Missouri Society of Professional Engineers Ozark Chapter

Updates to Underground Facility Location Requirements per Senate Bill 133

Thu, 28 Aug 2025 20:55:44 GMT

Senate Bill 133 has introduced additional requirements designed to improve the location and protection of underground facilities in Missouri. For more details on the bill, please refer to the attached PDF: Senate Bill 133_2025.pdf.

The most significant change impacting the City of Springfield involves the installation of locator tape. Specifically, locator tape must now be installed above any stormwater or sanitary sewer pipe that is placed at a depth of less than 6 feet, for all installations occurring after August 28, 2025. This measure enhances safety by making it easier to detect and avoid underground utilities during future excavations, reducing the risk of accidental damage.

To align with these new requirements, the City has updated its technical specifications and details. Please review the attached PDFs, which include tracked changes highlighting the revisions:

Storm Sewers Specifications: GC-05 Storm Sewers - Root 27
Sanitary Sewers Specifications: GC-04 Sanitary Sewer - Root 27
Revised Details: SS-09 and SAN-28

We encourage Ozark Chapter members to review these updates and incorporate them into relevant projects. Sharing this information with your teams and colleagues will help ensure compliance and promote safer construction practices.

For questions or additional information, contact the City of Springfield’s Public Works Department. Thank you for your commitment to advancing engineering excellence in our community!

MATHCOUNTS 2025

Thu, 27 Feb 2025 23:16:38 GMT

Ozark Chapter – Missouri Society of Professional Engineers

For Immediate Release – Wednesday, February 26, 2025

Contact: Jerry Jesky, P.E., 417-885-1746

MATHCOUNTS 2025

Organized by: Ozark Chapter - MSPE

Held on Saturday, February 1, 2025, at Drury University in Springfield, MO

There were ten (10) schools who participated, with a total of 66 students competing!

MATHCOUNTS is a nationwide program designed to improve math skills among U.S. students. Sponsors help encourage middle school students, who are at a crucial stage in developing and sustaining math interest and ability. This year was MATHCOUNTS’s 42nd anniversary.

Participating Schools and Coaches:

Cherokee Middle School, Springfield, MO – Angela Starns
Greenwood Laboratory School, Springfield, MO – Songfeng Zheng
Immaculate Conception School, Springfield, MO – Christy Cunningham
Nixa Junior High School, Nixa, MO – Elizabeth Tiller
Ozark Junior High School, Ozark, MO – Jessica Giesler
Pleasant View Middle School, Springfield, MO – John Vassilaros
Scholars at Central High School, Springfield, MO – Audra Uzzell
St. Agnes School, Springfield, MO – Cam Branson
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School, Springfield, MO – Matthew Hillwick
Westport Middle School, Springfield, MO – Jill Reinke

A total of 20 students from the Ozark Chapter qualified for the State MSPE competition on March 8, 2025, at the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO (the top two teams and the top 12 individuals not on a top two team qualified to go to state). Seven (7) schools will be sending students to the State competition: Nixa Junior High, Greenwood Laboratory School, Scholars at Central High School, Cherokee Middle School, Immaculate Conception School, Ozark Junior High, and Pleasant View Middle School.

Team Results:

The top two school teams were as follows:

1. Nixa Junior High School

Caden Edlund
Viraaj Chadha
Shreyansh Nakkanti
Alta Winn

2. Greenwood Laboratory School

Dylan Zheng
Jodie Liu
Sarina Zheng
Arjun Jayarao

Top 12 Individuals Not on a Top 2 Team:

Will Hein – Immaculate Conception
Kriti Bande – Scholars @ Central H.S.
Gianna Oghlakian – Scholars @ Central H.S.
Nikolay Pavlenko – Ozark Jr. High
Jackson Haahr – Cherokee Middle School
Asher Beauchamp – Pleasant View Middle School
Brady Hathcock – Immaculate Conception
Josie Lowenthal-Hershey – Cherokee Middle School
Jude Miller – Scholars @ Central H.S.
Ethan Ethridge – Scholars @ Central H.S.
Zoey Shoemaker – Scholars @ Central H.S.
Joshua Shang – Scholars @ Central H.S.

Trophies were presented to the top ten individuals and the top four teams along with their team coach, and Drury awarded five $1,000 scholarships to the top scoring individuals. All students and coaches received a certificate, t-shirt, and goodie-bag.

For this event, the Ozark Chapter of MSPE received major funding from F&H Supply and Springfield 3M, as well as the use of Drury University facilities at no charge.

Other supporting organizations include: Olsson, Inc., City Utilities, City of Springfield, Missouri State University, Own, Inc., Great River Engineering, Palmerton & Parrish, and the Ozark Chapter MSPE.

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MATHCOUNTS 2023

Mon, 13 Feb 2023 21:49:46 GMT

MATHCOUNTS 2023 Organized by: Ozark Chapter - MSPE

Held on Saturday February 4, 2023 at Drury University in Springfield, MO

There were ten (10) schools who participated, with a total of 66 students competing! Several area engineers volunteered throughout the day to help make this event possible.

MATHCOUNTSis a nationwide program designed to improve math skills among U.S. students. Sponsors help encourage middle school students, who are at a crucial stage in developing and sustaining math interest and ability. This year was MATHCOUNTS’s 40^th anniversary.

Participating Schools and Coaches:

Cherokee Middle School, Springfield, MO	Angela Starns
Hickory Hills Middle School	Heather Killian and Brittany Kiser
Immaculate Conception School, Springfield, MO	Lindsay Wright
Nixa Junior High School, Nixa, MO	Elizabeth Tiller
Ozark Junior High School, Ozark, MO	Katherine Morrison
Pleasant View Middle School, Springfield, MO	John Vassilaros
Republic Middle School, Republic, MO	Brandon Riffe
Scholars at Central High School, Springfield, MO	Audra Uzzell and Denise Vinton
St. Agnes School, Springfield, MO	Cam Branson
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School	Matthew Hillwick

A total of 20 students from the Ozark Chapter qualified for the State MSPE competition in March at University of Missouri Science & Technology in Rolla, MO (the top two teams and the top 12 individuals not on a team qualified to go to state). Seven (7) schools will be sending students to the State competition: Scholars at Central High School, Hickory Hills Middle School, Republic Middle School, Nixa Junior High School, Ozark Junior High, St. Agnes Elementary, and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School.

Trophies were presented to the top ten individuals and the top four teams along with their team coach, and Drury awarded a $1,000 scholarship to the top scoring individual. All students and coaches received a certificate, t-shirt, and goodie-bag. Dr. Kevin Hopkins gave a math-based presentation to several of the students during the Team Round.

The Ozark Chapter of MSPE received major funding from Springfield 3M

and use of Drury University facilities at no charge.