BY THOMAS LAMB, PE, LEED AP – AET DULUTH Say you’re shopping around for a new facility for your business. You find what seems to be the perfect space. It’s 40 years old, but it appears to be in mint condition and even boasts the right floor plan to effectively run your operation. Everything checks out on the environmental site assessment, so you’re eager to sign on the dotted line. But have you thought about a property condition assessment? A property condition assessment, or PCA, is a review of the condition of a commercial facility to identify physical deficiencies, typically performed in accordance with an ASTM procedure. Generally speaking, a PCA includes four parts: 1) a review of existing documents (drawings, past PCA reports, building inspection files, etc.), 2) an interview of maintenance staff, 3) a walk-through, and 4) cost opinions for remediating deficiencies. PCAs look at major components of building and site improvements, which may include structural, HVAC, plumbing, and electrical systems; exterior roof and walls; and fire protection and detection systems, to name a few. Site drainage, pavement and walks, lighting, and landscaping elements are also included. The report generated by a PCA gives end users a synopsis of issues of concern and in need of further review/consideration by the potential purchaser. Needless to say, PCAs are critical for purchasers, lenders, and even lessees. Here are five reasons for conducting one: Protect Your Interests I Continued to page 2 5 ways a property condition assessment could protect your interests A property condition assessment is a review of the condition of a commercial facility to identify physical deficiencies such as this structurally comprised column. PCAs are critical for purchasers, lenders, and even lessees. Solving the Kensington Rune Stone mystery, part III: What does it all mean? Arguably the most common symbol of Masonic Knights Templar is the Christian Cross inside the Crown. Many believe the secret symbolism represents how the medie- val Knights Templar conquered the monarchs of Europe and the Roman Catholic Church by founding of the Unit- ed States of America. BY SCOTT WOLTER, PG – APS/AET SAINT PAUL In this series, we’re revealing ancient discoveries related to the Kensington Rune Stone, a medieval artifact unearthed in 1898 in northwestern Minnesota, and how these revelations could reshape what we know about North American history. After “crunching the numbers” of the Kensington Rune Stone in the first two articles of this series, we’re left with the question: What does it all mean? First, the inscription that has puzzled scholars for Kensington Rune Stone I Continued to page 3 INSIDE THIS ISSUE AMERICAN EDGE A NEWSLETTER FOR CLIENTS AND BUSINESS PARTNERS OF AMERICAN ENGINEERING TESTING, INC. SPRING 2017 THE Protect Your Interests, continued PAGE 2 Project Update: TH 169 at Nine Mile Creek PAGE 2 Kensington Rune Stone, continued PAGE 3 AET Updates PAGE 4
Transcript
BY THOMAS LAMB, PE, LEED AP – AET DULUTH
Say you’re shopping around for a new facility for your business. You find what seems to be the perfect space. It’s 40 years old, but it appears to be in mint condition and even boasts the right floor plan to effectively run your operation. Everything checks out on the environmental site assessment, so you’re eager to sign on the dotted line. But have you thought about a property condition assessment?
A property condition assessment, or PCA, is a review of the condition of a commercial facility to identify physical deficiencies, typically performed in accordance with an ASTM procedure. Generally speaking, a PCA includes four parts: 1) a review of existing documents (drawings, past PCA reports, building inspection files, etc.), 2) an interview of maintenance staff, 3) a walk-through, and 4) cost opinions for remediating deficiencies.
PCAs look at major components of building and site improvements, which may include structural, HVAC, plumbing, and electrical systems; exterior roof and walls; and fire protection and detection systems, to name a few. Site drainage, pavement and walks, lighting, and landscaping elements are also included.
The report generated by a PCA gives end users a synopsis of issues of concern and in need of further review/consideration by the potential purchaser. Needless to say, PCAs are critical for purchasers, lenders, and even lessees. Here are five reasons for conducting one:
Protect Your Interests I Continued to page 2
5 ways a property condition assessment could protect your interests
A property condition assessment is a review of the condition of a commercial facility to identify physical deficiencies such as this structurally comprised column. PCAs are critical for purchasers, lenders, and even lessees.
Solving the Kensington Rune Stone mystery, part III: What does it all mean?
Arguably the most common symbol of Masonic Knights Templar is the Christian Cross inside the Crown. Many believe the secret symbolism represents how the medie-val Knights Templar conquered the monarchs of Europe and the Roman Catholic Church by founding of the Unit-ed States of America.
BY SCOTT WOLTER, PG – APS/AET SAINT PAUL
In this series, we’re revealing ancient discoveries related to the Kensington Rune Stone, a medieval artifact unearthed in 1898 in northwestern Minnesota, and how these revelations could reshape what we know about North American history.
After “crunching the numbers” of the Kensington Rune Stone in the first two articles of this series, we’re left with the question: What does it all mean? First, the inscription that has puzzled scholars for
Kensington Rune Stone I Continued to page 3
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
AMERICAN EDGE A NEWSLETTER FOR CLIENTS AND BUSINESS PARTNERS OF
AMERICAN ENGINEERING TESTING, INC. SPRING 2017
THE
Protect Your Interests, continuedPAGE 2
Project Update: TH 169 at Nine Mile CreekPAGE 2
Kensington Rune Stone, continuedPAGE 3
AET Updates PAGE 4
(800) 972-6364 • www.amengtest.comPage 2
AMERICAN EDGETHE
Protect Your InterestsContinued from page 1
1. Prevent costly surprises
No one wants to inherit a building that is rife with problems. Conducting a PCA prior to the purchase gives you a better understanding of the types of major repairs you can expect, as well as an estimated price tag for each.
2. Create leverage for renegotiating the purchase price
You can’t truly know a building’s condition without a PCA. Much like how a homebuyer relies on a home inspection, the findings of a PCA performed by an independent engineering firm provides a tool for establishing a realistic acquisition cost.
3. Protect the bank’s interest
Lenders don’t like surprises, either. Repair costs for major building components can easily put a loan under water. For this reason, banks often require a PCA as part of the loan agreement.
4. Drive capital planning
A PCA is also a valuable capital-planning tool. That’s because a PCA identifies the current condition of a building’s components, and if requested as part of the work scope, can provide estimated timeframes and costs for when each should be repaired and/or replaced.
5. Baseline for a pre- or post-lease review
Many leases require the lessee to “return” the space to its original condition. But this
baseline is likely to be a shot in the dark without a PCA. This is especially important when entering leases that require you to be responsible for building repairs and maintenance. As an independent evaluation of the building’s condition, a PCA can prevent your landlord from faulting you for existing deficiencies.
Final thoughts
Whether you’re buying a building, providing a loan, or leasing, a PCA is a valuable tool when seeking to understand the true condition of a facility. With an independent PCA, you will have the proper knowledge to protect your interests.
Thomas Lamb, PE, LEED AP, is the engineering manager of AET’s Duluth office. He can be reached at [email protected].
BY DAVID RETTNER, PE – AET SAINT PAUL
As one of the Twin Cities’ major thorough-fares, Trunk Highway 169 runs north and south through the heavily populated west metro. In fall 2016, the Minnesota Department of Transportation kicked off four projects—totaling $60 million—in a bid to improve driver safety and accessibility along a segment of TH 169 stretching between the suburbs of Hopkins, Edina, Minnetonka and St. Louis Park. One of the projects involves the demolition and replacement of a 3,300-foot-long bridge over Nine Mile Creek.
As a member of the project team led by general contractor Ames Construction, AET has been providing geotechnical engineering and construction quality management to support the construction of the new roadway. In our role, we have also worked closely with design engineer Alliant Engineering and MnDOT. This is the fifth design-build project we have teamed with Ames Construction and Alliant Engineering.
The existing bridge was demolished in January 2017 and will be replaced with a causeway. Because of the deep organic
deposits that extend through the length of the project, the causeway will be supported on controlled modulus columns (CMCs). CMCs are used to improve the soils characteristics of weak ground and to reduce imposed settlements caused by the proposed structure. CMCs are installed using a specially designed auger that displaces the in situ soils laterally, introducing cementitious materials with virtually no vibration or spoils. This helps to stabilize soft soils and confine any soil contaminants.
Following the placement of the CMCs,
the project team will construct the roadway embankment as well as the mechanically stabilized earth retaining walls that have been designed with storage capacity for flood water in the Nine Mile Creek Watershed. Once these items are complete, the team will place six lanes of concrete pavement and concrete shoulders. The causeway is expected to open to traffic in the fall of 2017.
David Rettner, PE, is president/principal engineer at AET. He can be reached at [email protected].
Drilling rigs install some of the approximately 5,000 controlled modulus columns (CMCs) that will support the Nine Mile Creek causeway. Photo credit: Zac Anunson, EIT - AET Saint Paul
Project update: TH 169 at Nine Mile Creek Design-Build
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Kensington Rune Stone
Continued from page 1
nearly 120 years is not what they believed it to be. Long thought to be a memorial to the “…ten dead men,” with trite lines like, “We were fishing one day…,” we now understand some of the inscription is allegorical and not to be taken literally. Of course, this begs another question: What parts of the inscription were intended for literal interpretation?
The party of men likely did include “8 Gotälanders and 22 Northmen,” but why not just say a total of 30 men? We now know, as discussed in our previous article, 8 and 22 were sacred numbers used to acknowledge deity in Hebrew mysticism. The line “...on this acquisition journey/taking up land from Vinland far to the west” is also to be taken literally, as the stone is a land claim placed on the north-south continental divide of North America. This acquisition procedure is consistent with 14th century land claim practices in France, where the Order of the Knights Templar, a medieval military and religious order, was originally founded in response to a Papal Bull at the Council of Troyes in 1128. And by cross-referencing the Viking sagas from Norway, we find that “Vinland” is the northeast coast of the North American continent, which could mean the land claim “far to the west” refers to at least Kensington, Minnesota. One could argue the Templars were claiming the entire continent!
If the Kensington Rune Stone is a 14th century land claim, why didn’t the Templars make the claim in the name of a monarch or church? The likely reason is that the French king and the Roman Catholic Church outlawed the Order of the Knights Templar in 1307 on Friday the 13th (recall the significance of the number 13?). As a result, the Templars were forced underground and the survivors are believed to have fled to Scotland, Portugal and Denmark. But a very old symbol found on the Kensington Rune Stone provides compelling evidence of the Templars seeking other areas of refuge and development.
In 1980, a 1st century burial tomb in Jerusalem was discovered during construction of an apartment building. The tomb contained ten limestone boxes, called ossuaries, that
contained human bones. One of the ossuary boxes was inscribed with “Jesus, son of Joseph” along with a strange carving on the lid. In 2014, I interpreted the carving as a monogram combining two symbols: the Tau Cross and the Hooked X; the latter of which appears 22 times on the Kensington Rune Stone. Hebrew scholars agreed with my interpretation, noting that the Hooked X represents “a” or “aleph,” which is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and the tau is the last. Knowing this, the monogram on the ossuary can be interpreted as“alpha-omega,” or beginning and end.
So how does this relate to the Templars and their North American land claim? Archaeologists confirmed the Jerusalem tomb was entered in the 12th century when the Templars controlled the city after the First Crusade. Whoever entered the tomb left a “calling card” of three human skulls placed in the south, west, and east quadrants of the burial chamber! It so happens that the configuration of the skulls matches the seating position of the three highest officers in both a medieval Templar preceptory and a modern-day Masonic lodge. If the Templars did in fact enter the tomb, which many believe is the family tomb of the biblical Jesus, and saw the Hooked X on the lid of the ossuary, perhaps the Kensington Rune Stone is a land claim made in this name?
Many believe the medieval Knights Templar
evolved into modern Freemasonry. If so, it’s likely our Founding Fathers, many who were Freemasons, understood why the Templars came to North America to establish a “Free Templar State.” As we all know, our founders sought freedom from tyranny of monarchs, freedom of religion, and the basic individual rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It now appears the carver of the inscription used the numbers 8 and 22 to ask their feminine deity, the Great Goddess, to bless and protect this vitally important artifact. When viewed in light of newly discovered evidence, and with a new perspective, many believe the Kensington Rune Stone land claim represents a much earlier beginning to the founding of the United States of America.
Scott F. Wolter, PG, is a forensic geologist and the president of American Petrographic Services, Inc. He can be reached at [email protected].
A monogram of two symbols carved into the lid of a 1st century ossuary, or bone box, inscribed with the name “Jesus, son of Joseph.” In 2014, the author interpreted the symbols to be a Tau Cross and the Hooked X as illustrated at right.
See Us at These Upcoming EventsPlease visit our website for a full list of upcoming conferences, speaking engagements and more: www.amengtest.com/resources/event
Michael Hultgren, PG, CPG, was promoted to principal geologist.
Tyler Boley, GIT, was promoted to scientist II. Nicole Bonde-Jones, MS, was promoted to
scientist II.
Jake Dalbec, PG, of our Saint Paul Environmental Department co-presented “Expect the Unexpected: Contamination at Public Infrastructure Projects” at the City Engineers Association of Minnesota 2017 Annual Conference.
Larry Anderson, from our Duluth, MN, office, retired on March 31, capping off a remarkable 45-year career as a driller. Larry served AET for 25 years as a drilling crew chief after spending the first 20 years of his career with Twin City Testing and Lakehead Testing.
We opened the doors of our Sheridan, WY, office in March, bringing our full line of engineering services to the area. Environmental Project Manager Todd Ordahl, PG (see Employee Spotlight at right), leads the office and is joined by Construction Materials Engineer Brian Freed. For location and contact information, please visit our website.
New Employees Feb. – Apr.
Published four times a year by AET for our clients and business partners. Comments? Contact:
Employee Spotlight – Todd Ordahl, PGTodd Ordahl recently joined AET as a senior environmental project manager and manager of our new Sheridan, WY, office. He joins our West
Region team in expanding our services across the Dakotas and Montana. With more than 30 years of environmental experience and a client-focused approach, Todd is instrumental in the development and enhancement of services to our trusted business partners.
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