Environmentally Speaking - eNewsletter for the A/E/C Community

ACEC/PA Recognizes Ned Smith Center:
Bridge and Trail Project

The Ned Smith Center for Nature & Art (NSCNA) Pedestrian Bridge and Trail Project in Millersburg, PA, has received an Honor Award in the American Council of Engineering Companies of Pennsylvania’s (ACEC/PA’s) Small Projects category. . .

NSCNA Executive Director, Jerry Regan, exclaimed that Gannett Fleming was "a first-class operation!".

In order to assist the NSCNA with meeting project funding requirements, Gannett Fleming prepared a Categorical Exclusion Evaluation (CEE) and provided environmental services in support of a Joint Permit Application. The CEE documented the project’s potential NEPA environmental impacts.

This project was managed by Gannett Fleming Vice President and Environmental Management Practice Leader, Rich Pugh.

Adaptive Reuse/Neighborhood Revitalization
Rhode Island Award

Gannett Fleming, TerraSure and Gannett Fleming Project Development Corporation (GFPDC) were recognized by the Providence Preservation Society of Rhode Island with the 2007 Adaptive Reuse/ Neighborhood Revitalization Award. The award was presented for a brownfields project known as "The Plant" - a mixed-use development assignment located in Providence, RI. The project team was honored for providing remediation support and assisting the developer with creating live/work, office, commercial and event space in the historic mill complex.

As noted in the award, The Plant represents the growth of a new and vibrant community from the ashes of one of the area's oldest buildings.

The site of The Plant, in use since the late eighteenth century, has held an important place in Providence's rich history of industry. Jonathon Puliafico, Arul Ayyaswami, and Don Morosky, attended the Society's Annual Meeting to accept the award.

Best Public Works Project
New York Kudos

^ Gilboa Dam Rock Anchor Installation [project details]

New York Construction Magazine selected the Gilboa Dam Interim Fast Track Stability Improvements as "Project of The Year" in its Best of 2007 Public Works Category. The assignment was a joint-venture (Gannett Fleming-Hazen and Sawyer).

An April, 2007, ACEC/NY award-winning project, the Gilboa Dam Interim Stability Improvements Project focused on improving the dam's structural stability prior to a major reconstruction project . . .

Infrastructure Advantage

Avant IMC was chosen because of its unique expertise in change management, organization development, inter-government cooperation, public-private partnerships and strategy not commonly found in engineering/ architectural/planning firms.
- SSC

Avant IMC [profile] was selected to lead South Central Pennsylvania's Regional Action Plan (RAP) project. RAP was formed by the South Central Caucus of County Commissioners (SCC) as a way to identify and prioritize cooperative strategies addressing land use, transportation and economic development between Lancaster, Lebanon, York, Cumberland, Dauphin, Perry, Adams and Franklin counties.

Internationally Recognized Quality Certification

Gannett Fleming has demonstrated that its quality management system is in compliance with ISO 9001:2000. Gannett Fleming is one of only 14 Engineering News-Record Top 100 Firms to achieve this certification...

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Chesapeake Bay Initiatives
Managing Raw Water

The Baltimore, MD, water system has been supplied by the Loch Raven and Liberty Reservoirs for the past 50 years. Withdrawal from the Susquehanna River has occurred only on an emergency basis. Utilizing the Susquehanna on a regular basis requires a treatment plant to meet the regulatory requirements, as well as produce water that is aesthetically acceptable.

The planned 120 mgd Fullerton Water Filtration Plant is being designed to meet the following objectives:

Facilitate greater use of the Susquehanna River
Raise total regional filtration capacity
Increase overall system dependability
Achieve compliance with current and upcoming drinking water regulations

^ Pilot plant testing equipment.

An alternatives treatment evaluation was performed early in the related pilot plant study to screen viable technologies and develop a short list of three alternatives that will comply with these goals. The pilot plant was constructed to allow the alternative technologies to operate on the Susquehanna water for an extended period to prove viability.

Gannett Fleming is completing the study and preliminary design portion of the Fullerton project under the direction of Vice President and Environmental Facilities Design Manager, Steve Gerlach, PE.

Reducing Nutrients and Sediments

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) released Pennsylvania’s current Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy (CBTS) in January, 2005. The CBTS addressed the state’s commitment for Chesapeake Bay Watershed nutrient and sediment reductions under the 2000 Agreement, intended to remove the Bay from the federal Clean Water Act’s list of impaired waters prior to 2011. The USEPA would then establish a bay-wide Total Maximum Daily Load.

Pennsylvania's Legislative Budget and Finance Committee is currently studying the costs for state wastewater treatment plants to comply with the CBTS.

The CBTS focuses Pennsylvania efforts to meet legalities associated with Bay impairment, including new water quality standards enacted by Maryland. The CBTS consists of various initiatives (see papers/presentations) to cost-effectively meet these nutrient and sediment reduction requirements.

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AWWA Annual Conference and Exposition (ACE)
Georgia World Congress Center

Gene Koontz, PE, [bio] will discuss the design professional's point-of-view on the design-build (D-B)process during June's ACE in Atlanta, GA. Gene's presentation will be part of a workshop entitled, "Avoiding Capital Punishment By Using Best Practices and Best Sources," which will also be facilitated by Marlay Price.

Geo-Technologies:
Louisiana

E.J. Barben presented his master thesis title, "Slump Evaluation of Soil-Bentonite Backfill Amended with Activated," at GeoCongress 2008 in New Orleans, LA. An annual congress of the American Society of Civil Engineers GeoInstitute, this year's event focused on "The Challenge of Sustainability in a GeoEnvironment."

New York

Kessi Zicko, PE, and Robert Kline, PE, co-wrote a paper entitled "The Stabilization of Gilboa Dam, NY, Using High Capacity Rock Anchors: Addressing Service Performance Issues." They describe each step in the project's assessment, design, construction and testing evaluation process while providing a comprehensive case history.

Pennsylvania

^ Leak detection survey.

Richard Lee [bio], Founder and President of Gannett Fleming's Quantum Geophysics Division, will deliver a presentation on "Multi-channel Analyses of Surface Waves (MASW), Microgravity and Other Geophysical Methods for Geotechnical Exploration" at the Central PA Geotechnical Conference in Hershey, PA. Other topics at this year's event include "Innovative Tools and Techniques for Low Cost Landslide Repair" [related D-B soil nailing article].

Wastewater Treatment
Chesapeake Bay Strategy

More than 85% of Pennsylvania’s nutrient loads, specifically
nitrogen as the limiting nutrient for the brackish and saline waters of the Bay, originate from non-point sources.

Vice Presidents and National Water and Wastewater Practice Leaders, Ed Woyden, PE, and Jim Elliott, PE, discussed the Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy (regs/programs) at a recent Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs Conference. Their presentation, offering various strategies for state wastewater treatment plants, analyzed Pennsylvania's new comprehensive approach to nutrient reduction. Topics ranged from policy summaries and compliance schedules to nutrient trading concerns and municipal treatment facility action.

Connecticut Sludge Dewatering

Greenwich WWTP Phase II[project details]

Civil Engineering and Environmental Vice President, Stephen Hadjiyane, PE, delivered a presentation during the New York Water Environment Association Annual Conference on the rehabilitation of the Town of Greenwich, CT, sewage treatment plant’s sludge dewatering facilities. He also discussed the conversion of the plant's old digesters into a storage space.

Pennsylvania Plant Tour

Senior Process Engineer, Fred Updegraff, PE, delivered a presentation entitled, "East Pennsboro Township WWTP Past, Present and Future," during a recent Central Pennsylvania Water Quality Association Meeting. The event also featured a tour of the WWTP, which provides regional wastewater treatment to East Pennsboro Township and portions of Wormleysburg Borough and Hampden Township.

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» AWWA Conference and Exposition (ACE)

» Chesapeake Bay Program (PADEP)

» Brownfields 2008 (Michigan)

» The New York Water Environment Association (NYWEA)

» "The Plant" (Rhode Island)