Over the years, his unwavering work ethic exuded the NTH commitment to quality and professionalism and set an example for all to follow. He was on the job, on time, every day, putting in whatever level of effort was required. From showing up in the middle of the night to working 16 hour or more shifts, to the coldest or hottest days of the year, Ernie never ushered a single complaint.

Embracing opportunities to pass along his knowledge and professionalism, Ernie trained a significant number of younger staff over the years, demonstrating the quality way of performing tasks and supporting them until they felt comfortable on their own. He always went the extra mile to answer questions about a construction project and/or related tasks in a detailed, methodical, and understandable way. 

Colleagues at all levels within the organization resoundingly reflected upon Ernie’s professionalism, poise and up-beat approach to every situation, no matter how difficult.  His calm demeanor always wore off on the client and / or the contractor so that problems could be solved in a collaborative rather than adversarial manner.
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Ernie’s impact on NTH is summed up eloquently by esteemed colleague, Larry Gilbert: “Ernie is a respected and able veteran of the construction world, cheerful in all weather, never shirked a task, as dependable as a close friend, and a professional by every definition – he is a difficult guy to replace and he leaves behind a legacy worth emulating.”

Please leave a comment for Ernie below, giving him your well wishes, telling a story about him, or letting him know he will be missed!

At each of the seven schools, NTH provided pavement design, SESC plans, demolition plans, grading design, and standard pavement details designed specifically for this project to meet LPS Standards, along with project submission and permitting assistance. NTH also provided project specifications for the asphalt, concrete, aggregate base, excavation, grading, stormwater management devices, and all other applicable site/civil items. 

NTH also facilitated ease of construction by coordinating pavement undercuts with the contractor and third-party testing company. Areas with poor subgrade were dug out and replaced with MDOT 21AA aggregate to ensure the new pavement would be placed upon a supportive base, which will help the proposed pavement last well into the future, rather than cracking in the same spots in a few years’ time. NTH assisted and provided guidance throughout construction, including coordination with the contractor and third-party testing company, as well as site visits and the undercut detail and specifications. 

In addition, each school had its own unique requirements. For example, one of the schools’ main pickup and drop-off area was ill-equipped to handle the daily traffic flow each day after school. NTH sub-contracted a traffic engineering firm to perform a traffic study, and together designed a new pickup and drop-off area layout that organized bus and vehicular traffic flows in a highly efficient layout, while providing extra parking spaces for staff. This new layout turned this previously congested area into one that is significantly safer for pedestrians and vehicles alike, by providing protected walkways for pedestrians, separating bus and vehicular traffic, and establishing intuitive traffic routes and parking areas. 

At a different school site, NTH designed the main parking lot layout to maximize the number of spaces available on-site. However, during construction, the owner received word from users that the new parking lot striping felt a little too tight. NTH rapidly developed three new layouts that incorporated the client’s new requests and created a straightforward yet comprehensive comparison of each alternative. After incorporating feedback from all users and the client, the lot was restriped in a more desirable way, in a compressed schedule, while still providing an overall increase in parking spaces on-site.

Livernois Avenue from Margareta Street to 8 Mile Road was previously configured as two lanes of traffic each direction at a moderately-high speed limit, separated by a concrete, center-turn median. In an effort to improve pedestrian walkability, increase bicycle access, and calm vehicular traffic flow, the City of Detroit undertook a complete streetscape re-design for 1.3 miles of Livernois Avenue. In coordination with the landscape architect, NTH provided the civil engineering plans and specifications for the removal of the median and existing travel configuration, completely re-designing the entire corridor to the right-of-way limits, including new roadway design, utility upgrades, expansion of the existing sidewalks, and the addition of separated bicycle lanes. 

As part of this redesign, NTH provided striping, maintenance of traffic, and staging plans to route traffic, and provided locations of temporary parking lots to promote access to businesses during construction. A proposed sequence of construction plan was designed by NTH and refined with input from the City and local representatives alike. 

NTH provided geotechnical investigations to determine soil conditions and feasibility of bioretention facilities on-site. NTH’s findings confirmed that bioretention areas would be a practical, sustainable way to manage stormwater runoff by infiltrating captured stormwater back into the soil. These geotechnical investigations also helped determine the behavior or the subgrade beneath the proposed roadway which factored into the pavement design. Since the roadway was being completely redesigned, NTH was able to create a new geometric design for the roadway’s vertical curves, which changed the stormwater flow regime substantially. NTH created utility plans that captured the runoff and decreased flooding, which was an issue previously. This new storm sewer layout had to tie-in with the previous sewer layout, and NTH was able to incorporate existing utilities and connections where possible, and NTH routed the new utilities in an efficient way that avoided many potential conflicts. These stormwater routes were refined by performing hydraulic and hydrologic analyses to ensure that the previous roadway drainage design would adequately serve the re-configured roadway design.

NTH also provided construction administration by answering submittals and Requests for Information as applicable during the construction process. As site conditions varied and new information was taken into account during construction, NTH provided several updated construction and grading plans as dictated by these unforeseen conditions. This ultimately saved time and money for the contractor and the owner by being responsive to the sometimes-unpredictable nature of the construction process. NTH’s adaptability and responsiveness kept the project on track during the height of construction season. ​