During its remodel of Aldrich Arena in Maplewood, Minnesota, Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District, in partnership with Ramsey County Parks and Recreation, hired Barr to assist with the large-scale redesign of the entire parking lot to incorporate stormwater-quality improvement features. The project involved a space-efficient redesign of the asphalt parking lot to maximize stall counts while reducing overall impervious surface. In a more site-specific sense, the project benefits the parking lot through a substantial addition of trees and other diverse plantings, improved landscape aesthetics, and changed traffic patterns for safer pedestrian access. 

Large rain gardens were strategically placed throughout and surrounding the parking lot, allowing for runoff capture and filtration. Approximately an acre of rain gardens borders the parking lot and captures runoff from nearly all the parking lot area. The rain gardens will have a beneficial effect on stormwater quality and quantity, helping the watershed district and county reach their goals for Wakefield Lake.

Barr collaborated with Minnesota Trout Unlimited and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to improve trout habitat on 7,000 feet of the South Branch Vermillion River within a 62-acre aquatic management area near Hastings. The river reach was identified as having high potential to provide spawning and refuge habitat for wild trout but was limited due to the accumulation of sand and fine sediment, which was smothering spawning substrate.

Barr conducted a topographic and geomorphic survey (including pebble counts) of existing conditions as well as a watershed assessment to inform the project design. In addition, we performed hydraulic modeling to confirm that the design could withstand flood flows and adequately transport sediment through the reach. 

DNR staff members and volunteers completed extensive buckthorn removal prior to the implementation of channel improvements, which involved re-meandering approximately 1,100 feet of channel and installing bank-stabilization and channel-narrowing measures. These features included rock riffles, log step pools, boulder clusters, brush bundles, fascines, and toe wood and were constructed using natural wood and rock material. 

Barr developed the construction bid package and provided construction oversight. Native vegetation was planted and is being managed by the DNR to encourage long-term success. Following construction, we completed a post-construction survey and report to document the project. 
Since project completion, the reach has become a popular destination for trout anglers.

Purposeful flood infrastructure and park design

Low-lying, landlocked areas make Edina’s Morningside neighborhood prone to flooding—a risk that could grow as climate change brings more intense storms to the region. The city partnered with Barr to help reduce flood exposure to residents while enhancing existing community amenities. We performed hydraulic modeling (XP-SWMM), water quality modeling (P8), and a detailed cost-benefit analysis of a wide range of infrastructure options.

Central to the designs were projects at Weber Woods and the adjacent Weber Park. Barr engineers and landscape architects worked closely with the city so the new infrastructure would enhance visitor experiences while providing necessary flood storage.

Once obscured by dense weeds and a chain-link fence, Weber Pond—one of the newly expanded stormwater ponds—is now a central aesthetic feature. New nature trails, ADA-compliant paved paths, and boardwalks provide pond access, and a variety of habitats—including turtle logs, pollinator-friendly plants, and over 1,200 new trees—replace invasive weeds. 

Flood storage in the pond will be maintained by a pump station equipped with level-control pumping technology. Using a cellular connection, the station collects real-time weather data to anticipate flood-storage needs and adjust the pond’s water level accordingly. If a large storm event is forecasted, this smart infrastructure will automatically lower the pond to accommodate stormwater. 

Barr developed the final infrastructure design and construction plans, assisted with construction bidding and permitting, and provided construction observation. Construction of the Morningside flood infrastructure project was completed in 2023. The Morningside project has increased neighborhood flood resilience, reducing the flood risk for over 160 homes and buildings, while enhancing Weber Park—without aggravating flood risk to any resident. 

Barr designed a new park along Minnehaha Creek for the City of Minnetonka and in association with the historic Burwell House. The park’s design enables visitors to experience the creek, historic house, and groves of towering oak trees in a way that has not impacted the beautiful natural resources of the 12-acre site.

The park’s Heritage Garden features a series of stone terraces with free-standing stone walls that weave between oak trees. The design features both low-maintenance perennial gardens and oak-savanna plantings and provides serene areas to relax in the beautiful surroundings. Other elements include a trail system, canoe landing, low-impact parking lots, savanna and streambank restoration, a cherry orchard, and restroom facilities.

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board hired the Barr team to help reconstruct historic Hall’s Island and create an adjacent riverfront park. Building an island in the Mississippi River on a former industrial site presented unique challenges. Barr’s design—informed by floodplain and sediment transport modeling—had to prevent an increase in flood levels, curtail sediment concerns, and maintain the island’s stability. Barr also led environmental impact assessments, a brownfields investigation, permitting, and construction oversight. The project created three acres of new habitat in the river and improved biodiversity in a heavily industrial area of Minneapolis. The surrounding neighborhood has limited access to natural areas and the river; Hall’s Island and the riverfront park will provide recreational opportunities to the community.

In Alaska, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were discovered in private wells downgradient of several regional airports—where fire training was conducted with PFAS-containing fire-fighting foam. The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) hired Barr and local consultant Shannon and Wilson to assist with immediate, short-term, and long-term response actions for treating these drinking-water supplies.

Immediate actions include an assessment of cost-effective remedial actions related to designing and implementing individual or multiple-user treatment systems. Short-term actions include design and procurement assistance for point-of-entry treatment systems (POETs) at each location. Long-term actions include an evaluation of operation and maintenance options and preparation of a draft agreement between the DOT&PF and individual property owners that addresses the life of the system.

After a water treatment action plan for the first affected community was prepared and approved by the DOT&PF, Barr coordinated equipment procurement and installation. The POET technologies include pretreatment for iron and manganese using ion-exchange water softeners, removal of PFAS using granular activated carbon, arsenic removal using an arsenic-specific adsorption media, and pathogen treatment using ultraviolet disinfection. POETs for the first affected community were installed less than six months after project initiation.

Learn more about our PFAS engineering and environmental capabilities.

Developers took a minimal approach to treating stormwater when designing the Ohmes Farm development. The City of St. Peters, however, wanted to improve the quality of stormwater runoff leaving the site and transform these “holes in the ground” to a natural space that residents could enjoy. Barr helped improve water quality by increasing the storage volume where possible and by incorporating iron-enhanced sand filter trenches along the path of water flow between the basins’ inlets and outlets. This allows for increased rate control and capture of dissolved phosphorus.

Because these basins occupy a primary view from residents’ backyards, Barr worked with the city to develop an aesthetically pleasing design that also creates wildlife habitat. By introducing native grasses and trees, songbirds will be able to nest and forage in the basins. Converting the turf grass to native grasses will reduce mowing frequency to once per year. In addition to basin-improvement design, we provided construction cost estimates and technical assistance during bidding and construction.

For Great River Energy’s Dryfining project, Barr provided detail engineering support for the procurement and installation of an air jig system at Coal Creek Station. The jigs were designed to discharge pyrite rejects—in dry form—from the fluidized bed dryers. Previously, jet-style pumps sluiced the mixture of water and pyrites to existing ponds. To reduce water use, GRE wanted to create a dry transport system for the pyrites and a new truck load-out station to enable the disposal in an existing landfill. 

Barr investigated and developed three options and cost estimates for conveying the pyrites from the existing storage bin to the new, truck load-out facility. We then used the information developed in the options study to further develop the design basis for the selected conveying and load-out system. Barr completed the mechanical, electrical, civil, and structural engineering required to develop the drawings and specifications required for a complete installation of the dry conveying and truck load-out equipment.

Barr has worked with a Wyoming trona-mining client for nearly 25 years. In 2012, we began working on a joint engineering and environmental project to increase production by debottlenecking processes throughout the plant. Our client had identified 16 processes for optimization, ranging from underground mining and hoisting to crushing, grinding, calcining, shipping, and disposing of tailings.

Barr completed basic engineering designs for optimizing each of the 16 processes, as well as plans and specifications and estimated costs. Our client used the designs and data to develop a strategy for implementing the work based on cost and increased production.

An environmental component was integrated with the engineering work. Barr reviewed multimedia permitting requirements for the modified processes and then determined the implications of permitting various combinations of the 16 processes. We analyzed four possible process combinations and worked with the company to create an overall engineering and permitting strategy. This master plan served as a blueprint for implementing process modifications to best balance permitting schedules and costs. As part of the project, Barr also prepared applications for necessary air permits.

Xcel Energy retained Barr to complete a supplemental geotechnical evaluation for a wind repowering project located in Nobles County, Minnesota. This evaluation included an assessment of soil behavior subjected to cyclic foundation loading for the proposed repower locations. The field campaign focused on undisturbed thin-wall samples collected at a depth corresponding to the base of the turbine foundation, while the laboratory testing program centered around cyclic triaxial strength to assess the behavior of the soil under enhanced foundation loading associated with the repower.

Numerical modeling was performed using FLAC, a software that allows for the computation of stresses induced in soils in response to changing structural loads at the surface. Using FLAC, the cyclic behavior of the major and minor principal stresses and corresponding shear stress were determined. Based on FLAC modeling, significant variations were found in the major and minor principal stresses relative to a small corresponding variation in shear stress. Cyclic testing was completed using stress path sequencing in a triaxial chamber, in which the major and minor principal stresses underwent 250 full cycles (calculated via the damage equivalent method to approximate loading for the operational life of the wind turbine). The major and minor principal stresses were computed from the FLAC model described previously.

In this study, the following criteria were used:

The soil samples were found to not be susceptible to significant degradation, and therefore, costly foundation retrofits were deemed unnecessary for the repowering effort.