and decorative light poles were included in the project design for Phases II and III.
Phase I included coordination with the Prime Living construction project between 7th and 8th Streets that was under development as well as the reconfiguration and reconstruction of the skewed intersection with W 7th Street in order to improve turning movements and align the through movements with 8th Street to the east of Pearl Street. Phases II and III included coordination with many of the property owners along the street to close up area ways (basements that extended in the public right of way under the sidewalks) in order to replace the deteriorating sidewalks.
Phase III was delayed several times due to funding issues, but ultimately was fast tracked to bids with the added reconstruction work on 3rd Street from Water Street to Pearl Street and utility relocation work to be completed in time for the opening of the new Hard Rock Casino.
Construction on all phases of the project was coordinated with business/property owners and split into multiple construction phases to provide access during construction and maintain traffic crossing the project corridor as much as possible. DGR was involved in all aspects of survey, design and letting of all phases of the project and provided all construction services, including administration, observation, and staking Phases I and III.