Bert Rapp, the City of Fillmore Public Works Director will lead an engineering bicycle tour of Fillmore on Sunday June 27th. The tour is intended for High School or Junior College students looking for a career choice and might be interested in Civil Engineering.

The tour will begin at City Hall at 1:00 and travel to the various public infrastructure facilities around the city and return to City hall about 5:00. Participants will see how we get our drinking water and deliver it to the customers. They will learn how the Foothill Pressure Zone saves the water customers $40,000 a year in electricity costs and how water reservoirs are designed for seismic forces.

Pole Creek will give up some of its hydraulic secrets and the mighty Santa Clara River’s geomorphology will be uncovered. Participants will learn how the city engineers design environmentally friendly flood protection along the river and how the sidewalks can be constructed to be root resistant to street trees.

Keeping streets safe in a small town is essential, so as we ride we will discuss traffic calming techniques and look at some of the improvements the City of Fillmore has made.

The bike riders will stop by the new Water Recycling Plant to learn how we manage the sewage from the city. They will review how a rock faced levee like the Sespe Creek Levee is designed. And look at some creepy concrete in the railroad cut through the Sespe Creek Levee.

In today’s world Civil Engineers are also expected to design treatment devices to remove storm water pollution so a stop on Goodenough Road in north Fillmore is essential. Then we will visit some City wells to see how municipal water wells are designed along with water treatment systems.

The hills above Fillmore can become dangerous debris slide producers during heavy rain so we will visit those hillsides and look for telltale indications of susceptibility to debris flows and learn how to design protective measures to resist them.

Before we return to City Hall we will look at different types of asphalt used on city streets and learn how asphalt ages and how to maintain it. And we will see some of the changing technology used over that last 100-years to build railroad crossings and what is working the best to provide comfortable street crossings.

Civil Engineering is a fascinating field of study and is as varied as the community you live in. If you want to learn more about being a professional Civil Engineer you will enjoy this bicycle tour. Bring water and a mountain bike if you have one otherwise a street bike will do. If you have any questions about the City of Fillmore public infrastructure please feel free to call Bert Rapp at 524-1500 x 231.