G E O R G I A
ENGINEER Volume 23, Issue 3 June | July 2016
®
2
GEORGIA EnGInEER
G E O R G I A
ENGINEER Publisher: A4 Inc. 1154 Lower Birmingham Road Canton, Georgia 30115 770-521-8877 E-mail: rfrey@a4inc.com
Contributing Authors Marwan Abboud Daniel J. Simmons Douglas A. Smith
Editor-in-Chief: Roland Petersen-Frey Managing Editor: Daniel Simmons Art Direction/Design: Pam Petersen-Frey
The Georgia Engineer is published bi-monthly by A4 Inc. and pro-
vides a source of general engineering information to advance the business of engineering companies governmental agencies, municipalities, counties, department of transportation, businesses, and institutions including the university system. Opinions expressed by the authors are not necessarily those of the Georgia Engineer or its publisher nor do they accept responsibility for errors of content or omission and, as a matter of policy, neither do they endorse products or advertisements appearing herein. Parts of this publication may be reproduced with the written consent of the publisher. Correspondence regarding address changes should be sent to the publisher via e-mail to rfrey@a4inc.com or by dropping us a note at the address mentioned above. Subscriptions are available by going online at www.thegeorgiaengineer.com
JUnE | JULY 2016
3
CONTENTS
ON THE COVER: The recently completed I-595 Express Corridor Improvements Project
is the first public-private partnership (P3) project undertaken by the Florida Department of Transportation.
SAFE DAMS IN GEORGIA
The Georgia Safe Dams Act of 1978 became law on July 1st of that year. It was clearly a response to the Kelly Barnes Dam failure, which was not the first signal of unsafe dams in the U.S. Most famously, the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, flood of 1889, due to the failure of the South Fork Dam, killed 2,209 people. p12
CEI DEFINES PARTNERSHIPS THAT DELIVERED I-595
The I-595 Express Corridor Improvements Project was the largest transportation project in Florida’s history and its first public-private partnership project. p22
PERSEVERANCE AND INNOVATION: LESSONS FROM OHIO’S IRONTONRUSSELL BRIDGE REPLACEMENT PROJECT
Constructing the longest span on record for the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and implementing the first-ever use in the U.S. of a precast stay anchor block system doesn’t come without difficulties. It takes innovation, a team approach to problem solving, and perseverance to surmount the challenges. p30
STEEL DRAWBRIDGE NOW A THING OF THE PAST: HAZARDOUS TWOLANE ROAD GETS A FACELIFT
Now halfway through a four-year roadway improvement project, the Dominion Boulevard/ U.S. Route 17 route in Chesapeake Virginia, was once labeled a safety hazard. Unbeknownst to most commuters traveling the 3.8-mile corridor, the accident rate was the highest in the Hampton Roads region. But the city of Chesapeake took notice and action. p34
p8 IMPLICATIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE FOR ENGINEERS
Climate change due to greenhouse gas emissions is an overlay on natural climate cycles and will, (1) increase sea level, (2) expand dry areas and make them drier, and (3) provide relatively wet
areas with more rainfall and more intense rainfall events. p8
4
GEORGIA EnGInEER
T a b l e
8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
o f
CONTENTS
GEORGIA ENGINEER June | July 2016
Implications of Climate Change for Engineers 8 Safe Dams in Georgia 12 Acrow Bridge Receives U.S. Export-Import Bank ‘Deal of the Year’ Award 16 Engineering Your Career 20 CEI Defines Partnerships that Delivered I-595 22 How Did Chile Go from Energy Crisis to Free Electricity in Two Years? 26 Midyear Tax Planning 27 Perseverance and Innovation: Lessons from Ohio’s Ironton-Russell Bridge Replacement Project Steel Drawbridge Now a Thing of the Past: Hazardous Two-Lane Road Gets a Facelift 34 SEO is NOT Dead 36 20 Key Facts About the World’s Longest, Deepest Rail Tunnel 38 The Silent Selling Tool We All Have 40 Georgia Engineering News 41
30
p13
p23
p45 JUnE | JULY 2016
p34
p30 5
ADvERTIsEMEnTs
Amason . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Amec Foster Wheeler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 Burns & McDonnell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Cardno . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 Columbia Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Crom Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Edwards-Pitman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 Georgia 811 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Inside Back Cover Georgia Power Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Hayward Baker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Back Cover Nova . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 Oxford Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Primacq Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 Reinforced Earth Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 RHD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 STV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 THC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 United Consulting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Inside Front Cover
6
GEORGIA EnGInEER
JUnE | JULY 2016
7
IMPLICATIONS OF
8
GEORGIA EnGInEER
CLIMATE CHANGE FOR ENGINEERS By Thomas C. Leslie
ThE wORLD’s CLIMATE Is ChAnGInG, AnD IT wILL AFFECT ALL hUMAnITY FOR MAnY DECADEs TO COME. This proposition is not
south Carolina Dams – Fall, 2015 Class 1 and Class 2 dams: 652 Class 1: may cause loss of life or serious damage to infrastructure Class 2: will not likely cause loss of life but may cause damage to infrastructure Failed Dams: Regulated by the State – 31 Non-regulated – 4 Federally owned – 1 Emergency Orders requiring immediate action to prevent failure- 76 non-emergency orders for repairs and/or maintenance -167 JUnE | JULY 2016
a set-up for a debate about to what degree climate change is caused by human behavior, or whether it reflects a ‘natural’ cycle. The fact is that the world is warming, and this results in more extreme weather. The mechanism for climate change in the scientific community is that a portion of sunlight striking the earth during pre-industrial times (say before 1769, when James Watt received a patent on his first steam engine) is reflected from the earth’s surface back into deep space. Ever since, increasing fossil fuel combustion (primarily) has released more and more CO2 into the earth’s atmosphere. The higher atmospheric concentration of C02 acts to retain more of the reflected sunlight in the earth’s atmosphere—which warms it. In more recent times, other chemicals have also contributed to ‘greenhouse’ gases. A pound of methane, for example, has a far greater impact on the concentration of CO2 than a pound of CO2 released by fossil fuel combustion. I first read of the greenhouse effect in the mid-1970s in Science, a magazine published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. At that time, global warming was surely a theory, but there was striking evidence of global warming. I recall an 1880s photo in Science of a ski resort in Switzerland with a huge glacier in the background. A 1970s photograph taken from the same viewpoint showed the glacier virtually gone. 9
Atmospheric scientists have learned much in the last 40 years, and the notion of climate change has been verified by hard data and predictions by climate models that comport with these data. Global warming increases evapotranspiration rates and allows the atmosphere to retain more moisture. In places where it rains, the ‘extra’ moisture translates into more rain with greater intensity. The climate models predict that dry places will experience less rain, and droughts will be more intense. Even in relatively ‘wet’ areas, long dry periods are expected to continue to occur between significant storms. An example is the record drawdown of Lake Lanier during the 2007 drought in Georgia, which threatened the water supply for much of the Atlanta region. With average annual rainfall of about 50 inches, Atlanta is judged to have abundant water. In general, climate science concludes that global warming means more precipitation will occur as rain and less as snow. Snowpack in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California is a convenient, natural way to store water in the winter and release it as snowmelt during hot, dry periods when it is most needed. An additional concern is that warmer temperatures will cause snow pack to melt sooner and not be available later in the warmer, dryer part of the year when it is most needed, especially for agriculture. A word on sea level rise is necessary to provide a fulsome picture of the implications of global warming. As water is warmed it expands in volume, and oceans rise. Mountain glaciers are melting, which have stored water for many years. Ice sheets (especially in Greenland and Antarctica) are shedding meltwater, and birthing icebergs, which migrate to warmer water and melt. Hard data has shown sea level rising by about 0.1” per year. The Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change estimates an increase of 1.6 - 3.2 feet by 2100. There seems to be little evidence that climate change is associated with the occurrence of tornados and hurricanes, nor their intensity. The same seems to hold for El Nino, the global climate phenome10
non that occurs about every three to seven years. An El Niño in 2014-15 is probably responsible for much of the severe weather during that time. A climate scientist from Columbia University has estimated that the 2014-15 California drought was eight to 27 percent due to climate change, and the rest due to natural causes (e.g., El Niño).
Climate change due to greenhouse gas emissions is an overlay on natural climate cycles and will, (1) increase sea level, (2) expand dry areas and make them drier, and (3) provide relatively wet areas with more rainfall and more intense rainfall events. It is probable that in the coming years we will gain a clearer understanding of climate science, and the models will be refined to better represent reality, which could be better or worse than currently forecast. That is the nature of science. But it is unwise to ignore climate change, which, in many ways becomes a matter of risk management. The situation is analogous to flood insurance. If the US Weather Bureau predicted fewer hurricanes in the upcoming season, would you not buy flood insurance to protect your beach home, given the potential for heavy damage from wind and attendant heavy rain and storm surge? Engineers are at their own peril to ignore climate change as they negotiate the future and position their businesses and careers for success. Exactly how will cli-
mate change affect the setting in which they practice? How should an engineer advise clients and how will climate damage affect the design criteria embedded in projects? It seems that civil engineers involved in infrastructure will be dramatically affected. Engineers associated with alternative energy production/distribution/management will see new opportunities. Water management during both droughts and flooding will become more important and difficult. It is important to understand how climate change manifests itself in the business setting. While weather extremes in the past few years may be only partially due to global warming, these events are illustrative of what we should prudently expect to occur in future decades. If they have happened, they may happen again, and climate science says the odds are increasing that they will. Although the 2014-15 El Niño surely had a role, the severe weather in 2015 is an example of what the future may look like. • Warmest Year of Record. 2015 was the warmest year for global records going back to 1880. During the most recent period, 2000-2015, 14 years showed average world temperatures exceeding the 135-year average by one degree F or more. 2015 was the second warmest year for the lower 48 states, after 2012.
•
•
Buffalo Snow Drought. In 2015 there was no snowfall in Buffalo as of mid-December which broke a record for the latest date of Buffalo’s first snowfall, set on December 3, 1899. Remarkably, Buffalo received a record snowfall of over seven feet in November 2014. Atlanta Rainfall. Atlanta received rainfall totaling 68.08 inches in 2015, the third wettest year of record. For comparison, 1948 was the wettest (71.45 inches), 2009 was the second wettest (69.43 inches), and 2013 was the sixth wettest (66.02 inches). The long-term average is 49.85 inches. GEORGIA EnGInEER
•
•
•
South Carolina Flooding. Over a three to four day period in October 2015, one to two feet of rain fell in central and eastern South Carolina, which represented 50- to 200-year events, and up to the 1,000-year event along the coast. (Before these rains 65 percent of the state was experiencing moderate drought conditions.) During the flooding 36 dams failed. Northern California: Drought. At the end of 2015, about 70 percent of California was experiencing an ‘extreme’ or ‘exceptional’ drought, with 50 percent of the state in the ‘exceptional’ category. The 2014-15 winter was the driest on record, and there were record high temperatures. Lake Shasta, a key reservoir northeast of San Francisco, fell to 30 percent of capacity in 2015. In January 2015 the governor declared a drought State of Emergency and in April issued the first-ever executive order for water utilities to reduce production and water use. Southern California: Flooding. In July 2015, record rainfalls occurred in at least 11 areas in Southern California. The rainfall on July 16 in downtown Los Angles was 0.28 inches, which beat the previous record daily rainfall for July of 0.24 inches on July 14, 1886. On the same day, July 16, 2015, San Diego recorded 1.03 inches that in one day broke the record for all of July: 0.92 inches in 1902. A bridge on I-10 East of Los Angles was washed out and the freeway completely closed.
It is clear that climate is changing, which suggests that engineering assumptions and design criteria need to be reevaluated. We are already seeing the ugly face of extreme weather events, and we see that facilities are not performing well during them. Dams have failed, homes flooded, water and wastewater treatment plants JUnE | JULY 2016
shut down due to flooding, roads and bridges damaged and closed due to flooding and mudslides, insufficient water for urban and agricultural purposes during droughts, under-sized stormwater storage and conveyance facilities, inadequate flood protection, and more. Insurance may be a helpful lens to examine the risk climate change poses to society. In the US, federal flood insurance is subsidized to make it ‘affordable’ for vulnerable structures. At the end of 2014, the federal flood insurance program had an outstanding ‘debt’ to the US Treasury of $23 billion. In return for this subsidy, local governments must limit new construction (with exceptions) within the 100year flood plain. Flood coverage is not normally part of commercial homeowners insurance. In coastal areas, sea level rise and river flooding can be accompanied by a hurricane, which may drive a storm surge to even more devastating effect. (Hurricane Katrina clearly demonstrated this in New Orleans in 2005.) Climate change leads to a complete reset of the 100-year flood elevation.
Engineers and other technical professionals from all levels of government and consulting firms will be involved in resetting flood plan elevations based on new hydrologic data. Existing structures that are legally ‘grandfathered’ into the 100-year flood plain will flood more often and/or more severely and will result in more flood insurance claims and/or more expensive claims. A political debate will likely result from the increasing cost for the federal government - the intensity of the debate being dependent upon the magnitude of the cost increases (and who pays for them). This will provide an incentive to seek measures to mitigate flood damage. Infrastructure improvements will be needed. The coastal destruction by Hurricane Katrina is an example where new infrastructure has been constructed based in part on the learnings from this disaster. Levees have been rebuilt. A storm surge barrier was built at the entrance of the 76-mile Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, which connects to the center
of the New Orleans urban area. Elsewhere in the world, coastal cities are making investment in flood protection facilities. The Dutch have waged a battle with the sea for 1,000 years. Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe and is protected by a huge, sophisticated, movable barrier that closes when a storm surge endangers the port and cities lining the canal connecting it to the North Sea. An agency of the Dutch federal government has set design criteria for flood protection along the Rhine River at the 250-year storm. The agency forecasts a sea level rise of 14 inches per century for the ‘slow climate change scenario’ and 33.5 inches for the ‘worst’ case. The Dutch clearly view climate change as an existential threat and are fully engaged in battle to protect their country from the sea. In most areas of the US, stormwater management requires engineers to adhere to state and local governmental requirements in drainage manuals, erosion & sediment control legislation, and subdivision rules where design criteria are stipulated for culverts, retention basins, grading plans, etc. Most relevant to climate change are the design storms stipulated in them. Many states have enacted laws to ensure that dams do not endanger the public. The failure of 36 dams in South Carolina reflects the need to update design standards, as well as inspections and maintenance. The risk is due to more intense rainfall as well as new urban development in the floodway below dams, which put more people at risk due to a dam failure. The evidence and consequences of climate change continue to mount. The safe bet for engineers is to include ‘design to code’ language in all their contracts. But sooner or later codes will catch up. Farsighted clients may want to incorporate new assumptions related to severe weather in their projects. An engineer needs to be able to discuss the implications of more rain, higher flood elevation, warmer temperatures, more severe droughts, and rising sea level. v 11
Safe Dams in Georgia By Thomas C. Leslie
12
GEORGIA EnGInEER
Toccoa Creek flows over a 186-foot cliff that creates a
scenic waterfall just 0.7 miles upstream from a small private college near Toccoa, Georgia. A dam upstream
from the falls was initially constructed in 1899 to provide reliable water for a hydropower plant. In the late-
1930s, and again in the late-1940s, the dam was
expanded, creating what came to be called Kelly Barnes Lake. At 1:30 am on sunday morning, november 6,
1977, after three days of rain, the Kelly Barnes Dam
failed, and a 30-foot wall of water roared through the narrow valley below and slammed into the Toccoa Falls Bible College campus killing 39 people.
At the request of the governor, a federal investigative board composed of state and federal officials familiar with
hydrology and dams was appointed to determine the cause of failure. Its careful evaluation offers a revealing glimpse
into the nature of dam failure under modestly heavy rainfall. In the 3-1/2 days preceding the disaster, about seven
inches of rain fell in the watershed above the dam, which represented a five- to ten-year recurrence interval. The orig-
inal rock crib dam (stones held in place by a wooden crib) was left in place at the dam’s core and during subsequent
construction soil was used to expand the dam. The result was a final downstream face slope of 1:1, which the investi-
gators found “steep compared to today’s standards.” A 1973 photo showed a slope failure. The exact cause of failure was not provided in the report; rather it concluded that there was a “distinct possibility” that failure was due to some
combination of “slope failure, seepage, or piping.” On the other hand, some possible causes were excluded: animal burrows, sabotage, overtopping, liquefaction, earthquake, tornado, etc. It seems the dam was never designed; it was just built.
JUnE | JULY 2016
13
The Georgia Safe Dams Act of 1978 became law on July 1st of that year. It was clearly a response to the Kelly Barnes Dam failure, which was not the first signal of unsafe dams in the U.S. Most famously, the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, flood of 1889, due to the failure of the South Fork Dam, killed 2,209 people. David McCullough wrote a riveting history of the dam break and flood, one of several histories of interest to engineers (e.g., Brooklyn Bridge, Panama Canal, and others). As I write on May 31, I note that it is ‘National Dam Safety Awareness Day,’ proclaimed by the Association of State Dam Safety Officials to memorialize that day in 1889 when the South Fork Dam failed. On February 26, 1972, three coal slurry ponds owned by Pittston Coal Co. in W. Virginia failed sequentially and sent a wave of black wastewater, cresting at 30’ high, through 16 towns on Buffalo Creek. 125 were killed, 1,121 injured, and 4,000 left homeless. 507 homes, 44 mobile homes, and 30 businesses were destroyed. On June 5, 1976 Teton Dam built by the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation failed during its initial filling, killing 11 people (and 13,000 cattle). As if nature wanted to remind us of its wanton power, the Second Great Johnstown Flood on July 20, 1977, occurred 78 years after the first when six upstream watershed dams failed. These dam failures (and many others) made compelling arguments throughout the U.S. for state regulation of the construction and maintenance of dams. Today, 49 states have ‘Safe Dams’ laws (ok, it’s Alabama if you are wondering) that are similar in many ways, but have distinct state-by-state variations and levels of enforcement. The Georgia Safe Dams Act defines a dam as a ‘barrier’ to water flow that is at least 25’ high or stores 100 acre-feet of water at full pool. Smaller ‘barriers’ are, by legislative definition, not ‘dams’ and are not regulated. The Act does not apply to federally owned dams. To be clear, the 14
height is measured from the “natural bed of the stream” at the “downstream toe of the barrier.” The regulated dams (that meet the 25’/100 AF test) are in one of two groups: Category I, where failure or improper operation may result in loss of human life or Category II, where it would not. Category I dams are referred to as high hazard dams. The Safe Dams Program is a unit of the Watershed Protection Branch of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. The Act requires that an inventory of all dams (remember, only those that meet the 25’/100 AF test) be prepared and updated every five years. In the latest inventory update in 2015, there were 478 Category I and 3,650 Category II dams. There are, of course, many smaller dams (perhaps thousands) that are exempt. The clerk of each county is provided an inventory of dams located in that county. There are 420 Category II dams which the Safe Dams Program staff has reason to believe need further study to determine if they should be placed on the Category I, high hazard list. The most sensitive issue associated with the study of such dams is when a new occupied structure(s) has been constructed immediately downstream from a Category II dam. An analysis of potential impacts using a hydrologic model (Dambreak) reveals whether occupants of the new structure(s) are in danger. If so, the result is that an unregulated dam becomes a regulated, Category I dam due to a change in downstream land use. This could impose construction requirements on the reclassified dam owner that cost into $100,000s. A critical design standard for dams is the amount of water that it must pass during an extreme rainfall event. This calculation is based on the Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP), the greatest amount of rainfall over a six-hour duration expected for a given location (as determined by the U.S. Weather Bureau). For Georgia, the PMP is 30-31”! Most states require that 100 percent of the PMP be
passed safely through the dam regardless of the size of the dam. In a 1983 amendment to the Georgia Act, a new standard was imposed which required a smaller design flow for the smallest dams (25 percent PMP) and much higher flow for the largest dams (100 percent PMP). (See Table 1.) So how have Georgia dams held up during extreme rainfall events over the program’s 38-year life? Perhaps the best test was during Tropical Storm Alberto in 1994. Alberto came ashore and hovered over Southwest Georgia before moving North toward Atlanta and then turning west at a point South of metro Atlanta. The seven inches of rain at HartsfieldJackson Airport was not a severe test, but the 27.85” in Americus was truly a frogstrangler. Flooding was extensive in much of Southwest Georgia and as far north as Macon, where the city’s drinking water filtration plant was completely submerged for days and out of service much longer. During the storm 280 dams failed, including two Category II, high hazard dams. 31 deaths were attributed to Alberto, but most were caused by cars losing control and being lost in flooded streams. A more recent test of dam safety occurred over a three-to-four-day period in October 2015 when one to two feet of rainfall fell in central and eastern South Carolina, which represented 50- to 200-year recurrent events and up to the 1,000-year event in areas along the coast. During this period, 37 dams failed that were roughly equivalent to Georgia’s Category I and II dams. Had Georgia experienced this same storm system, Tom Woosley, Chief of the Georgia Safe Dams Program believes that Georgia would have faired much better. Woosley has served with the program for over 20 years and as Past-President of the Association of State Dam Safety Officials, where he gained an insider’s understanding of programs in other states. He believes that South Carolina underfunded and understaffed their Safe Dams program for years while Georgia had more staff and was more diligent in enforcing the requireGEORGIA EnGInEER
ments of the Safe Dams Act. Perhaps this confidence may have been shaken when the staff level of the Georgia program fell to a temporary low of 4 people in 2013 from 12 in the pre2009 recession period. The program now stands at 11 staff. Woosley says that EPD Director Jud Turner was very supportive of restoring these program cuts. (Turner, an attorney, recently left EPD when the Governor appointed him to be the State Water Czar as the “water wars” with Alabama and Florida move to the legal showdown before the U.S. Supreme Court later this year.) I can only imagine the consequences of a catastrophe on the scale of the Kelly Barnes Dam collapse if it occurred 38 years after the Georgia Safe Dams Act and after the staff had been slashed from 12 to 4. Fewer new dams are being constructed in Georgia compared to the past. It makes sense that most of the good sites for a dam are already occupied. Of those new dams that are coming out of the ground, drinking water reservoirs dominate the conversation. The Hard Labor Creek reservoir has a 100’ dam and the Richland Creek Reservoir dam in Paulding County is 120’ high. The broad trend seems to be more people moving to Georgia create more developed land, puts some at greater risk from existing dams, and increases the demand for drinking water and supply reservoirs.
Tom Woosley says that some changes in the Safe Dams Program regulations are in the pipeline (meaning concepts are being discussed and wording is being developed to present to the DNR Board for approval to start the regulatory process). He describes the changes as ‘tweaking’ the regulations in these areas: 1. Who is responsible for inspecting the dams and how often? The state has ‘recommended’ that dam owners have a Professional Engineer inspect dams annually and forward the reports to the Safe Dams Program. Few have been sent. If the owner is required to inspect and report findings, it shifts costs and responsibilities from state inspectors to owners. In many ways, this is similar to taxpayers preparing their own returns, and wastewater treatment plant operators/owners sampling discharges from their own facilities to verify compliance. 2.
An application for a dam permit is more than filling in the blanks on a state form. Design Plans and Emergency Action Plans should be included in the application package to expedite reviews. (EAPs include such things as names and contact information of owners, downstream neighbors, and emergency officials.)
Flooding and extreme rainfall events, which are affected by climate change, are at the very core of the concern for the public safety risks associated with dams. The science of climate change is evolving to a greater understanding of the fundamental drivers and consequences. It seems that the public question has moved from ‘yes/no’ on human causation to ‘how much.’ The consensus is that climate change will cause more rainfall and more intense rainfall in areas where rain is plentiful, and less rain in areas where rain is now less plentiful. The precise impact is unknown, of course, but smart money is that climate change will shift design issues to higher intensity design storms for dams. Since ancient times, humans have endeavored to manage water by building dams. In the 7th Century BC, the King of Assyria built dams to control the water flow in a 50-mile, stone lined canal that delivered fresh water to Nineveh, a city across the Tigris River from today’s Mosul, Iraq. In 5th Century BC, the Tigris River itself was dammed (also in Iraq) to regulate flow in a 200-mile navigation canal. Today we continue to do what humans have always done: control water flow to benefit humankind. This requires careful design, construction, and maintenance of facilities so that dams do not turn on us and create unsafe conditions. It is a never-ending endeavor. v
Table 1. Design Storm by Dam Size Dam size small Medium Large very Large
storage Capacity (ac.-ft.) less that 500 500 – 1,000 1,000 – 50,000 greater than 50,000
Dam height (ft.) less that 25 25’ - 35’ 35’ – 100’ greater than 100’
Design storm 25% PMP* 33.3% PMP* 50% PMP* 100% PMP*
*Probable Maximum Precipitation. Georgia PMP is about 30-31” in 6-hours
JUnE | JULY 2016
15
16
GEORGIA EnGInEER
ACROW BRIDGE RECEIVES U.S. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK ‘DEAL OF THE YEAR’ AWARD Acrow Bridge, a leading international bridge engineering and supply company, announced today that it received the ‘Deal of the Year’ Award at the Export-Import Bank of the United States’ (EXIM Bank) Annual Conference on April 8 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. The award honors the collaboration between Acrow, the government of Cameroon and EXIM Bank in the development and implementation of a financed, comprehensive bridge development program. The initiative involves the delivery of 55 bridges to Cameroon, as well as the extensive training of local engineers and technicians in the assembly and installation of these critical infrastructure assets. The project structure also includes JUnE | JULY 2016
financing for the purchase of the bridges and the execution of the associated local works. The financing was arranged by Acrow via a lending facility extended by Societe Generale Bank, a Paris-based international financial institution, and loan guarantees issued by EXIM Bank. Since its founding in 1951, Acrow has delivered its bridging solutions in over 80 countries, with more than 1,500 Acrow bridges having been installed in developing countries over the last decade. The project in Cameroon will help repair and modernize rural infrastructure networks in order to provide better access to schools, medical clinics, and enhanced economic opportunity, particularly in remote rural areas. 17
EXIM Bank is an independent federal agency that supports and maintains U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. The bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms—including loan guarantees, working capital guarantees and export credit insurance, among other products – to promote the sale of U.S. goods and services abroad. “Acrow has enjoyed an incredible working relationship with the government of Cameroon and the EXIM Bank team,” said Paul Sullivan, Vice President of International Business Development at Acrow Bridge. “It would be difficult to imagine a more collaborative, dedicated, solutionoriented group of stakeholders, and we thank everyone involved in helping bring this important project to fruition.” Bill Killeen, President and CEO of Acrow Bridge, said, “Acrow is deeply grateful to our partner EXIM Bank for this prestigious recognition of our mediumsized enterprise, this bridge development project, and the structured financing that has been arranged. Furthermore, we are grateful to the Government of Cameroon, also our partner, in this very important endeavor to improve bridge crossings throughout rural regions of their country with Acrow bridges. Additionally, we are appreciative of Societe Generale Bank and our construction partner Ellipse Projects, both of Paris. “President Obama has called on the world to recognize the incredible dynamism and opportunity of today’s Africa through investment, and Acrow is proud to have been engaged on the African continent for more than two decades. We have constructed more than 1,000 bridges in various countries there, and these structures are improving the competitiveness of African products by eliminating supply-side transportation constraints. We are excited and enthusiastic to continue to partner with Sub-Saharan African nations and to support the goals of the billion people on this most remarkable continent.” 18
He added, “It is extremely gratifying that the bridges being installed in Cameroon and bridges that have been installed in other African nations are providing access in rural communities to schools, medical clinics, farms and jobs where no access existed or where limited access existed prior to the Acrow bridge.
The improved access enhances the lives of people and creates an expansion of prosperity. An important part of this project is transferring a technical knowledge base to local workers on how to build and maintain bridges, in the process creating a robust skills-building program.” “Acrow’s durable steel bridges are manufactured by professional and talented men and women in the United States using materials sourced in the USA. Quality assurance is ensured through auditing and certification by three independent organizations, so that Cameroon and all of our international partners receive bridges of the utmost and best workmanship.” About Acrow Bridge
Acrow Bridge has been serving the transportation and construction industries for more than 60 years with a full line of modular steel bridging solutions for vehicle, rail, vessel, military, and pedestrian use. Acrow’s extensive international presence includes its leadership in the development and implementation of bridge infrastructure projects in over 80 countries, covering Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East. For more information, please visit www.acrow.com v GEORGIA EnGInEER
JUnE | JULY 2016
19
Engineering Your Career By Matt Barcus | President | Precision Executive Search Over the course of my career as a civil engineering search consultant, I have placed hundreds of engineering professionals with consulting engineering firms, governmental agencies, and private industry. My success is contingent upon me reaching out to hundreds of civil engineers each month and discussing their careers (past, present, and future), uncovering what motivates them, and often coaching them through the interview and salary negotiation process. I have also had the opportunity to work with a strong stable of clients over the past two decades. As a result of the thousands of conversations I have had over the years, I would like to share with you seven key factors that will help steer your career down the path of success. 1. To what Degree?
So you wrapped up your bachelor’s degree and are now pondering the pursuit of an advanced degree. I believe holding an advanced degree in your profession can prove to be beneficial, as it provides a more in depth understanding of your profession, in turn making your skill set more desirable. Many people prefer to pursue their masters degree immediately following their bachelor’s degree while they are still in ‘school’ mode, and before ‘life’ gets in the way. An alternative would be to work for an employer who would be willing to pay, or at least partially fund your pursuit of an advanced degree, saving you some coin. Should you be interested in choosing a career path that is heavily focused in research, or working in higher education, a PhD would be beneficial. Should your desires be to pursue a career in consulting, a PhD is actually often frowned upon. Pursuit of an MBA can 20
ginning mid-career and you will eventually hit the proverbial ‘glass ceiling.’ 3. Fueling the Fire
Matt Barcus
provide value longer term as you look to advance your career into a leadership role, but I would save that for a future date. If you are contemplating MBA vs. MS, take the MS route initially. 2. A License to success
When graduating with an engineering degree, the end goal for most is to get their Professional Engineers (PE) license in their area of specialization. Most states require four years of experience in working under the direction of a licensed PE. Do not make the mistake of postponing this professional landmark. From time to time I speak to folks who have been in the market for eight-plus years that have not yet sat for their PE. Typical reasoning includes: employer did not encourage or promote it; life got in the way; too busy working/not enough time to study...DO NOT FALL INTO THESE TRAPS. Receiving your PE license should be considered a major career milestone; failing to do so will ultimately limit your options be-
It goes without saying that as an engineer, you MUST have the technical expertise and experience to advance your career. But without passion for what you do, you will fall flat on your face. A career in engineering offers many different paths to success, but you need to have a full understanding of what fuels your fire. Do you prefer a role where you are a desk jockey and working in an office environment, or do you thrive in a role that will get you out in the field? Do large scale, mega projects excite you, or do you prefer a higher volume of smaller, quick turn over projects? Would you rather climb the technical career ladder where you become the inhouse expert and are a technical resource for an entire organization, or do you see yourself pursuing an executive level leadership role focused on business development or operations? All are valid questions to ask yourself, and once answered you can sculpt the successful career path that excites you. 4. what's Your Type?
A career in engineering offers a diverse array of opportunities when considering the type of entity you want to work for. Knowing your personality and understanding what environment best suits that personality will greatly impact where you take your career. Understanding the pros and cons of working for big firms vs. small firms; consulting vs. government vs. in house / institutional; publicly traded vs. privately owned; prime vs. DBE; design vs. construction. This may take some time to figure out, as often times percepGEORGIA EnGInEER
tion is indeed not reality. Gather as much information as possible from your network, but you may not fully gain the clarity you need until you experience a specific type of organization yourself. 5. Resistance Training
I'm going in two different directions here, so bare with me. First, resist the temptation to make frequent career moves, because in the end, employers will begin to resist hiring you. You may be able to get away with it early on in your career, but if you build a track record of switching jobs every one to three years it will indeed catch up to you. Why you ask? Organizations spend countless amounts of money and time training and developing employees, so if they see a track record of frequent career moves, they will be hesitant to hire you despite your ability to actually do the job. Additionally, companies are looking to grow. They want to know that the employees they hire will be a part of that growth. Of course the employer needs to provide that opportunity and hold up their end of the bargain, but if you have a habit of getting bored, or trying something new, or jumping ship for a couple grand more in salary, that will catch up and bite you in the rear in the long term. I believe that making some strategic career moves over the course of a 40+ year career is vital. It allows for advancement opportunities, it allows for a change of pace if you are stuck in a rut, it minimizes exposure to salary compression, and it allows for exposure to some new and exciting projects, ideas, and people. But my advice is to MAKE THINGS HAPPEN with your current employer. Work hard, be innovative, don’t be afraid to fail, and communicate effectively with those who surround you. When you have done your best and are no longer able to MAKE THINGS HAPPEN, then you should consider greener pastures My second point will make sense If you've ever been to the gym, as you likely understand the concept of resistance training. In order for muscles to grow, JUnE | JULY 2016
you need to challenge them by lifting more weight as the last few reps become a struggle, but you are still able to complete them (even with a little bit of help). The same concept applies to your career growth. If you work hard, set stretch goals, challenge yourself, and work for a good company, you will progress your way up the weight rack, and your employer will be there to spot you. If you find that you are lifting with proper form but that you have plateaued despite all of your efforts, then it may be time to ‘change gyms.’ 6. Associate Yourself
Whichever direction you choose to take your engineering career, remaining actively involved in local, regional, and national professional associations relevant to your area of expertise is critical. Critical is the fact that it will allow opportunities to publish and present papers and projects which will designate you as a thought leader in your profession, and will increase your marketability. You will greatly expand your professional network allowing for plenty of opportunities to learn from your peers. Many doors will open for you over the course of your career. 7. Relationships Matter
Do good by people. Simple advice. The
engineering business can be brutal at times—long hours, demanding clients, needy employees, public pressure, losing proposals, the list goes on, BUT...there is indeed a tremendous amount of upside and many, many, many men and women lead extremely rewarding and successful careers in engineering. These folks lead successful careers not only because they are strong leaders who work hard, are creative, and make good decisions, but also because they do good by the people they work with. Despite what one may think, engineering is very much a people business. One may be able to design an amazing bridge, or swiftly and successfully navigate the permitting process, but failure to raise up those beneath you, failure to get to really get to know clients and build strong relationships, failure to consider the ideas and input of others, failure to recognize vendors or sub-consultants that deliver or exceed on what they promised will lead your career straight to a dead end. Once you've hit that dead end it can be very hard to recover, as word travels quickly. So be sure to take good care of those who surround you professionally, and they will be sure to take good care of
21
THE RECENTLY COMPLETED I-595 EXPRESS CORRIDOR IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT is the first public-private partnership (P3) project undertaken by the Florida Department of Transportation. It was the largest, single transportation project in the state. Recently completed and delivered on time for $275 million below estimated costs, the $1.3 billion project is designed to relieve traffic congestion and improve multimodal transportation in the area from I-75 to just east of I-95. The project includes reversible express lanes, express bus service, and a bike/pedestrian greenway. It was also the first P3 project in the United States to be funded with availability payments. HNTB was selected as CEI (construction, engineer, and inspection) to the concessionaire in 2009. The project was located in one of the more highly traveled routes in Florida with up to 200,000 daily vehicles. Population growth has continued to climb and estimates indicate there will be 300,000 vehicles daily using this highway in 2034. The corridor is made up of various soil types and has a canal that borders its alignment. It was not a run of the mill project.
22
GEORGIA EnGInEER
CEI Defines Partnerships that Delivered I-595
JUnE | JULY 2016
By scott Case | hnTB CEI lead The first public-private partnership with Florida Department of Transportation is ideal for the CEI approach.
23
Stormwater drainage improvements were made throughout the length of the I-595 Express Corridor Improvements Project. They required going underneath general use lanes and adjoining frontage roads using microtunnels.
New approach needed The project was 13 miles long and was large enough that it was broken into,
bridge types. There were open cuts, jacking, horizontal bores, and new fire suppression systems. In addition, we built sound barrier walls that are supported by augercast piles or ground-mounted and shoulder-mounted walls. There were more types of construction within this single project than most people would normally find in a 20-plus year career.
SEVEN DESIGN FIRMS CONTRIBUTED, AS DID EIGHT CONTRACTORS AND MORE THAN 275 CONSULTANTS. eight segments. Seven design firms contributed, as did eight contractors and more than 275 consultants. It encompassed 70 lane miles of construction and incorporated 63 bridges that were either widened or were built as new construction. Approximately 2,500 employees were engaged during the project. As CEI, the HNTB team reviewed all the plans and recommendations to identify concerns or items that could impact the project cost, the segment schedules or otherwise cause things to go awry. We then worked with the contractors to determine ways to remedy concerns. This project encompassed anything you can imagine. It included steel girders, tub girders, segmental, Florida I-beams, and multiple other
Plans called for constructing three reversible, or bi-directional, toll lanes in the middle of I-595 and pushing out the existing interstate lanes. In addition to expected construction and renovation, the need for two-way tolling required that an entire new IT infrastructure be built to handle communications for the express lanes that have a single gantry servicing all lanes. Stormwater drainage improvements were made throughout the length of the project. This was challenging because groundwater levels are shallow and geology ranges from
hard lime rock to sandy soils. It required that we go underneath the entire general use lanes and adjoining frontage roads via the use of microtunnels because of the massive size of the existing structures. This required a 24/7 operation of drilling, then advancing casing and repeating it until we hit the receiving shaft on the other side. Traffic was maintained during this process. The majority of stormwater is directed via these microtunnels which are up to 72 inches to lakes on nearby golf courses where FDOT purchased drainage rights. Using these lakes saved upwards of $60 million in rightsof-way purchases for drainage rights. Challenges continue The University Drive intersection challenged us all. A 700-foot-long flyover ramp there went over the the general use lanes and express lanes. The original design called for this existing structure to be replaced. However, the contractor came up with a cost-saving initiative to avoid this. We took that six-span structure, jacked up all six spans in unison with hydraulic jacks connected to single manifold. In 24 h o u r s , teams lifted up five million
More than $100 million was saved on the I595 Express Corridor Improvements Project by re-using the flyover ramp at University Drive. 24
GEORGIA EnGInEER
The I-595 Express Corridor Improvements Project was the largest transportation project in Florida’s history and its first public-private partnership project.
stalled in sections and be welded, a tedious task with tough inspections. In an effort to keep the project progressing despite the low headroom, HNTB worked with the contractor to use micropiles. The micropiles allowed us to
sionals to gain all types of experience that they might not see in a lifetime of doing this type of work. This was an opportunity to gain experience of many types of jobs on one project. Projects as big has this one can sometimes be negatively perceived by the
THE MICROPILES ALLOWED US TO COMPLETE A FIVE-PILE STRUCTURE IN A WEEK, COMPARED TO AN ENTIRE MONTH FOR A SINGLE FOUNDATION HAD WE USED PIPE PILES.
pounds of bridge 18 inches and constructed the realignment on the eastern end. This let the flyover remain, saving more than $100 million. This did require that we reinforce bridge foundations and stiffen foundation work underneath temporary towers needed for the jacking operation. The original design called for temporary pipe piles to be installed. However, the structure above created headroom restrictions. In turn, pipe piles would have had to have been in-
JUnE | JULY 2016
complete a fivepile structure in a week, compared to an entire month for a single foundation had we used pipe piles. Employing the micropiles was a strong collaboration among contractors and kept the project on schedule. CEI works The CEI discipline suits projects such as this because of their complexity, the need to continuously show progress, and the need for collaboration on project components, construction, and costs. The I-595 project had every aspect of construction one can think of. It is an excellent project for profes-
public because progress isn’t always visible and traffic delays may be common. As a team, we worked jointly to identify potential obstacles, then develop plans that kept the project on schedule. This allowed FDOT to communicate the schedule to its customers for project milestones and completion. P3 funding has helped FDOT and its customers benefit from the latest construction techniques, technologies, and driver safety applications. Innovative financing and the collaboration within the CEI method allowed our team to deliver an upgraded corridor in five years that would otherwise have taken 20 to 25 years. Collectively, we’ve also laid the foundation for further design and construction innovation in Florida and in the U.S. v
25
How Did Chile Go from Energy Crisis to Free Electricity in Two Years? By David Rogers | Global Construction Review Two years ago, the government of Chile believed it was facing a grave energy crisis, and was wondering whether to build a nuclear power station or a liquefied natural gas terminal to deal with it. Now it has so much energy that producers are being forced to give it away free to domestic users for around a third of the year. The difference has been made by the rapid growth of solar energy and a collapse in demand from its expected customers. As recently as 2014, the country believed it was facing a serious long-term energy shortage, largely caused by the expected growth in the country’s energyintensive copper mining industry. This was exacerbated by the effect of a drought on hydroelectric production, which was responsible for 33 percent of generation, and the cessation of gas deliveries from Argentina. Electricity prices had risen 20 percent compared with 2010, and the government was predicting a further 34 percent rise over the coming ten years. As a result, it was decided to prioritise solar projects: in January, it became the first Latin American country to reach 1GW of production, and there is presently 2.2GW more under construction. Together, this adds up to an 18 percent increase in the country’s installed capacity. However, a fall in demand in China’s domestic economy led to collapse in the price of copper, and so less demand than was expected. The overproduction has been exacerbated by structural problems with the national grid. This is split between north and south, and most of installed solar capacity is located in the Atacama desert, where the country’s main copper deposits are. 26
As a result, the electricity has to be ‘dumped’ on the northern market. According to Chile’s central grid operator, the spot price for power was zero on 192 days of 2015—a total that is likely to be exceeded this year. Although this is bad news for investors in power projects, it is good news
for consumers and the rest of Chile’s industry. The situation may be changed by the construction of a 600km transmission line to connect the two halves of the grid in 2017, and the recent reactivation of a transmission cable connecting northern Chile with the Argentine grid. v
GEORGIA EnGInEER
Midyear Tax Planning By Tracy G. Sharkey, CPA | Managing Partner, TJS
Numerous tax breaks have been retroactively expanded for 2015 and beyond—or, in some cases, been made permanent— under the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act of 2015. Now that the dust from the new law has settled, individuals and small business owners can plan ahead with these ten midyear tax strategies inspired by the recent legislation.
may transfer up to $100,000 directly from your IRA to a charity without any tax consequences. In other words, you can’t claim a charitable deduction for these transfers, but the payouts aren’t taxable either—even if they’re used to satisfy your RMD. Act sooner rather than later to avoid year-end scrambling. Keep in mind that this is a per person benefit. Although both spouses may individually transfer up to $100,000 from an IRA to a charity, one spouse cannot ‘borrow’ the other spouse’s $100,000 to make a $200,000 transfer.
5 Tax Breaks for Individuals
1. Consider tax breaks for college students. If you have a child in college this year, you may be eligible for tax benefits. The PATH Act makes the American Opportunity credit permanent and extends the tuition and fees deduction through 2016. Both of these breaks are subject to phaseouts based on income level. For each student, you may claim either the American Opportunity credit or the tuition and fees deduction, but not both. Thus, while it is possible to claim the credit and the deduction in the same year, you may not claim both for the same student. If your income is too high to take one of these breaks, your child might be eligible. The PATH Act also permanently treats computers, computer equipment, software, and Internet service as qualified expenses for Section 529 savings plans, so distributions for this purpose are tax-free. Summer planning can help maximize your tax benefits for costs incurred for the fall semester. 2. Shop for a new car. If you itemize deductions on your federal income tax return, you can generally deduct state and local income taxes paid for the year. As an alternative, however, you may claim a deduction for state and JUnE | JULY 2016
local sales taxes. This option—which has been permanently extended by the PATH Act—is generally beneficial to taxpayers in locales with low or no state or local income taxes. But it can also benefit taxpayers who make large purchases during the year, regardless of where they live. The sales tax deduction is determined based on actual receipts or an IRS table that lists amounts for each state. If you opt to use the IRS table, you can add on the actual sales tax paid for certain ‘big-ticket items,’ such as cars or boats. If you’re in the market for a new vehicle, remember this alternate tax deduction. 3. Transfer IRA funds directly to charity. After you turn age 70½, you must take required minimum distributions (RMDs) from your traditional IRAs, whether you want to or not. These RMDs are taxable in the tax year they’re received. Under a provision made permanent by the PATH Act, if you’re age 70½ or older, you
4. Gift property to a charity. Real estate owners can deduct the value of ‘conservation easements’ made to a charity that preserve the property in its original condition. Charitable deductions for long-term capital gains property (appreciated property that’s been held more than one year) are generally limited to 30 percent of the taxpayer’s adjusted gross income (AGI). Any excess may be carried forward for up to 15 years. Under enhancements made permanent by the PATH Act, the deduction threshold is raised to 50 percent of AGI (100 percent for farmers and ranchers) for conservation easements. Any excess may still be carried forward for up to 15 years. One catch, however, is that all such conservation donations must be made in perpetuity. 5. Install energy-saving equipment. Are you dreading the summer heat? It may be time to install a central air conditioning system. There are various requirements to qualify for the credit. First, the home must be your main home. Also, while the credit is generally equal to ten percent of the cost of qualified energy-saving improve27
ments, there is a lifetime credit limit of $500. Thus, if you’ve claimed the credit in a prior year, your currentyear credit will be reduced accordingly. Other special dollar limits may apply. It’s available for a wide range of items from central air to insulation. The PATH Act extended the residential energy credit only through 2016. So, it’s important to act before this tax-saving op-
portunity expires. (It may be extended again, but there are no guarantees.) 5 Tax Breaks for small Businesses
1. Buy equipment. The PATH Act preserves both the generous limits for the Section 179 expensing election and the availability of bonus depreciation. These breaks generally apply to qualified fixed assets, including equipment or machinery, placed in service during
the year. For 2016, the maximum Sec. 179 deduction is $500,000, subject to a $2,010,000 phaseout threshold. Without the PATH Act, the 2016 limits would have been $25,000 and $200,000, respectively. The higher amounts are now permanent and subject to inflation indexing. Additionally, for 2016 and 2017, your business may be able to claim 50 percent bonus depreciation for qualified costs in excess of what you expense under Sec. 179. Bonus depreciation is scheduled to be reduced to 40 percent in 2018 and 30 percent in 2019 before it expires on December 31, 2019. 2. Improve your premises. Traditionally, businesses must recover the cost of building improvements straight-line over 39 years. But the recovery period has been reduced to 15 years for qualified leasehold improvements, qualified restaurant buildings and
28
GEORGIA EnGInEER
improvements, and qualified retail improvements. This tax break was reinstated and made permanent by the PATH Act. If you qualify and your premises need remodeling, you can recoup the costs much faster than you could without this special provision. Keep in mind that some of these expenses might be eligible for bonus depreciation. 3. Ramp up research activities. After years of uncertainty, the research credit has been made permanent under the PATH Act. For qualified research expenses, the credit is generally equal to 20 percent of expenses over a base amount that’s essentially determined using a historical average of research expenses as a percentage of revenues. There’s also an alternative computation for companies that haven’t increased their research expenses substantially over their historical base amounts. Research activities must meet these criteria to be considered ‘qualified’: • The purpose must be to create new (or improve existing) functionality, performance, reliability or quality of a product, process, technique, invention, formula or computer software that will be sold or used in your trade or business. •
There must be an intention to eliminate uncertainty.
•
There must be a process of experimentation. In other words, there must be a trial and error process.
•
The process of experimentation must fundamentally rely on principles of physical or biological science, engineering or computer science.
minimum tax (AMT) liability. In addition, a start-up company with less than $5 million in gross receipts may claim the credit against up to $250,000 in employer Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes. 4. Issue more stock. Does your business need an influx of capital? If so, consider issuing qualified small business stock (QSBS). As long as certain requirements are met (for example, at least 80 percent of your corporate assets must be actively used for business purposes) and the investor holds the stock for at least five years, 100 percent of the gain from a subsequent sale of QSBS will be tax-free to the investor—making such stock an attractive investment opportunity. The PATH Act lifted the QSBS acquisition deadline (December 31, 2014) for this tax break, essentially making the break permanent. 5. Hire workers from certain ‘target groups.’ Your business may claim the Work Opportunity credit for hiring a worker from one of several ‘target groups,’ such as food stamp recipients
and certain veterans. The PATH Act revives the credit and extends it through 2019. It also adds a new category: long-term unemployment recipients. Generally, the maximum Work Opportunity credit is $2,400 per worker, but it's higher for workers from certain target groups. In addition, an employer may qualify for a special credit, with a maximum of up to $1,200 per worker for 2016, for employing disadvantaged youths from Empowerment Zones or Enterprise Communities in the summer. New transitional rules give an employer until June 30, 2016, to claim the Work Opportunity credit for applicable wages paid in 2015. Midyear Tax Planning Meeting
We’re almost half way through the tax year. Summer is a great time for individuals and small businesses to get a jump start on tax planning. Contact your tax adviser to estimate your expected tax liability based on year-to-date taxable income and devise ways to reduce your tax bill in 2016 and beyond. v
Effective starting in 2016, a small business with $50 million or less in gross receipts may claim the credit against its alternative JUnE | JULY 2016
29
PERSEVERANCE AND INNOVATION
Lessons from Ohio’s Ironton-Russell Bridge Replacement Project
By Jerry Pfuntner and Tom Hesmond
Constructing the longest span on record for the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and implementing the first-ever use in the U.s. of a precast stay anchor block system doesn’t come without difficulties. It takes innovation, a team approach to problem solving, and perseverance to surmount the challenges.
The Ironton-Russell Bridge replacement over the Ohio River between Ironton, Ohio, and Russell, Kentucky, languished for years because earlier bids were far above budget. But in 2012, with a new design by URS (now AECOM), the Brayman Construction Corp., Finley Engineering Group (FINLEY), and VSL team proposed a number of construction and design modifications that helped reduce overall costs. “The changes were very innovative, kept to our high standards, and resulted in less cost to our taxpayers,” said David Bame, ODOT project engineer. “After years of hard work, patience, and diligence, the area residents and other travelers will soon enjoy a reliable, safe crossing to enhance commerce and quality of life in the area.” The $81.2 million project includes $79.3 million in construction bonds and $1.4 million in federal funds. The new 2,616-foot-long Ironton-Russell Bridge is comprised of a 900foot cablestayed main span and two 370-foot cable-stayed side spans, two 315-foot tall towers and two anchor piers on the river’s edge. The structure is cast-in-place with 22,500 cubic yards of reinforced concrete (5.8 million pounds of rebar), utilizing the cable stays to construct the bridge by the one-directional cantilever method. Foundation units consist of 53 large-diameter drilled shafts ranging from 42 inches to 96 inches. When completed, the 900-foot main span will be the longest span the ODOT has ever built. The existing Ironton-Russell Bridge, a cantilever structure, was opened in 1922 as the first highway bridge along the Ohio River between Parkersburg, West Virginia, and Cincinnati. It was retrofitted in the 1970s and later posted with restrictions, having become inefficient for traffic and economically impractical to maintain. In 2000, ODOT determined the bridge was functionally obsolete, structurally deficient, and recommended replacement. This bridge is a major river crossing that provides a main route for trucking and other transportation. The Innovations: Precast stay Anchor Blocks and the Casting Back spans on Falsework
“Probably the most notable of the alterations to means and methods and design are the casting of the back spans in place 30
using specially designed falsework and the first known use in the USA of precast stay anchor blocks,” said Craig Finley, Jr., managing principal of FINLEY. Constructing the back spans on falsework simplified construction and minimized the amount and size of equipment required for the cable-stayed portion of the project. The falsework was designed as a modular system, allowing it to be used for both the Kentucky and Ohio approaches and reducing the number of travelers from two to one. This, along with precast concrete girders for floor beams on side spans, allowed Brayman to have land access to build the main span. Together, these approaches saved time and money while increasing project safety. Project officials agree that minimizing water work has been a success. With an average of 50 workers on site on a daily basis, there have been no major accidents on the project since its inception. The innovative and first U.S. use of a precast stay anchor
block system simplified stay cable anchorage placement, accelerated the construction schedule, and simplified the form traveler system by eliminating the need for a temporary stay anchorage. VSL was a key part of the team and solution. It allowed the integration of the design and fabrication of the traveler through one stay supply and installation provider. The team evaluated and identified other elements that could be precast rather than poured in place. This allowed items to be pre-manufactured under controlled conditions while other work GEORGIA EnGInEER
(left) View of Tower 3, left, main span complete, Tower 4, right, to begin the second portion of the main span. Courtesy of Brayman Construction Corporation. (this page) View of Tower 3 in Kentucky and form traveler. Courtesy of Brayman Construction Corporation JUnE | JULY 2016
31
was able to continue. The use of precast cofferdams greatly reduced the amount of tremie concrete required, as well as provided a sacrificial form for the tower footing. Precast tubs were used for footings at Pier 3 and Pier 4, eliminating the need for pile coffer cells. The precast tubs were tied into the drilled shafts, diminishing excavation and its impact on the environment, and incorporated a sheet pile follower system which was required to extend the footer to the necessary river elevation. Although precast tubs are not unique, the tubs on this project were approximately 30 feet below river elevation, and possibly the deepest known use of a precast tub system. Facing the Challenges
As with many of the projects of this size that incorporate innovative technology and processes, advancement doesn’t come without challenges. The Dispute Review Board (DRB) process helped resolve technical challenges as they arose in a fair and impartial manner. ODOT and the contractor also had the ability to engage in the Advisory Recommendation Process, which provided a preliminary assessment of their positions prior to a claim reaching the DRB. This advisory process gave the parties the opportunity to resolve the issue in a timely and efficient manner. “Cooperation between the ODOT and Brayman helped resolve unforeseen weather conditions, while it took cooperation from ODOT and URS and input from Finley and VSL to resolve
precise adjustments to the precast anchor blocks,” said Steve Muck, CEO, Brayman Construction. Furthermore, “the density of rebar and post-tensioning required the utmost attention to detail from the Brayman Precast Group.” While the first precast tub presented challenges in sealing between it and the foundations due to the unusual placement depth and unexpected weather conditions, the team worked together to make modifications significantly improving the process for the second tub. Sealing the 30 foot deep coffer boxes required commercial diving support and was performed by Specialty Underwater Services. “There were many challenges in the precast operation, most due to the alignment of the guide pipe and the density and tolerances of the rebar. There was a bit of a learning curve to smooth out this process,” Muck said. With the cantilever from the Kentucky side complete and the Ohio-originating cantilever in the works, the next major milestone will be the closure of the main span late this summer. The new Ironton-Russell Bridge is expected to open to traffic by Thanksgiving. v Jerry Pfuntner is Finley Engineering Group’s lead bridge engineer for the Ironton-Russell Bridge project: jerry.pfuntner@finleyengineeringgroup.com. Tom Hesmond is Brayman Construction Corporation’s project manager for the Ironton-Russell Bridge project: t_hesmond@brayman.com.
View of form traveler Tower 4 in Ohio. Specially designed traveler was produced by VSL. Courtesy of Brayman Construction Corporation.
32
GEORGIA EnGInEER
JUnE | JULY 2016
33
Steel Drawbridge Now a Thing of the Past: Hazardous Two-Lane Road Gets a Facelift By Danelle Prezioso | Vice President of Communications and Marketing | MBP Now halfway through a four-year roadway improvement project, the Dominion Boulevard/U.S. Route 17 route in Chesapeake, Virginia, was once labeled a safety hazard. Unbeknownst to most commuters traveling the 3.8-mile corridor, the accident rate was the highest in the Hampton Roads region. But the city of Chesapeake took notice and action. Rated by Congress as one of 20 National Highway System High Priority Corridors, the two-lane roadway and steel drawbridge could not accommodate traffic demands and the delays resulting from an average of 16 bridge lifts per day (more than 6000 per year). Designated a hurricane evacuation route, approaches to the bridge were prone to flooding. Construction began in 2013, and more than 100 personnel from various firms, along with the city of Chesapeake, are committed to the project. Replacing the two-lane drawbridge built in 1964 is a new four-lane, fixedspan, 95-foot high rise bridge which now eliminates the need for bridge openings and the stop-and-go traffic causing the majority of the accidents along the corridor. Maritime safety has also been drastically enhanced due to the increased overhead clearance. Capital costs for the project total $345 million and the city of Chesapeake is the sole owner, funding the project through toll revenues, existing reserves, bonds, state and federal funding, along with a loan from the Virginia Transportation Infrastructure Bank. Tolls at $1 per vehicle, which will begin when the project is complete in 2017, will fund operations and maintenance costs, along with the repayment of bonds and loans. By avoiding the use of private investors via a Public34
Private Partnership initiative, the city is able to exercise added control on toll increases. “These transportation improvements have already enhanced safety by reducing congestion and increasing traffic flow,” says Senior Vice President Michael Prezioso, PE, CCM with MBP, the construction manager for the project. “It also improves hurricane evacuation and allows for faster response by public safety vehicles,” he adds. With one half of the bridge complete, commuters have already felt the positive impacts two years into construction and can look forward to getting to where they need to be safely and on time. City of Chesapeake Construction Project highlights:
• • • • •
Approximately ten miles of utilities have been relocated 400,000 cubic yards of excavation 1.2 million cubic yards of embankment fill 5.8 million linear feet of wick drains 50,000 cubic yards of cast-in-place concrete
• • •
• • • •
2000+ precast concrete piles (157,500 linear feet – over 30 miles) 66,400 linear feet of precast concrete beams (over 13 miles) 245,000 square feet of Mechanically Stabilized Earth walls (retaining walls) 26,000 square feet of sound barrier 1,000 linear feet of box culvert (650 cy) 36,000 linear feet of reinforced concrete pipe 8 million pounds of reinforcing steel
Key stakeholders:
Owner – City of Chesapeake Designer – PB Construction Manager – MBP Construction Engineer Michael Baker International Inc. Geotechnical Engineer – GET Solutions Inc. Construction Inspector – NXL Construction Services Inc. Contractor – E.V. Williams Environmental Engineer – Kimley-Horn Public Relations – Pulsar Advertising GEORGIA EnGInEER
View of high-rise bridge under construction from the Elizabeth River (old bascule bridge in the background) JUnE | JULY 2016
35
SEO is NOT Dead By Frank Motola | Brandtastic LLC
What better way to attract potential customers for a business than to rank at the top of Google, Bing & Yahoo for their products and services. Ranking organically in search is the ultimate form of inbound lead generation! A common lament heard in business circles however is that SEO is Dead, it no longer works or it just cost too much to get results. All three statements couldn't be farther from the truth. Sure, paid ads are a quick way to show up at the top but most savvy searchers bypass the ads at the top and opt to click on the first few organic results. We even hear many so-called ‘SEO Experts’ giving up on the tried-and-true SEO tactics in favor of other avenues, like social media, to direct relevant traffic. While social media has its place in an online marketing strategy, nothing truly helps boost lead generation like a strong SEO plan and solid rankings. Every business needs to take advantage of the potential results they may achieve by doing what it takes to compete and start collecting that low-hanging fruit of new customers finding them on the web. Unfortunately, hundreds of thousands of web sites are created every single year, making it harder all the time to rank well for the top ten spots on page one of the search engine result pages (SERPs). Getting those coveted, top spots on search engines for related searches may seem inaccessible, but there are some strategies that can help. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) methods have been around since the creation of search engines, but the algorithms that rank Web sites have changed quite a bit from those days. Because the original algorithms created to rank Web sites on SERPs was easily 36
manipulated, constant changes were made to increase the complexity of the algorithms and weed out SPAM Web sites that delivered little to no value to users. The constant evolution of these algorithms has made it a real necessity for every business to have a serious, ongoing SEO strategy. As business owners, we all know that worthy achievements rarely come without deliberate and concerted efforts. The good news is that there are some basic on-page SEO tactics that can deliver real results in today’s competitive internet landscape: Focus Keywords
The foundation of ranking well with a website should center around a list of words or phrases that are targeted to rank well for. These keywords should be relevant to the business, brand, or service. It helps to have a specific keyword or phrase in mind for each and every web page that is created. For instance, a small furniture
store can have a separate page for products like ‘sectional sofas,’ ‘sleeper sofas,’ or ‘leather sofas,’ focusing the keywords in each page around the specific type of sofa. The keywords or phrases that are targeted will ultimately determine the focus of the content, meta tags, and the architecture of a Web site. Long tail keywords should be highly valued, as they give businesses a better chance at reaching customers close to a point-of-purchase. Instead of trying to rank for generic terms like ‘Fish Market’ or ‘Child Care’ which are heavy in competition, using long-tail keyword phrases like “Wholesale Seafood Distributor in Western MA” or “East Orlando Child Care Center” is a better option. Being more specific with keyword phrases will yield less competition and higher results for the pages. Plus, potential customers who use these more specific terms in their search are more likely to convert into a paying customer. GEORGIA EnGInEER
Meta Tags
Meta tags, or meta data, are inserted into the code of a page to help search engines determine what a web page is all about. Many Web site CMSs (content management systems) like Wordpress have a plugin that can be used to easily fill in, change, or update this meta data all in one location for those business owners who aren’t familiar with html coding. There are several types of meta tags that can play a role in how well a site ranks in search engines, including title tags, description tags, alt, and keyword tags to name a few. Here’s a look at each more in depth: Title Tag The title tag is the text seen at the top of the browser bar when a web page is displayed. The key to an effective title tag is to use a keyword-specific title that tells both search engines and users what the page is about. Keep this to 60 or less characters and use every word wisely. It is all about matching the words that potential customers use when searching.
boost rankings for those search queries. So if a photo is of a ‘House Painter working on the exterior painting of a home in Farmington CT’ - that should be the alt tag. heading Tags
These tags should be used throughout the content of every page or blog post to separate long blocks of text and separate headings or subheadings from paragraph text. There are six header tags that can be used H1 through H6, with H1 tags being given the most weight or importance. At the top of every page, include an H1 tag that will tell search engines what each page is about. Search engines compare the keywords found in the header tags with the associated
content looking for relevancy and keyword consistency. These headings also serve to provide an enriched user experience making the content easy to read and follow. Other SEO strategies like placing internal links (these are links to other relevant pages on the Web site) throughout the Web site, creating local citations links, building high-quality organic backlinks from other strong Web site, and always keeping the content fresh and up-to-date are of equal value to the actual content on any site. Although the SEO landscape is always changing, many of the tactics we’ve discussed have stayed tried-and-true year after year. v
Meta Description
This is a brief, 160 character description that includes some keywords and a general idea of what the page content is about. These descriptions are often shown by Search Engines in results link. They also may be modified automatically to match the search query. Keyword Tag
Fill in the keyword tag with words or short phrases deemed to be relevant to the page being creating. Separate each word or phrase with a comma and add eight or less keywords or phrases in total. This tag has been devalued, but we still advise including it in the mix and feel that it is still worth completing. Photo Alt Tags
Each and every photo on a Web site provides an opportunity to add an ‘alt tag.’ This is a great place to add in specific keywords or targeted locations that can help JUnE | JULY 2016
37
20 Key Facts About the World’s Longest, Deepest Rail Tunnel By GCR Staff
On June 1, the world’s longest and deepest rail tunnel officially opened in Switzerland, after 20 years of work. The 57km (35-mile) twin-bore Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) provides a highspeed rail link under the Swiss Alps between northern and southern Europe. Switzerland says it will revolutionize European freight transport. Bringing to fruition a plan hatched in 1992, goods currently carried on the route by a million trucks a year will go by train instead. For length, the tunnel beats Japan’s 53.9-km Seikan rail tunnel and relegates the 50.5-km Channel Tunnel between the UK and France to third place. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi joined Swiss officials at the grand opening. “It is just part of the Swiss identity,” federal transport office director Peter Fueglistaler told Reuters news agency. “For us, conquering the Alps is like the Dutch exploring the oceans.” here are 20 key facts about the tunnel and its expected impact:
1. The project cost $12.5bn to build, more than the gross domestic product of Nicaragua. 2. At its deepest, GBT is 2.3km below the surface of the Saint-Gotthard Massif above. 3. It’s hot down there: the rock can reach temperatures of 46°C. 4. To cope with the tremendous weight above the tunnel tubes, engineers pioneered using flexible steel rings which partly closed under the pressure and prevented deformations. 5. Swiss voters backed the tunnel by a 64 percent majority in a referendum 38
in 1992, and work began in 1996. Two years after the referendum, the Swiss backed a proposal from environmental groups to start moving all freight travelling through Switzerland from road to rail. 6. GBT goes 600m underneath the old, 15-km-long Gotthard Rail Tunnel, built in 1882. 7. It clears a major bottleneck in European north-south cargo and passenger traffic by superseding the old rail tunnel and a 17-km road tunnel built in 1980. 8. Because it is flat and relatively straight (the old rail tunnel twists and climbs more than 1,000m), the GBT can carry bigger and faster trains. Straight and flat, the GBT clears a major traffic bottleneck through the Alps 9. Congestion is terrible on the singlebore road tunnel built in 1980: it was meant to carry a million vehicles annually, but after only one year was carrying 2.5 million, and now carries six million. 10. The idea of a flat, straight tunnel through the Alps was first proposed in 1947 by Carl Eduard Gruner, engineer and urban planner from Basel. 11. Every day, 260 freight trains (160km/h) and 65 passenger trains (200km/h) will pass through the GBT in a journey taking as little as 17 minutes. 12. When full services begin in December, the journey time for travellers between Zurich and Milan will be cut by an hour, to two hours and 40 minutes. 13. The tunnel is being financed by value-added and fuel taxes, road
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
charges on heavy vehicles and state loans that are due to be repaid within a decade. Between 2002 and 2012, nine people were killed on the project. Four came from Germany, three from Italy, one from South Africa, and one from Austria. A memorial service was held for them on May 31st. The first tunneling breakthrough took place on 15 October 2010, with great accuracy: the aperture was out by only one cm vertically and eight cm horizontally. 80 percent of the drive in the main tubes was cut by tunnel boring machines, 20 percent by conventional drilling and blasting. A total of 28.2 million tons of excavated rock was taken out of the tunnel, using 70km of conveyor belts. To save time and cost, the GBT was split into five sections with separate access, and work proceeded on the sections simultaneously. For the Sedrun section, access was provided through a one-km-long tunnel and two 800-m-deep vertical shafts. In all, more than 150km of tunnels, galleries, cross passages, and shafts had to be excavated for the GBT. (There are 178 cross passages between the two tubes, at 325-m intervals.) 2,600 people worked on the tunnel, including top brass at AlpTransit Gotthard Ltd, the company responsible for building the GBT (a wholly owned subsidiary of Swiss Federal Railways). v GEORGIA EnGInEER
JUnE | JULY 2016
39
The Silent Selling Tool We All Have By Todd Cohen Selling is something everyone does each and every day. Every conversation is a selling moment and a perfect opportunity to leave an indelible impression with whom you are speaking. That impression you leave can have other people wanting and clamoring to engage you. But wait - there is another selling tool that everyone uses every day. It is used more than conversation, and many people do not have an active realization of how critical this tool is to success. Curious as to what it is? Here you go: Presence.
Presence is much more than you being physically present. It means how you present yourself in every situation you are in. It’s how you show up and engage people. Presence is how people perceive you as being interested in them and their business. Presence is how people see you as being in the game. Your ability to demonstrate your presence is a powerful—and potent—silent selling tool, and one that is all too often underestimated and misunderstood. In fact, presence is a skill that is at times not respected. You have to have respect for yourself and others to be present. Your presence creates an indelible impression on others and profoundly influences their very desire to engage and work with you. If you are present and can show it, you will find many more people who want to work with you and be your customer. It’s that simple. So what is this thing called ‘presence’? It is not just one thing that you do—it’s a combination of behavior, body language, and appearance. Presence means much more than just being physically there. It means that you are showing that you want to be there. It’s showing that you are emotionally connected. An emotional connection demon40
strates your dedication to being engaged and contributing. Presence displays your enthusiasm. It means that when you are with an audience, such as a training workshop or listening to a speaker, you are sending a message that you want to be there. How do you send that message? Keep reading! Presence is body language. Eye contact, listening skills, and how you sit and show your interest is monumental to your presence and subsequently your success. If you are attending a class or seminar, how you sit and show you are paying attention says volumes. If you are sitting in a colleague’s cube or office, or in a meeting with a client or your manager, how you present yourself through your body language means a great deal to the perception of your interest level. Presence is being self-aware. Highly successful people are highly-aware of how they are acting, and how their behavior is perceived at all times. They make their ability to be present work for them! Being proactively aware of your presence means you are in control and can make success happen. Do you know what else highly-aware and present people do very well? They know through acute self-awareness when they have acted or behaved in a way that sends a negative message or has the wrong effect on people. People who are self-aware and present are comfortable with being vulnerable and owning their behavior. Presence is being accountable for who you are and how you act. Presence is how you put yourself together. Remember ‘dress for success’? Well, it never stopped being important. Looking good means feeling good, and that screams presence. You don’t need to spend a lot to look great, and it will provide a boost to your presence and your job performance.
Shined shoes, a tie tied correctly, pressed clothes, and attention to detail take very little time and do not have to be expensive. It takes being proactive by asking yourself, ‘Does how I appear help me achieve presence?’ When you take the time to look good, you say you care about many things—and people take notice. Presence is not taking yourself too seriously. There is an expression that absolutely fits the bill here: ‘Get over yourself.’ People who are present are confident and self-assured. Another way of expressing this would be to say that people who are very present do not have to be the smartest person in the room. They have their ego in-check and, as a result, are more present and visible to people than one could ever imagine. Not having to prove yourself right is an incredibly compelling way to sway and convince people of something. People who show up to prove others wrong or can’t keep their own insecurities in control just wind up silently telegraphing a message that they are not in the game and have an agenda that is their agenda only. What’s my name? Those who are truly present use people’s names and use them often. When people hear their name used, they see that the person who they are speaking with is actually interested in their time and interested in them. Use your prospect’s name at the right time and interval. For example, when meeting someone, say ‘Nice to meet you, Ann’ instead of just ‘Nice to meet you.’ Or when you’re conversing, seek understanding by saying ‘Mike, does what I’m suggesting work for you?’ instead of ‘Do you understand?’ Using someone’s name naturally engages them and displays your level of engagement! v GEORGIA EnGInEER
MOULDs TO DIRECT BUsInEss DEvELOPMEnT In ThE sOUThEAsT FOR wsP | PARsOns BRInCKERhOFF Bruce Moulds has been appointed Southeast regional business development director at WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, a global engineering and professional services organization.
Georgia
Engineering
News
In his new position, Mr. Moulds will be responsible for developing and implementing business development strategy for transportation and infrastructure projects and managing marketing efforts for the firm’s Southeast region, which includes Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. Some of the firm’s recent projects in the area include the PortMiami Tunnel; the Second Midtown Tunnel in Norfolk, Virginia; program management assignments at the Port of Charleston and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport; and the rehabilitation design of the tunnel ventilation system for the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. Mr. Moulds, who will be based in the firm’s Atlanta office, has more than 36 years of transportation engineering expe-
ATC Group Services Announces Re-establishment of Corporate Headquarters in Lafayette JUnE | JULY 2016
WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, one of the
world's leading engineering and professional services consulting firms, provides services designed to transform the built environment and restore the natural one. The firm’s expertise ranges from environmental remediation and urban planning, to engineering iconic buildings and designing sustainable transport networks, to developing the energy sources of the future and enabling new ways of extracting essential resources. Approximately 34,000 employees, including engineers, technicians, scientists, architects, planners, surveyors, program and construction management professionals, as well as various environmental experts, work for this dynamic organization in more than 500 offices across 40 countries worldwide. wsp-pb.com/usa v
ATC Group Services, an environmental consulting firm, announces the re-establishment of its corporate headquarters in Lafayette, Louisiana. In 2009, the company, formerly known as ATC Associates, relocated their headquarters office from Massachusetts to Lafayette. Cardno Limited, an Australia-based global contractor, purchased ATC in 2012 and relocated the company’s
headquarters to Denver, Colorado. In 2015, a group led by Bernhard Capital Partners (BCP) acquired ATC and re-established its headquarters in Lafayette. “We’re in the ‘people’ business and Lafayette has more than its share of the most experienced and hardest working people you’ll ever meet,” says ATC CEO and President Bobby Toups.
rience. Prior to joining WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, he was a senior vice president and director of business development for the transportation business line of an international engineering organization. He was responsible for major pursuits, market assessments, and growth strategies for the business unit, providing engineering services to public and private sector clients across North America. Mr. Moulds received a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from Michigan Technological University. He is a licensed professional engineer in Georgia. His professional affiliations include American Council of Engineering Companies and the American Society of Civil Engineers. About wsP | Parsons Brinckerhoff
41
“ATC is a national leader in environmental services and we’re very excited to welcome them to the BCP family,” says BCP partner Jeff Jenkins. “We currently have over 10,000 employees and we have made significant investments in Louisiana.” ATC provides services in environmental consulting, industrial hygiene, geotechnical engineering, construction materials testing and special inspection, petroleum, environmental health, and safety training. The company serves clientele in both public and private sectors including petroleum, real estate, retail, manufacturing, financial services, insurance, construction, telecommunication, education, government, and hospitality. “I am pleased to welcome ATC’s headquarters office back to Lafayette. This important expansion will enhance and continue to diversify our local economy,” says Lafayette Mayor-President Joel Robideaux. “The decision to re-establish and grow their headquarters here demonstrates
Atlas Roofing Partners With Wildlife Biologists For Canadian Whale Expedition
the quality of place that Lafayette Parish offers to both industry and workers.” The company’s professional staff includes environmental, industrial hygiene, and engineering experts in 70 offices across the country. In addition to its workforce in the field, ATC plans to create additional professional jobs in their headquarters office. The company has more than 1,350 employees across 37 states—making ATC one of the largest companies headquartered in Lafayette. “In re-establishing their corporate headquarters here in Lafayette, this company is telling us they are here to stay,” says Stuart Bishop, Louisiana State Representative. “That’s a powerful and welcome message from ATC Group Services during such tough economic times. I want to thank them for their tenacity and commitment to Lafayette and Acadiana.” “I am pleased that ATC Group Services will be re-establishing their corporate headquarters to Council District Seven,” says
Nanette Cook, Lafayette City-Parish Council Member. “Their renewed presence here will lend a welcome boost to the local economy throughout Lafayette Parish.” As of today, the company is creating about 25 new positions in the headquarters office and environmental services division. In the next two years, they plan to create another 25 to 30 jobs. These 50 jobs include IT, accounting, human resources, legal, purchasing, and marketing positions. “One of LEDA’s main objectives is to facilitate the growth of local companies, such as ATC, and the subsequent creation of quality jobs at those organizations,” says Gregg Gothreaux, President and CEO of the Lafayette Economic Development Authority. “We are appreciative of ATC’s commitment to grow in Lafayette. Every job created right now, particularly the professional positions at ATC, is great news for the community.”v
Quebec, Canada. With the assistance of donations from Atlas Roofing and several other companies, Katy and David were able to build an environmentally sound tiny home that will serve as their mobile research base. It will assist in their expedition, while keeping their carbon footprint to a minimum. “This expedition is truly one of a kind
and Atlas is very excited to be a part of this innovative project,” said Tom Robertson, Wall Insulation Business Manager for Atlas. “What Katy and David are doing with their mobile research base is both smart and unique. We can’t wait to see what they are able to achieve in both their studies and in the name of environmental awareness with the help of the tiny house.”
Marine Biologists to Study Whale Migration with the Help of an Ecologically Friendly Tiny Home; Construction Materials Provided by Atlas Roofing
Atlas Roofing is partnering with a group of Canadian-based wildlife biologists this summer for an expedition to study the whale and dolphin species of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Led by Katy Gavrilchuk and David Gaspard, in association with a nonprofit organization, The Mingan Island Cetacean Study, the expedition will focus on the long-term monitoring of large baleen whales on an important summer feeding ground. The expedition will begin in Montreal, Canada, and travel to the Mingan Archipelago, a group of islands located east of 42
GEORGIA EnGInEER
Background on the Expedition Studying mammals, such as dolphins and whales, requires the ability to move at any time in order to properly observe and track these amazing creatures. In the biologists’ previous expeditions, that level of flexibility was not economically or plausibly feasible. In addition, the biologists had a desire to raise awareness of the consequences of global consumption and reduce their own personal impact on the environment while still accomplishing their research. In order to address these issues, they came up with the idea of constructing a tiny house on wheels, giving them the ability to overcome the logistical obstacles of studying mammals on the move, while also raising environmental awareness. Building the Tiny house For Katy and David’s tiny house, they developed a set of criteria for the products used in the construction and one of the most important was that the supplier companies be eco-conscious. The wildlife biologists found that Atlas products are highly energy efficient, water and fire resistant, and are man-
Ivan Liu, P.E. Recognized by Civil + Structural Engineering as a Rising Star
Finley Engineering Group Bridge Engineer, Ivan Liu, P.E. was recently selected as a 2016 Rising Star in Structural Engineering by Civil + Structural Engineer. The Rising Stars in Structural Engineering program recognizes structural engineers 40 years old or younger working in the United States who have shown exceptional technical capability, leadership ability, effective teaching or research, and/or public service benefiting the structural engineering profession, their employers, project owners, and/or society. Ivan has a Master’s Degree in Structural Engineering, is a Registered Professional Engineer, and has five years of JUnE | JULY 2016
ufactured with sustainable processes. While the environmental aspect of the tiny home’s insulation was important, Atlas had to meet other criteria as well including: High thermal resistance: A smaller space can lose heat quickly and the tiny home needed to be used in varying weather and temperature conditions. Lightweight: Since the tiny house would be attached to a trailer, the biologists had to respect the maximum load capacity and save weight where they could. After the wildlife biologists determined Atlas met their needs both environmentally and logistically, EnergyShield PRO® foam boards were installed in both the walls and the roof of the house. EnergyShield PRO® wall insulation features a high R-value, Class A durable aluminum facer that also serves as a water resistive barrier, all helpful qualities for the tiny house. In addition, the insulation boards hold a Class A fire rating and can be used for exterior CI (continuous insulation) installation over concrete, wood, wood stud, and more. Because of size constraints, it was important to get the greatest insulation value possible from the few
Ivan Liu
experience. Since joining FINLEY in 2013, Ivan has built on his past successes and has proven to be a valuable team member. He has performed design and construction engineering services for many types of complex bridges including precast segmental, cast-inplace segmental, and cable-stayed bridges. Ivan’s experience includes the Ironton-
inches of space that could be allocated to insulation. With an R-value of 6.5 per inch, the highest available in the market, EnergyShield® PRO was able to provide a total R-value of 22 in a 3.5 inch product. Overall, it took the wildlife biologists four days to install the Atlas insulation, and the tiny house was completed in June. what’s next? The 670-mile expedition began in early June, and the field season will last until September 2016. The journey to the whales will begin in Montreal, and the biologists will be stopping along the way in Quebec City, Tadoussac, Baie Comeau, and Sept-Iles. The journey to the Gulf of St. Lawrence will serve two purposes: raise public awareness about living sustainably and ecologically, as well as monitoring for whales along the north coast of the Gulf. To follow Katy and David’s journey along the way, visit http://venturebiologiststinyhome.weebly.com/ or BigWhaleTinyHouse.com. For more information on Atlas products, visit www.atlasroofing.com. v Russell Cable-Stayed Bridge in Ohio/Kentucky, a 2,616’ cable-stayed bridge; Edmonton Valley Line Light Rail Transit Tawatina Bridge in Canada, an extradosed bridge and precast segmental bridges including: the Bayonne Bridge Approaches New York/New Jersey; Road 1 Motza Bridge; Road 65/85 bridges in Israel, and I-49 North Segment K in Louisiana. “Ivan is the first generation of his family to graduate college and the Liu family’s first engineer. He deserves to be recognized as a Rising Star because he is working on some of the most complex bridge projects being designed today and where, for most engineers, many more years of experience would be necessary. Ivan brings enthusiasm and excitement to all the projects he works on and inspires younger engineers by proving that they, too, can establish a great career in the world of complex bridges in a relatively short period of time.” said Craig Finley, Jr., P.E., President , Finley. v 43
Hayward Baker Announces Staff Promotions and New Hires in Its Atlanta Office
Hayward Baker Inc., North America’s leader in geotechnical construction, announces that James Dickinson has joined the company as the Southern States Shoring Division Manager in its Atlanta office. In addition, Michael Morello has been promoted to Operations Manager, and James Weldon, P.E., joins Hayward Baker as a Project Manager within the Southern States Ground Improvement Division. James Dickinson is a graduate of the University of Liverpool, holding a Master’s degree in Civil & Structural Engineering. He has over 15 years of experience in the geotechnical construction industry with particular specialization in earth retention, anchors, bracing, auger cast piling, micropiles, and related technologies. Prior to joining Hayward Baker, he was employed by a national geotechnical contracting com-
pany over a 13-year period holding positions of progressive responsibility, encompassing all aspects of the sheeting and shoring operations throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast U.S. He will be HBI’s primary point of contact for shoring projects in the Southern States. Michael Morello is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology with a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering. He has over ten years of experience with Hayward Baker, specializing in ground improvement engineering and construction. Morello started with Hayward Baker as an intern and has since gained progressive responsibility in the Southern States based in Atlanta. As Operations Manager, Morello will coordinate resources and shop activities for the Southern States Ground Improvement Division. James Weldon, P.E., comes to Hayward Baker with five years of experience with a California based shoring company. He is a graduate of California State University in Fullerton with a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering and has wide-ranging experience in design-build shoring, foundation drilling, mass excavation, and structural shotcrete. Weldon will manage geotechnical construction projects in the Southern States. Commenting on recent appointments, Joe Persichetti, Vice President, stated, “We are delighted to welcome James Dickinson and James Weldon, our two newest team members to HBI’s Southern States business. We are also proud to recognize Michael
Morello’s contributions to the company through his promotion. All three have strong construction experience and engineering competence to push Hayward Baker’s growing Southern businesses to the next level in today’s exciting design-build construction market.” The Atlanta office of Hayward Baker supports developers, contrators, architects, and engineering customers in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and East Tennessee. It is located at 515 Nine North Court in Alpharetta, Georgia. For more information on the services offered by the office, contact Joe Persichetti at 800-816-4480. For a complete listing of Hayward Baker’s 31 regional and local offices in North America, visit www.haywardbaker.com/locations.
James Dickinson has joined Hayward Baker as Division Manager. He is based at the geotechnical contracting company’s Atlanta office.
James weldon has joined Hayward Baker as a Project Manager. He is based at the geotechnical contracting company’s Atlanta office.
Michael Morello was recently promoted to Operations Manager for Hayward Baker’s Atlanta office.
The geotechnical construction company also announces a structural support, earth retention, and ground improvement seminar to be held in Birmingham, Alabama, in May.
44
About hayward Baker Inc. Hayward Baker [www.haywardbaker.com] is North America’s leader in geotechnical construction, annually ranked by Engineering News-Record (ENR) magazine number one in foundation construction. With a 60-year record of experience, Hayward Baker offers geotechnical construction technologies through a network of more than 30 companyowned offices and equipment yards across the continent. Project applications include foundation support, settlement control, site improvement, slope stabilization, underpinning, excavation shoring, earth retention, seismic/liquefaction mitigation, ground water control, and environmental remediation. v
GEORGIA EnGInEER
Woolpert Contracts with Gwinnett County on $4.5M Sewer, Stormwater Inspection Project
The firm will perform a yearly assessment for the north Georgia county under one annual contract, renewable for up to four years. Woolpert has been awarded a sewer and stormwater assessment project by the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners for the Department of Water Resources (DWR). The annual contract is valued at $2.9 million for Section B (sewer) and $1.6 million per year for Section A (stormwater), respectively. The contract includes the evaluation of sewer lines and waterways throughout the county, located in Metro Atlanta. “We’ll be using pole cameras with high-
Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood acquires Georgia-based Stevenson & Palmer Engineering
Multi-disciplined architecture and engineering firm Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood Inc. (GMC), announced that it has completed the acquisition of Stevenson & Palmer Engineering (SPE), a Georgiabased firm with more than 50 years of experience providing engineering and infrastructure services throughout the state. The combined expertise and scope of services provided by the two firms will fortify and expand their depth of resources, in addition to further establishing GMC’s footprint in the Georgia market. JUnE | JULY 2016
power zoom to look for defects and debris in the pipes,” said Eric MacDonald, Woolpert project manager. “The contract is all-inclusive. It includes cleaning, CCTV (closed captioned television), and structure inspections.” Woolpert has 30 years of sewer system experience and 20 years of stormwater system assessment experience across the U.S. The firm has worked with Gwinnett County for more than a dozen years, performing flow monitoring, wastewater inspections, and sewer system evaluation surveys (SSES). MacDonald lauded the county’s approach to sewer and stormwater management. “Without a stormwater utility like this that gets ahead of the problem, pipes often fail, and creek beds erode and become channels for flash flooding,” MacDonald said. “Kudos to Gwinnett County for being proactive, and for their participation in the voluntary CMOM program for their sanitary sewers.” This Capacity Management, Operation and Maintenance (CMOM) program is run through the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. CMOM requires an ongoing
inspection and rehabilitation process for the management of wastewater collection systems.These projects are underway.
“This merger combines two firms focused on serving clients, while growing our geographic reach and service offerings in Georgia,” said Jim Teel, GMC Vice President of Georgia. “We are committed to placing the interests of our clients first and ensuring they are provided with the most talented professionals in the Southeast.”
GMC’s ability to provide local service in Georgia will be greatly enhanced through the well-established relationships SPE has developed over the years, as well as the offices the firm has located throughout the state. Additionally, integrating GMC’s multiple in- house disciplines will enable SPE to expand the services of-
Corkey welch
About woolpert Woolpert is a national architecture, engineering and geospatial (AEG) firm that delivers value to clients by strategically blending engineering excellence with leading-edge technology and geospatial applications. With a dynamic R&D department, Woolpert works with inventive business partners like Google; operates a fleet of planes, sensors, and unmanned aerial systems (UAS); and continually pushes industry boundaries by working with advanced water technologies, asset management, Building Information Modeling (BIM) and sustainable design. Woolpert’s mission is to help its clients progress—and become more progressive. For over 100 years and with 24 offices across the United States, Woolpert serves the needs of federal, state, and local governments; private and public companies and universities; energy and transportation departments; and the United States Armed Forces. v
Jim Teel
45
fered to its well-founded client base and create more opportunities for growth. “Stevenson & Palmer Engineering has worked closely with numerous Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood employees for almost two years,” said Corkey Welch, former SPE President and now GMC Senior Client Manager. “I am personally excited to complete the merger and finally be a part of the GMC family.” GMC and SPE have several collaborative efforts underway, including the St. Marys Tabby Trail and Downtown Streetscape, Newnan Fire Station, and the City of Jackson Pocket Parks. SPE has more than 50 years of Georgiabased experience providing engineering and infrastructure services to municipalities and counties throughout metro-Atlanta and across the state. While the firm has grown
Churchill Joins WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff as Senior Supervising Mechanical Engineer in Atlanta
Michael J. Churchill has joined WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff as a senior supervising mechanical engineer in the firm’s Atlanta office. In his new position, Mr. Churchill will serve as lead design engineer responsible for supervising and performing mechanical engineering for a tunnel ventilation system rehabilitation and renewal project for the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA). The project involves restoring the existing MARTA ventilation system through a combination of repair, rehabilitation or replacement of tunnel ventilation equipment. WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff is lead designer on a design-build team led by Archer Western Construction. Mr. Churchill has 25 years of professional experience in the design of commer46
steadily over the last four decades, the cornerstone of its business continues to be quality services for a reasonable price. Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood was founded in 1947 and is one of the most comprehensive multi-disciplined architecture and engineering firms in the Southeast. The GMC Georgia team has continued to expand since its inception in 2011, with a portfolio of work spanning across the state. Some of these projects include the recently completed renovation of the city of Milledgeville City Council Chambers, Elbert County Comprehensive High School Renovations, and Camp Merrill Wastewater Treatment Facility, in addition to water and sewer projects for the cities of Covington, Dahlonega, Dalton, and Toccoa, to name a few. GMC was also recently selected by the Baldwin County and Pelham City School
Michael Churchill
cial, corporate, industrial, municipal, institutional, multi-family residential, governmental, and military projects. He previously served as a mechanical department manager at an Atlanta engineering firm. From 1994 to 2006, he was a supervising mechanical engineer with Regional Transit Partners in Atlanta, a joint venture that served as the general engineering consultant for MARTA. Mr. Churchill has a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Clemson University. He is a registered professional engineer in Georgia, South Carolina, and California. Since designing the original New York city subway line at the turn of the 20th century, WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff has participated in the design and construction of
Boards to provide architecture and engineering services for various projects. Teams from both firms have been working on integration plans to ensure a seamless transition for employees, clients, and consultants. “The SPE team is still in place —we’ve just added a few names and a new list of services to our resume,” said Welch. “I look forward to serving the existing friends and clients of SPE and new ones that we will meet throughout Georgia and beyond.” The Stevenson & Palmer staff will remain in their current locations, operating under the Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood name. Employees in both the GMC and SPE Atlanta offices will move to an integrated location later this year. v some of the longest, largest, deepest, and most complicated tunnels in the world, including tunnels built in hard rock, soft ground or mixed-face conditions, and using mining, boring, jacking, cut-and-cover, and immersed tunnel technology. The firm’s ventilation group has been responsible for numerous ventilation design breakthroughs that have cut costs while providing a superior environment for rail and road tunnel users About wsP | Parsons Brinckerhoff WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, one of the world's leading engineering and professional services consulting firms, provides services designed to transform the built environment and restore the natural one. The firm’s expertise ranges from environmental remediation and urban planning, to engineering iconic buildings and designing sustainable transport networks, to developing the energy sources of the future and enabling new ways of extracting essential resources. Approximately 34,000 employees, including engineers, technicians, scientists, architects, planners, surveyors, program and construction management professionals, as well as various environmental experts, work for this dynamic organization in more than 500 offices across 40 countries worldwide. wsp-pb.com/usa. v GEORGIA EnGInEER
JUnE | JULY 2016
47
48
GEORGIA EnGInEER