Alvine Engineering Takes Flight

Alvine Engineering has been involved in the aviation market sector for over 40 years, with some of the earliest projects dating back to the 1980s. What stands out about our firm’s experience and expertise in the aviation market is the wide variety of projects we’ve had the privilege of working on and seeing to fruition. Alvine Engineering has been a part of municipal airport projects in remote locations, providing pivotal infrastructure for rural communities, and has worked on airports that serve thousands of people daily. Most recently, our firm was selected as the MEP engineer of record for Eppley Airfield’s terminal modernization program—the largest construction project in the airport’s history.

Shane Harrer, P.E., LEED AP, is an associate principal with Alvine Engineering and a lead mechanical engineer for many of the firm’s aviation projects. Shane brings over 24 years of mechanical design experience to the aviation projects he leads. He has been pivotal in developing keynote relationships that have allowed our firm to maintain and create good-standing partnerships with various airport authorities and municipal governments.

“They are unique relationships for us,” Shane stated, “They go beyond your typical client-engineer relationship. Depending on the size, scale, and priority of the design, we can be at these sites during all hours of the day. It takes commitment.”

First Class Service

It takes a highly organized and experienced engineering team to provide services for large airports. Airports host thousands of passengers every day and are critical pieces of infrastructure for their adjoining cities. On top of this, airports house essential data for government bodies, such as the TSA, as well as airline carrier and airport authorities.

“An airport is handled with the same level of scrutiny and care as a mission-critical data center, and it has data centers inside of it as well,” Shane explains, “The only difference is there are also about 10,000 people inside of it.”

Airports are a unique environment as they need to maintain normal levels of operation throughout renovations, upgrades, expansions, and other necessary infrastructure projects. While other commercial spaces can have planned shutdowns for renovations and other maintenance needs, engineers for the aviation sector are required to work, design, and coordinate construction administration while an airfield continues to operate. A shutdown could have profound implications not only for the financial stability and health of the airport authority but also for the city they operate within. Josh Wilson P.E. is a project manager, electrical engineer, and airfield lighting designer who heads many of Alvine Engineering’s current airfield lighting projects. His firsthand experience gives him a unique perspective on airfield construction.

“It’s a living, breathing facility,” Josh Wilson states, “This is a building that the community relies on to be open 24/7. Fortunately, our team is well-experienced in working and designing in these environments.”

Airfield lighting is an incredibly precise industry skill set that Josh has honed over nearly a decade. The FAA has developed a lengthy list of specifications that detail the necessary illuminance outputs, color, spacing, size, and shape of lights, as well as their coordinating pavement markings and designs. These can also change based on the type of airfield being designed.  Josh has designed different projects for Iowa municipal airports as well as large city airports. He also provides crucial electrical design consultation on structures such as aircraft hangars, concourses, and terminals.

Gaining Altitude

Shane’s very first project involved providing some minor design solutions for airfield fire stations. Despite his debut project being smaller in scale, he noted the importance of providing expertise and scrutiny on large and small projects. Airports are vital to the communities they are a part of, and the highly visible nature of the project work that goes into the aviation industry is part of what motivates our professionals to provide exemplary services.

“There are just so many different facilities and components in that airport that are necessary for it to run smoothly,” Shane explained, “To be a part of that, to be familiar with their design guidelines and preferences, and to be able to take that knowledge and be a part of this major update to the airport is quite special.”

Josh Wilson enjoys the impact the aviation project he works on provides for local communities. There are integral ties that airport projects have that impact cities and towns. Airports play a huge role in sustaining local economies as well as providing access to transportation and emergency airlift services.

“These are some of our most visible projects within a community,” Josh stated, “All the work we do here is visible to us every time we catch a flight; I can’t help but feel a sense of pride being able to see our designs come to fruition.”

We invite you to learn more about our aviation projects by getting in contact with our experts. View our office locations and contact info here.