A Look Ahead
Here is a quick glimpse into projects in the works across the country . Watch for more on them in our blog ( https :// www . ayresassociates . com / blog /) and in future TRENDS issues .
ABOVE AND BEYOND : AYRES CREWS RISE TO CHALLENGE OF UAS IMAGERY PROJECT
Ayres ’ Geospatial division has seen a big boost in workload over the past several months thanks in part to new clientpartner Ames Construction , based in Burnsville , Minnesota . Ames has been contracted by the North Carolina Department of Transportation ( NCDOT ) to carry out earthwork and site development for a lithium battery plant for Toyota near Julian , known as Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina ( TBMNC ). The site covers more than 1,800 acres – equivalent to nearly 1,400 football fields . Initially , Ayres was assigned a small on-call role for staking the site , which quickly evolved into the need for a two-person staking crew on the ground five days a week . Ayres ’ survey services include staking requests and weekly topographic surveys of the entire site with UAS imagery .
The purpose of the project is to ensure the earthwork results in a perfectly flat building site for the battery plant – no small feat for a structure of its scale .
The challenges are many , including logistics of rotating oneand two-person survey crews to the site to maintain a constant presence . In addition , the site itself is large and complex , with an active private airport about 1,000 feet north of the site boundary . Weather – including a hurricane bearing down at the end of September – and technical hurdles continue to be overcome , with Ayres delivering very high-resolution aerial imagery acquired by unmanned aircraft systems ( UAS ) on over 1,100 acres with rapid turnaround on final deliverables , often within two days of flight .
Work will continue for the foreseeable future , with Ames relying on Ayres ’ ability to provide updated , accurate data in a timely fashion to facilitate planning of the massive plant . The approximately $ 3.8 billion project is intended to support
battery electric vehicle ( BEV ) battery production , with production scheduled to begin in 2025 .
ANOTHER LARGE ROAD PROJECT IN MANITOWOC , WI , AWAITS
Not long after a major road reconstruction in Manitowoc , Wisconsin , was completed , Ayres was awarded another large road design project in the City , which sits along Lake Michigan ’ s western shoreline .
Working with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation ( WisDOT ) and the City Manitowoc , Ayres recently completed the design of U . S . Highway 10 / State Highway 42 ( Waldo Boulevard ), a complex 3-mile urban street project on the City ’ s north side . Construction was completed in 2020 .
In June 2022 , a panel of WisDOT and Manitowoc officials selected Ayres to design an equally challenging 3.2-mile urban road project along U . S . Highway 151 on the City ’ s south side . The new project will take motorists from Interstate 43 to 8th Street , where the highway ends in downtown Manitowoc after beginning its journey north from near Cedar Rapids , Iowa .
30 | TRENDS Ingenuity , Integrity , and Intelligence .