Charles H. Beauduy, RA, FCSI, CCS, CCCA, LEED® AP
Paul J. Lewis, P.E.
W. Arthur Barrett, II, P.E.
John V. Dougherty, P.E.
Glen L. Hair, P.E., LEED® AP
William M. Stout, P.E.
William W. Allis Jr., P.E.
A paper written by 
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Renewable energy, urban development, and worldwide water engineering accolades are featured throughout this edition.
Utah’s Spanish Fork City water reservoir is connected to metering technology.
News
ACEC Accolades
Gannett Fleming won coast-to-coast in the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) 2010 Engineering Excellence Awards programs. In addition to Exelon’s Renewable Energy Education Center in Fairless Hills, Pa. [previous edition], ACEC award-winning projects included emergency and long-term repairs to the Southwest Diversion Pressure Sewer (SWD) in Baltimore, Md.; and Grass Island Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) ultraviolet (UV) disinfection system upgrades in Greenwich, Conn. The Gannett Fleming and AGS, Inc., Muni Metro East (MME) Light Rail Maintenance and Operations Facility design in San Francisco, Calif., was also recognized by the ACEC.
SWD repairs won an Honor Award in
ACEC of Maryland's Environmental category.
As a result of failures in the 102-inch diameter section of the city of Baltimore’s SWD, Gannett Fleming designed long-term repairs at two different sites along the sewer line. Innovative repair strategies were developed, including a reinforced concrete patch system and emergency design and construction oversight of the world’s largest temporary steel patch. [press release]
The UV system received a Silver Award
in ACEC of New York's Water and
Wastewater category.
Gannett Fleming’s feasibility study, innovative design, and construction staging enabled the town of Greenwich, Conn., to improve its Grass Island WWTP disinfection system without interrupting daily operations. Utilizing UV disinfection, the project improved the water quality of the nearby Long Island Sound by eliminating the toxicity impacts associated with chlorine. [press release]
MME facility design garnered an Honor
Award in the ACEC of California's
Transportation category.
The MME project demonstrates that extreme space conservation with provisions for future upgrade to electrification control is possible. Multiple sustainable design features conserve resources and minimize the MME’s carbon footprint, helping to preserve the environment. [press release]
California Catalyst for Development
The “El Monte Gateway” is a 60-acre transit-oriented development (TOD) project underway in El Monte, California. Construction of a new Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) bus terminal is the catalyst for the project, one of the region's premier urban redevelopment endeavors. Phase I TOD objectives include increased housing supply, job creation, and the establishment of a regional transit center, which will continue to operate as the busiest bus terminal west of Chicago. Phase II will include a regional commercial center adjacent to the bus terminal, with the possibility of a hotel with office and retail space.
The El Monte Transit Village is the busiest bus station west of Chicago, Ill.As lead project manager and engineering consultant, Gannett Fleming is working with the city of El Monte to keep the project moving despite tight financial and construction constraints to ensure successful redevelopment. Several project challenges include complicated stakeholder land arrangements, facility relocations on tight schedules, selecting the developer team, and dealing with contamination and environmental planning issues.
Larry E. Miller, a vice president in the Phoenix, Ariz., office; Rodney J. Dawson, C.M.C. a vice president and regional office manager of the Los Angeles, Calif., office; Leo M. Rebele, vice president for Terrasure Development, LLC in the Irvine, Calif., office; and Byron L. Dixon, P.E., lead civil engineer in the Phoenix, Ariz., office, are spearheading the Gannett Fleming project team.
LEED® Gold Certification
In addition to fishing wharf enhancements unveiled last summer [September 2009 edition], Gannett Fleming designed the renovation and addition to the visitor center at Exelon’s Conowingo Hydroelectric Dam in Conowingo, Md. The project achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Gold Certification.
The prime design consultant, Gannett Fleming received an exemplary performance in the certification’s materials and resources categories. More than 45 percent of materials used for this project were manufactured within the region and new materials contained an average of 28 percent of recycled content.
Improvements and reuse of the existing building reduce landfill demolition material and consumption of open land and other non-renewable resources. The center features a three-kilowatt, roof-mounted, photovoltaic solar panel array; a vegetated roof; and a rain barrel to collect water for landscaping.
Sustainable Facilities Featured on Web Site
Illustrated in a new sustainability section of the corporate web site, Gannett Fleming water and wastewater facilities reflect green building principles. LEED® certified and award-winning plants feature cutting-edge treatment processes while reusing energy and blending into the community. [project details]
Consistent with corporate sustainability initiatives, Gannett Fleming is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council, an organization dedicated to advancing green building design and communities.
Regs/Programs
FEMA Flood Map Modernization
Established with the Flood Insurance Act of 1968, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) includes flood hazard identification and mapping, floodplain management, and insurance. NFIP enables property owners in participating communities to purchase flood insurance. In turn, the community agrees to adopt and enforce a floodplain management ordinance to reduce future flood risk.
hazard mapping information for more than a third of the
counties in Pennsylvania.
FEMA’s Flood Map Modernization (Map Mod) Program has been updating flood hazard data for flood prone areas nationwide since 2004. Maps are updated in a digital GIS format which provides easy information access.
In support of this program, Gannett Fleming is producing Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps (DFIRMs) and Flood Insurance Studies (FIS) throughout FEMA Region III (Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.). Work consists of end-to-end flood map production ranging from project scoping through flood hazard engineering, GIS database development, and community outreach. Up-to-date and reliable maps produced under Map Mod will help communities identify actual flood risk, enable effective floodplain management, and improve flood hazard awareness.
Pennsylvania GeoSpatial Legislation
The Pennsylvania Management Association for Private Photogrammetric Surveyors (PA-MAPPS) and the Pennsylvania Mapping and Geographic Information Consortium (PaMAGIC) are working with stakeholders to form a state geospatial coordination council that would advise Pennsylvania's Governor on the utilization of geospatial technology. The council would eliminate duplication and provide greater understanding to the number of geospatial technology applications and resources.
Legislation to establish such a council, HB 2300, was introduced in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania is one of the few states that does not have either a geospatial coordination council or a current, accurate statewide mapping activity.
A senior GIS manager based in the State College, Pa., office of Gannett Fleming’s GeoDecisions division, David B. Gilbert, GISP, is a PaMAGIC board member, secretary, and past president. A vice president of GeoDecisions, Stephen A. Ellis, GISP, is a PA-MAPPS board member and president-elect.
Papers/Presentations
AWWA National Conference
Metering Technologies
"Although metering encourages conservation and provides increased manageability, metered systems also face unique challenges principally related to water quality."Gregory L. Richards', E.I.T., paper, "Metering Residential Irrigation Water: Technological Approaches and Cost Estimations," examines secondary (or dual) water system meter technologies. Published in "Journal AWWA" last summer, the article provides water suppliers with metering design and economic considerations.
Part of the Levan filtration system, water flows
from the basin over a weir onto a coarse screen.
Richards cites several Utah technology examples including “centralized filtration.” Illustrated in Richards article, the Levan Irrigation Company filtration system diverts mountain runoff and canal water into a settling basin.
Richards wrote the paper as part of his master thesis research at Utah State University in Logan, Utah. Utah Water Research Laboratory professors, Michael Johnson and Steven Barfuss, co-authored the paper. As senior author, Richards received a “Best Paper” during the June AWWA Annual Conference and Exposition (ACE) in Chicago, Ill.
Non-Revenue Water
Gannett Fleming engineers were in full force at ACE, the industry’s premiere water event. Feature presentations included:
"Historical Main Data to Address Non-Revenue Water (NRW)" (Mike T. Brown, P.E.)
"Optimization of Treatment Plant Processes Using SCADA Programming" (Frank G. McGuire, P.E.)
"Stage 2 Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Compliance Using Storage Tank Aeration" (Jamie R. Shambaugh, P.E.)
Brown previously reported on a Kentucky NRW assignment. [December 2009] McGuire utilized SCADA programming at the LEED®-certified Northampton Water Treatment Plant. [project details]
Community Transit Noise
El-Aassar in the field.
Ahmed A. El-Aassar, Ph.D., INCE, ASA, discussed “Transit Noise and Community Choices,” at Noise-Con 2010, the largest noise conference in the United States. El-Aassar’s paper explains how Florida community groups and decision makers responded to a presentation which provided direct acoustic experience of more than a dozen transit modes, ranging from light rail guide-way transit to commuter railways.
The acoustic presentation compared freight train sound levels to an array of different transit sounds. Attendees experienced interactive videos and computer animations broadcasting proposed transit modes at different distances in outdoor and indoor settings.
Environmental Acoustics Incorporated (EAI) is a Harrisburg, Pa., company that provides services associated with transportation and community noise and air quality. A project manager with EAI, El-Aassar serves on a Transportation Research Board committee focused on reducing noise and vibration levels.
Strong Dam Safety Focus
Gannett Fleming was a corporate sponsor of the Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) Southeast Regional Conference in Charleston, W.Va. Feature engineering presentations included:
"Utilizing Geophysics in Auxiliary Spillway Evaluation" (Cari R. Beenenga, P.E.; Molly S. O’Connor, P.E., and Richard K. Lee, P.E., Quantum Geophysics)
"RCC for Dams – Applications, Innovations, Technology Changes, and Examination of Performance" (Rodney E. Holderbaum, P.E.; and Donald P. Roarabaugh, P.E.)
"The ABCs of ACBs – Armoring Embankment Dams and Earth-Cut Spillways With ACBs" (Paul G. Schweiger, P.E.; and Eric C. Neast, P.E.)
"Dam Removal – Breaching of Claysville and Boydstown Dams" (Susan M. Bruns, P.E.; Gordan W. Warren, P.E.)