Terry Cowan, P.E.

President & CEO

Mr. Cowan has 22 years of experience in the engineering field as a designer, project manager, team leader, and program manager.  His clients have consisted of private, municipal, state, and federal agencies.  He has a wide range of experience in the water resources field and has worked on projects involving hydrologic and hydraulic (H&H) studies, channel relocations, bridge and culvert replacements, storm sewer design, irrigation systems, floodplain analysis and permitting, watershed improvement plans, and dam design.  In addition to water resources, Mr. Cowan has extensive experience in environmental permitting and emergency response.

Mr. Cowan specializes in H&H within the railroad industry and has worked for two major Class I railroads: Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF).  His work with these two railroads has encompassed 23 states and totaled nearly a thousand projects.  These projects range from the arid deserts of the Southwest to the plains of the Midwest to the wet climates of the Northwest and the to heat and humidity of the South.

Phone: 406.459.4256
Email: tcowan@coldwaterengineering.com

Alexandra McDonald, P.E.

Project Manager / Permitting lead

Ms. McDonald has over nine years of experience in the field of engineering. Her experience has encompassed all elements of projects, including field work, construction oversight, project design, permitting, and project management. She has worked with a variety of private, state, and federal clients. Ms. McDonald has a strong background in water resources involving hydrologic and hydraulic studies and floodplain analysis. Additionally, she has widespread experience in environmental permitting.

Ms. McDonald’s H&H work has primarily been focused on bridge replacement studies for Class 1 Railroad clients, but she also has experience with H&H work regarding streambank restoration and rehabilitation projects. Her work in this area included field surveys, drawing preparation, hydrologic calculations, hydraulic modeling, and report preparation and presentation. Ms. McDonald also acts as the environmental permitting lead for H&H projects and has extensive knowledge of permitting related to the Clean Water Act Section 404/401, floodplain development, storm water, and a variety of other local, federal, and state specific permits. Her work has covered no fewer than 18 states, including Montana, and includes well over 150 projects.

Phone: 406.531.4251
Email: amcdonald@coldwaterengineering.com

Tom Askin, P.E.

Project Manager

Mr. Askin has over twelve years of years of experience in water resources including pumping systems, water treatment plant operations, septic design, H&H, environmental permitting, survey, construction oversight, and project management. Mr. Askin started working with pumps in high school and moved on to running a small-batch water treatment plant on the Continental Divide as an intern in college. Since graduating in 2013, he has worked on a variety of projects for federal and railroad clients. His federal experience includes water treatment plant operations, sampling, and construction oversight at the Upper Tenmile Creek Mining Area and operating and sampling for a pilot water treatment station at an abandoned mine site in the Barker Hughesville Mining District. His railroad experience includes managing H&H and surveying projects for UPRR, Montana Rail Link, Kansas City Southern, and BNSF Railway.

Mr. Askin specializes in H&H projects primarily for the railroad industry. This entails communication with multiple clients and tailoring projects to meet their specific needs. He has a broad understanding of many fields including survey, analysis, design, and permitting. He has conducted H&H analysis at sites across the country with varied and complex terrain. He has performed hydraulic, topographic and structural surveys, using both RTK and total stations, in 14 states on railroad bridge replacement projects that have ranged from small culverts to bridges over 1,000 feet in length. His permitting experience includes working with municipal, county, state and federal agencies on obtaining necessary permits relating to the Clean Water Act, floodplain, grading, historical cultural resources, threatened and endangered species, and impacts to wetlands.

Phone: 406.459.9597
Email: taskin@coldwaterengineering.com

Tyler Phelps, P.E.

Project Manager

Mr. Phelps has over ten years of experience in engineering, surveying, and construction. Mr. Phelps has provided engineering support for construction management, water resource engineering, operations and maintenance, and remedial action projects. His experience includes contamination sampling and engineering support for the Libby Superfund site, operating and sampling pilot water treatment stations, construction representation for the Clark Fork River Remedial Action project, and H&H projects for Class I and Class II railroads for the Montana and Texas Departments of Transportation.

Mr. Phelps specializes in H&H design, remedial action construction representation, and engineering survey. Mr. Phelps has supervised and conducted numerous hydraulic surveys and designs for railroad and highway bridge replacements and flood repair projects. He also has extensive experience on remedial action projects. These include the Libby Asbestos cleanup, Clark Fork River restoration, Barker-Hughesville superfund site, and Tenmile superfund site.

Phone: 406.431.2171
Email: tphelps@coldwaterengineering.com

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