Determining Appropriate Level of Engineering and Use of 'Soft Engineering' for Stream Restoration Activities (AWI011514)

This webinar discusses how to determine the appropriate level of engineering services for different stream restoration scenarios, provides insight into “soft engineering," stream restoration activities such as log placement in streams can cost less than the creation of hard engineering plans. Challenging issues can sometimes lead clients to try to skip engineering all together. A challenge exists to provide engineering services so there can be meaningful environmental review and biddable documents for construction. A proposed soft engineering approach is introduced to meet this challenge. This approach is defined and then explained and illustrated by actual implementation examples. Discussion is given on how to advocate for engineering services in these circumstances by discussing benefits such as biddable documents that can drive construction costs down. A step-by-step process is given on determining when this approach might be appropriate, what information is collected and analyzed, and ways to streamline the process to save on costs.