Things are moving and shaking in engineering and construction.
The division has seen both growth and restructuring in the last year or two, due to an increased workload and a desire to limit the supervisory span of control to a more manageable number.
Hydraulics and Hydrology Branch added a third section in 2020; Geotechnical and Geology Branch added two sections this past year; the Western Area Office in Fargo, North Dakota, expanded; and the Eastern Area Office in Winona, Minnesota, divided into a resident office in Winona and a resident office in Hastings, Minnesota.
Design Branch will arguably undergo the biggest change with the addition of three new sections, said Mike Knoff, chief of Engineering and Construction Division. Under their reorganization, mechanical and electrical engineers and the cost and specifications section will now each be a stand-alone section. A technical services and support section was established that will cover computer-aided drafting and design technicians and surveyors. Additionally, a technical lead section was added, with the intent of improving engineering quality and performance.
“The Fargo-Moorhead project is a big factor behind the growth, particularly in the Construction Branch. If you look at construction placement, which is an indicator of staffing needs, it’s risen steadily from $26.8 million in fiscal year 2018 to $114 million in fiscal year 2021,” Knoff said. “On the engineering side of the house, Fargo-Moorhead is a major factor, but the growth is also reflective of work we are doing for others inside and outside of the Mississippi Valley Division, or MVD. Additionally, we support all of MVD through Engineering without Borders; the Inland Navigation Design Center; the Risk Management Center; the Modeling, Mapping, and Consequences Center; and various other enterprise activities, such as developing guidance and tools.”
Knoff said he anticipates this upward trend to continue. “The work we already have underway or planned for the current and next two fiscal years surpasses our current capability and does not include new opportunities, such as an expanded mission with the Veterans Administration, possible continued support to Sacramento and other districts, the Navigation and Environmental Sustainability Program, unplanned work such as response to natural disasters or any projects that would be part of an infrastructure bill,” he said.
Knoff said that restructuring the division was also required because, even with the current staff size, there were section chiefs and resident engineers supervising too many employees, sometimes as many as 20. “This is far too great a span of control for an individual supervisor and puts them in a situation where they are responding only to immediate needs and priorities and have little time to focus on mentoring, employee development, technical guidance, quality assurance or strategic actions to improve section performance,” he explained.
Expansion and reorganization do not come without some challenges. Knoff said the biggest and probably only growing pain was that most of the new positions were filled from within. “Since January four high level technical leads, four section chiefs, the division deputy, a branch chief and two resident engineers were hired,” he said. “All but two of those were filled with internal candidates, meaning that we had almost no net gain in staff. It also means that employees that were doing technical work on projects are no longer available to do that work, and supervisors must rearrange assignments, while they simultaneously work to recruit and fill behind the promoted employees.”
At the end of fiscal year 2021, the division had around 144 out of 187 positions filled on the district’s Integrated Manning Document. This, combined with the normal attrition that takes place every year between retirements and resignations, means the division will be doing a lot of hiring next year.
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Story was originally published on Pages 16-17 of the Fall 2021 issue of Crosscurrents. It may also be found at https://www.mvp.usace.army.mil/Portals/57/docs/Public%
| Date Taken: | 12.02.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 12.07.2021 09:45 |
| Story ID: | 410592 |
| Location: | ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, US |
| Web Views: | 86 |
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