Welcome to the Southwest Branch!

Public Works Project of the Year:

The 2025 Southwest Branch Awards Banquet will take place on February 19, 2025. Please join us as we recognize the award-winning projects from the Southwest Branch! The award winners include the following:

  • Pfeiffer Road Extension (Transportation, less than $5M) – Village of Frankfort
  • 127th Street Bridge Over the DuPage River (Disaster or Emergency Construction/Repair, less than $5M) – Village of Plainfield
  • Transforming Joliet: The Path to Sewer System Excellence (Environment, $25M to $75M) – City of Joliet
  • Post 21 Potable Water Booster Pump Station (Environment, less than $5M) – Village of Tinley Park
  • Doug Kissel, Village of Plainfield, Wastewater Superintendent (Samuel A. Greely Award)

Congratulations to all the award winners!

Previous Events This Year:

January 2025 News:

Thank you very much Hannah Lamore with Mahoney, Silverman & Cross, LLC for presenting on tools for municipalities in cases of civil litigation regarding sidewalks. Hannah discussed the various aspects of litigation in cases of sidewalk trip-and-fall injuries, and the tools available to local governments to manage such cases, as well as applicable case history on municipal liability.

Past Year Highlights:

December 2024 News:

Thank you to the membership of the APWA SW Branch and the South Suburban Water Works Assocation for making this year’s holiday party a great success! Many raffle prizes were won, parlor games were played, and memories were made. The SW Branch looks forward to the next year of luncheons and presentation on pertinent topics for our membership.

November 2024 News:

Thank you very much Eric Wesel with the Will County Division of Transportation for presenting on the upcoming design and construction projects for the county. Eric reviewed the wide range projects in store for 2025, including road resurfacing, reconstruction, grade separation, PEL locations, I.T.S. locations, and much more at one of the branch’s higher-attendance lunches of the year.

October 2024 News:

Thank you very much Mark Teschke with Baxter & Woodman for presenting on ArcGIS programs and GIS in general. Mark reviewed the current practice for utilizing GIS tools, as well as modern, streamlined methods of updating GIS in real-time for projects under construction. Additionally, Mark discussed how GIS programs are paired with aerial and aquatic drones to survey bodies of water for both municipal and public use.

September 2024 News:

Thank you very much Austin Ridgely with HLR Inc. for presenting on drone surveying and the benefits of the technology. Austin discussed the different sensors used by drones, and what to consider for your project needs and financial constraints when determining the best drone technology for the task at hand. Additionally, Austin reviewed the benefits and challenges of drone surveying with respect to current technology, the regulatory environment, and how the data is utilized.

August 2024 News:

The Southwest Branch hosted the 11th annual Demo and Product Fair at the Joliet Eastside WWTP on August 7th, 2024. This event provided an opportunity for vendors to showcase their products and have public works staff learn more about these products as well as how they could help their community. There were 30 vendors, 8 presentations/demonstrations, and over 150 attendees.

June 2024 News:

Southwest Branch had the first APWA Golf Outing of the year which was successful in raising funds for branch’s scholarship fund. The Southwest Branch also awarded scholarships to very deserving applicants. Thank to Don Cassier for planning a very successful Golf Outing and Jonathan Kjellman for coordinating the scholarships.

May 2024 News:

Thank you very much Thano Tziforos, Matthew Moorehouse with American Surveying & Engineering and Reid Magner with Bravo Company Engineering for presenting on subsurface utility engineering (SUE) and the various options for equipment and methods. The speakers discussed how accurate mapping is produced from subsurface utility engineering, as well as the challenges associated with underground conflicts encountered during exploration.

April 2024 News:

Thank you very much Jonathan Shuptar with the V3 Companies for presenting on the benefits and challenges of soil management for engineering projects. Jonathan reviewed the general process for CCDD soil certification, the highlights of clean fill regulations, and how to manage impacts to the project as well as the process for handling failed soils.

March 2024 News:

Thank you very much Patrick Hulsebosch with RJN Group for presenting force main inspection. Patrick explored the benefits of screening level assessments to inspect force mains as a fiscally prudent and effective approach to identifying areas of defect within force main pipelines.

February 2024 News:

On February 7th, the APWA SW Branch held the 2024 Awards Banquet at the Patrick Haley Mansion. Thank you to all members that attended this event to recognize the award-winning projects from the SW Branch.

January 2024 News:

Thank you very much Hugh O’Hara with the Will County Governmental League for presenting on the 2024 state and federal legislative items of pertinence to the field of public works. Hugh also discussed the financial outlook of Illinois for the year ahead and associated impacts to local funding.

2025 Executive Members:

President
Owen Dean, P.E.
City of Joliet

Vice President
Jonathan Kjellman, P.E.
HDR, Inc.

Treasurer
Joe Nordman
City of Joliet

Secretary
Sean Brady, P.E.
True North Consultants, Inc.

Past President
Alex Alejandro, P.E., CFM, DECI
Hancock Engineering

Here is our schedule and topics for 2025:
Monthly Meetings (1st Wednesday of the Month):

January 22nd – Sidewalk Litigation

February 5th– TBD

March 5th – TBD

April 2nd – TBD

May 7th – TBD

June – Southwest Branch Golf Outing at Silver Lake Country Club

July – No Meeting

August 6th – Demo and Product Fair

September 3rd – TBD

October 1st – TBD

November 5th – Will County DOT Update

December TBD – Southwest Branch Holiday Party

Thank you for visiting this web page. Please contact Owen Dean at odean@joliet.gov if you have any comments/questions.

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