Martin Engineering Projects: Civil Site Design | Land Surveying |

Oak Park Estates, LLC | Bob and John Barker

Client Name: Oak Park Estates, LLC | Bob and John Barker
Location: Springfield, Illinois
Date Completed: On-going; Multi-year, Multi-phase project

Engineering Services:
Land Surveying: Final Plat, Topographic Survey, Construction Stakeout
Construction Phase QA/QC: Construction observation, Construction Plans/Design; Nuclear Density Testing



The Barker family has been developing Springfield, Illinois for the last 80 years. We were blessed when they switched to us for the development of Deerfield Subdivision in 1995…and we have been their engineers ever since. We collaborated on 16 phases of the Deerfield Subdivision and we have now moved directly north to Oak Park Estates, where we completed the construction of the 6th Phase in 2019. We completed the 7th Phase in 2021 and are starting to plan for the 8th Phase which should be under construction in the Fall of 2022.

As soon as the Barker family purchased the farm which is now Oak Park Estates, they reached out to us to perform the boundary survey and topographic mapping. The total acreage of the development is 135 acres and it will be developed in 18 phases.

The development consists of a mixture of single-family and duplex homes. MEC provided assistance (zoning exhibits, legal descriptions) for the zoning petition which was submitted by the Barkers' attorney.

After consultations with the Barker’s on their target market, MEC did some conceptual layouts for the subdivision. After a few tweaks by the Barker family, we submitted a Sketch Plan for review and approval by the City of Springfield. MEC shepherded the Sketch Plan through the Planning Commission, the Land Subdivision Committee and the City Council. A Sketch Plan indicates the street network/configuration, what utilities will serve the subdivision, what School District is affected, etc.

Upon approval of the Sketch Plan, MEC’s focus transferred to the Preliminary Plan. A Preliminary Plan provides an overview of the proposed water main layout, sanitary sewer layout, storm sewer drainage and detention design for the entire 16 phase, 135-acre development. On a multi-phase/multi-year project such as this, the Preliminary Plan may change many times through the years, as market trends change.

Once an approved Preliminary Plan is in place, MEC begins to design each individual phase as requested by the Barker family. This design includes sanitary sewer, roadway plans and profiles, sidewalk design, detention, drainage, etc. All of this eventually gets approved by the City of Springfield Public Works Department and permits for the stormwater runoff and the sanitary sewers are obtained from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

MEC then puts the project out to bid, providing quantities of the various pay items and then handles the contractual effort with each individual contractor. The project then moves into the field, where MEC provides construction stakeout an, construction observation, and project management. Once construction is completed, MEC prepares and records a Final Plat after approval by the Springfield City Council and then sets the property corners.


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