Although rewarding, it isn’t always easy handling the planning, design, construction and maintenance of streets, buildings and other infrastructure projects. But, City Engineer Rick Bogus and Project Engineer Braden Labenz are up for the challenge.
It’s National Engineers Week, a call attention to the contributions to society that engineers make. The celebration of National Engineers Week was started in 1951 by the National Society of Professional Engineers in conjunction with President George Washington's birthday. President Washington is considered as the nation's first engineer.
City Administrator Tara Vasicek said the two engineers are assets to the organization.
"We have two engineers on staff now that enables the City to save a significant amount of money because we are able to do some design work in-house on various projects,” Vasicek said. “They are very valuable employees because they help us make sure our most significant projects are well managed and that the City gets a good product when we invest in projects. They have a wide variety of technical knowledge and help us build projects from the ground up."
Bogus, who studied civil engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, has been the City of Columbus’ engineer for almost nine years. He loves his role.
“It has been a very rewarding experience,” Bogus said. “I enjoy working in my home community and seeing it progress, move forward and grow.”
To learn more about Labenz’s background, read http://www.columbusne.us/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1052.