Mr. Trinkaus gained his experience in the surveying/engineering field by working for John W. Fuller, PELS for over nine years. He worked in the field as a party chief on survey crew performing boundary surveys and performing construction stake out work for over seven years. He performed the necessary office computations for completing boundary surveys.
Under the guidance of Mr. Fuller, Mr. Trinkaus learned how to delineate watershed boundaries, perform hydrologic analyses and design stormwater conveyance systems without the use of computer programs. He also designed the horizontal and vertical geometry of roads by hand and performed the necessary calculations to ensure that the designs met all local standards. He then acquired more engineering experience by working under William Peck, PE, principal at Groundworks, Inc. prior to becoming a self-employed consultant. While at Groundworks, he learned how to perform soil testing for on-site subsurface sewage disposal systems as well as designing the systems in accordance with State and Local Health Code requirements.
The training he received under Mr. Fuller and Mr. Peck had a large influence on Mr. Trinkaus’ s approach to civil engineering. He learned the principles of civil engineering from the ground up working under Mr. Fuller and Mr. Peck. He learned how to manually grade sites, calculate earthwork quantities by measuring proposed contour lines and performing average end area calculations. He also learned how to delineate watershed areas and perform hydrologic calculations by hand using the Rational and TR-55 methodologies. By learning how civil engineering designs and analyses were done prior to the introduction of computer, Mr. Trinkaus understands the inherent design limitations in programs such as AutoCAD and HydroCAD which simply allow calculations to be done in an expedited fashion, but their accuracy must be continually assessed against civil engineering principles.
He is an internationally recognized expert in the application of Low Impact Development strategies, including the creation of LID Design Manuals. He has been an invited presenter on LID topics in Taichung, Taiwan; Beijing, Zhenjiang, and Guangzhou, China; Busan, Daejeon, Daegu, Gyeongju, Gunsan, and Seoul, South Korea.
Mr. Trinkaus’s current activities include chairing the Low Impact Development Model Ordinance Task Committee of the LID Standing Committee, Urban Water Resources Research Council, EWRI, which is part of ASCE. He is the primary author of a national LID Guidance Document developed for EWRI. He is also the chairman of the Filter Strip/Bioswales Task Committee of the same organizations noted above who purpose is to write a Manual of Practice for the design and construction of Filter Strips and Bioswales. He has made many presentations on LID at regional, national, and international forums in addition to presenting 8 hour workshops on LID for continuing education of other design professionals. View Current CV (PDF)
He is a member in good standing of the following professional organizations:
- American Society of Civil Engineers
- National Society of Professional Engineers
- Connecticut Society of Professional Engineers
- International Erosion Control Association
- Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association