As I See It
It takes a willful man to insist the two of
Clubs is higher than the Ace of Hearts
By Donald S. Andrade
How Projects go awry causing unintended consequences.
Article 1. Consultants paid for advice should be told that they will not be financially involved in the execution of their advice.
The Mayor and Council consulted Shafer, Kline & Warren a professional engineering firm about building a Bridge. After consultation, our Council then selected SKW to be their engineering firm for design and construction of the bridge. SKW appointed a lead professional Civil Engineer to represent their firm. SKW have supporting disciplines such as hydrology within SKW to further support the lead Engineer.
SKW’s design conclusion for the bridge required a change in the height and length of the Bridge. This conclusion was based on false and unsubstantiated data. The proposed length resulted in an unnecessary physical change to Rock Creek.
The importance and danger of making changes within Rock Creek should always require a study and consultation with an independent Hydrologist that does not work for SKW. Widening the Creek was outside the scope of building a Bridge. SKW’s support staff supported the lead engineer.
SKW based their conclusions on hearsay evidence, supported and concluded by a misunderstanding of Overland Park STORMWATCH flood records. Rock Creek over topped the Bridge at most, three times in the history of Fairway. Fairway used Olsson Assoc. to do a Peer Review support of SKW. However, Olsson is a Civil engineering firm that admitted to no hydrological experience at a meeting in Powell Center.
SK&W and Fairway’s Council accepted SKW’s own internal competence in hydrology and rejected outside advice. The Bridge became so long that they widened Rock Creek by creating a five acre flood retention pond resulting in the most unintended and unstudied hydrological consequences.
Article II: Hydrologist’s Review
Citizens hired Charles D. Morris, PhD., P.E., noted Hydrological Engineer from the University of Missouri at Rolla to review the hydrology for our bridge. He wrote to the Army Corp of Engineers expressing his serious concerns regarding the city’s proposed highway bridge...(See Document).
After his calculations, study and conclusions, Dr, Morris said that the City’s engineer had used inflated flood data to design a larger bridge than is needed. He reported that the created retention pond will fill with DIRT and MUD when the water is slowed.
Conclusion:
Had the Mayor not been so willful and listened to the Citizen’s Hydrologist we would not have destroyed five houses or built the Mission Road flood retention pond. Fairway could have had a Bridge like Prairie Village, both beautiful and non-threatening.