Civil Engineering

A New Chapter for the Irondale Civic Center

As a senior project manager at Sain Associates, I’ve had the privilege of working on projects that will make a difference in a community. One recent example is the Irondale Civic Center in Irondale, Alabama. The building itself has quite a backstory. Originally constructed in the mid-1980s by the Shriners as a meeting space, the…
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Did You Know: Detention and Retention Ponds

As cities grow and land development expands, properly diverting water becomes crucial. Cities typically require the developer not to increase the amount of water discharging from the site after construction is complete. To control excess water after a storm, detention or retention ponds are used to prevent flooding, erosion, and runoff. As civil engineers and…
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Project Spotlight – Carvana Distribution Center

In April 2020, Carvana, a cutting-edge leader in online automotive sales, contracted Sain Associates to perform surveying, civil, and traffic engineering services for a distribution facility in Bessemer, Alabama.  Although non-disclosure agreements required the project to be known as “Project Otto,” it was later announced as Carvana. Commonly known as an online car dealership and…
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Evolution of Civil and Traffic Engineering

When Sain Associates opened its doors in 1972, the business consisted of consulting engineering services and land surveying. Many projects included site engineering for enclosed shopping malls across the southeast. Believe it or not, some of the mall projects from the 1970s are still in operation today, including the Santa Rosa Mall in Mary Esther,…
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Excellence in Construction Awards

Sain Associates is honored to have won Excellence in Construction awards for our work at the Valley Hotel in Homewood, Alabama. The project received first place for Civil Engineering from the Associated Builders and Contractors of Alabama and an Award of Excellence (Engineering) from the Associated Builders and Contractors of North Alabama. Sain Associates was initially contacted by…
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4 Things Engineering Students Should Know

Before working at Sain, I was a career counselor at a law school. During that time, I helped students prepare for interviews, supported them when they didn’t land their dream job, and watched them shape their career paths with internships. Here are a few things that a past career counselor would say to encourage you….
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Sain is the place to be!

This past May, I celebrated my fourth “Sainiversary” in working a full-time position at Sain Associates. My Sain journey began with an internship in 2016 where I worked with our Infrastructure, Site, and Traffic teams. Little did I know, I would become a member of the Site team just one short year later.  In the…
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Employee Spotlight – Stefan Graeber, P.E.

A few weeks ago, we happily announced the addition of Stefan Graeber, P.E., to our Civil/Site Team. Before joining Sain, he worked as a professional civil engineer in the public and private sectors. His project experience spans all phases of project design, bidding, construction, and project closeout. But did you know that Stefan is a…
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Sustainable Stream Protection – 30 feet down

Before the recent COVID-19 lock-down, our projects seemed to be moving at rocket speed, with tight timelines for construction to meet opening dates. The priorities revolved around expediting and obtaining all the required permits as quickly as possible. However, sometimes it can help to step back, take a deep breath, and look at the bigger…
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