Engineers Week 2013

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BDN MAINE SPECIAL SECTION • BANGORDAILYNEWS.COM • February 23, 2013

ENGINEERS WEEK 2013

Engineering Success: Caribou Connector Maine engineers execute $15.4 million Caribou Connector project

By Sargent Corporation • Photograph Courtesy Sargent Corporation Sargent Corporation teamed with Falmouth’s T.Y. Lin International to provide the design/build completion of a 2.75 mile section of the Caribou Connector for the Maine Department of Transportation. This bypass, over 20 years in the planning, will improve traffic flow around Caribou and remove heavy truck traffic from the downtown area.

This $15.4 million design/build project provided for construction of one segment of an improved route for traffic heading west of Caribou along Route 161 and allows heavy truck traffic to bypass downtown Caribou. The route travels from the

Route 1 and 89 intersection along a new highway built northeast of the Cary Medical Center where it connects with another MDOT project.

That project is a $2.8 million traditional design-bid-build highway project, which was constructed by Soderberg Construction Company under a separate contract. These two projects provide a complete connector from Route 1 to Route 161 without having to navigate downtown Caribou.

The new highway includes an overpass over Route 89 east of Caribou, a bridge over Longfellow Brook, a box culvert over the Inter-

connected Trail System recreational trail, and a grade-separated intersection and overpass where the new highway crosses Route 1 north of Caribou. All structures were built

by Sunrise Materials, a division of the Lane Construction Corporation, which provided input during the design phase as a member of the design-build team.

The ITS box culvert will allow snowmobiles, and other recreational to cross under the highway without having to deal with traffic.

The project was advertised as a design-build project, a relatively SARGENT PAGE 3 

Sunrise Materials, a division of Lane Construction Company in Bangor, sets a bridge beam at night.

The important things never change.

1-800-533-1812 / www.sar gent-cor p.com

BDN MAINE SPECIAL SECTION • BANGORDAILYNEWS.COM • February 23, 2013

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ENGINEERS WEEK 2013

DeepCwind program engineers wind technology UMaine researchers and engineers turn Maine into a business destination

By AEwc With funding from the Department of Energy, the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center launched its largest program yet: the, DeepCwind Consortium Research Program, to lead the nation in developing floating offshore wind technology.

To further offshore wind research and help develop the offshore wind industry, the Center recently added a 37,000 square foot Offshore Wind Laboratory. The lab houses the longest structural testing floor in the U.S., an environmental-structural chamber, a

SARGENT

salt-water immersion tank, and a test stand for testing blades, towers, and other large structures.

Through the Center, students and companies are building the academic and industrial base to grow new industries and stimulate economic development.

Its industrial partners gain proven products and technology, a laboratory to test future products, and a hub for smart, qualified talent.

Maine is rapidly becoming more than a vacation destination – it is a Researchers at the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center birthplace for innovation in indusinstrument a 35 meter wind blade to the Offshore Wind Laboratory’s test stand for structural testing. try and education. n

FROM PAGE 2

new contracting method in Maine where prequalified design build teams submit technical and price proposals based on only a request for proposals prepared by the Maine Department of Transportation.

For the Caribou Connector, the RFP specified only the location of the roadway and a proposed centerline and the RFP was sent out in the summer of 2010. T.Y. Lin, a global engineering services firm, teamed with Sargent to prepare the technical and price proposal.

The proposal was based on very preliminary engineering drawings prepared by T.Y. Lin. The proposals from the design/build teams were submitted on October 20, 2010, and the Sargent team was awarded the project on a best value basis on November 24, 2010.

A partnering meeting involving all of the stakeholders — Sargent, T.Y. Lin, MDOT, the City of Caribou, the utilities, and the major subcontractors — was held to compile all the concerns so they could be dealt with prior to the final design.

T.Y. Lin did the design in phases, based on Sargent’s construction schedule, to allow work on the project to begin at the earliest possible date.

The final design plans were completed on August 19, 2011, about 3.5 months after the start of construction.

The project was unique due to the new location for the highway, except for tie-ins at Routes 1 and 89 in the south and Route 1 in the north.

Wildlife crossing, consisting of culverts underneath the roadway, were installed to help with the safe passage of animals.

The project involved 17 acres of clearing, 147,000 cubic yards of common excavation,

80,000 cubic yards of rock excavation, 79,000 cubic yards of crushed aggregate base course, 3 major bridges, 1 large box culvert as well as various drainage structures and culverts. Over 22,000 tons of bituminous paving for the project was provided by Lane Construction Corporation of Presque Isle.

Another unique aspect of this project was that design/build team was responsible for providing quality control and quality assurance for the project. An independent quality organization was established with staff from both Sargent and T.Y. Lin to ensure the quality of the work met the design standards.

The Lane Construction Corporation of Bangor and Presque Isle, and its subsidiary, Sunrise Materials were instrumental, as design-build partners, in the construction of the four bridges and in the paving of the 2.75 miles of new highway. n

Performance equals success

By CLARK ASSOCIATES

Drafting a clear and comprehensive scope of services can boost your bottom-line profitability. By itemizing all of the valuable services you provide to clients and including a list of additional services you recommend, you increase your chances of getting adequately paid for your contributions to a successful project.

You can learn more details of this and other business strategies by contacting our A&E Group at Clark Insurance. This is an example of how we serve our customers.

As one of the largest insurance agencies serving design professionals in Maine, we believe that anything that helps our customers succeed is good for both of us.

In addition to services such as contract review, we routinely publish articles that contribute to A&E business planning and management considerations.

Clark Insurance is among the top five percent for performance in the nation according to the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers Association.

For more information, visit www.clarkinsurance.com. n

Professional Liability

Know support Our Design Professionals Group is known for contract review assistance.

That means more value for you.

Gregg Ritter • 207-523-2283 gritter@clarkinsurance.com www.clarkinsurance.com Employee Benefits & Group Discount Products

Directors & Offiicers Liability

Errors & Omissions Coverage

UMaine's Advanced Structures and Composites Center is a leader in educating engineers, scientists, and entrepreneurs.

Its capacity for industrial cooperation has led to over 500 product development and testing projects for companies throughout Maine and worldwide.

To learn more, visit : composites .umaine.edu

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BDN MAINE SPECIAL SECTION • BANGORDAILYNEWS.COM • February 23, 2013

ENGINEERS WEEK 2013

Collaboration key in Orono expansion plan

Addressing treatment facility challenges

Story by CES

By woodard and Curran

In January 2011, CES teamed with landscape architect, Coplon Associates, to plan, design, and permit the new Kelley Road Business Park for the Town of Orono. The design team immediately began the planning process with a Town appointed committee to develop conceptual designs for the park located on 30 acres of land owned by the Katahdin Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, located directly behind the BSA’s office located on the Kelley Road.

CES’s design team gained insight from stakeholders including: a committee of adjacent property owners, area residents, the Orono Economic Development Corporation, Orono Trails committee, and town planning staff. Public meetings enabled the team to define the project’s vision: to develop a clustered type business park that blended well with adjacent residential properties, provided recreational opportunities

using the trail system, and adding minimal environmental impacts.

Born from this process, an eight lot subdivision providing up to 150,000 square feet of building space for business use was designed. The park limited wetland disturbance to less than 15,000 square feet and also kept development within the acceptable setbacks of two vernal pools.

Through a collaborative approach, the CES team provided planning assistance, survey, wetlands and vernal pool mapping, site and utility design, landscape planning and design, and permitting with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Maine Department of Transportation, Army Corps of Engineers, and the Town of Orono. All State and Federal permits are in hand and the Final Subdivision approval is expected in March.

The Town of Orono will then begin the process of marketing the business park to potential businesses and will explore funding opportunities for construction. n

Engineering excellence for 35 years.

Since 1978 CES has grown into a 55-person consulting firm offering civil, structural, environmental and surveying services. With our roots firmly planted in Maine, we are thankful for the trust our clients have placed in us for the last 35 years. We look forward to sustaining our relationships while fostering new ones. So whatever challenge you are faced with, put our dedicated staff of professionals to work for you. In return for your trust, you will receive sensible solutions and exceptional service delivered to meet your goals. At

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Achieving high quality effluent is a complex challenge for wastewater treatment facilities throughout Maine. The pressures of changing regulations, tighter permit limits, and public scrutiny can affect not only the treatment plants, but the operators who run them as well. These were all factors when the City of Ellsworth set out to build a new wastewater treatment facility.

After evaluating its options, Ellsworth selected a plug flow activated sludge treatment process with anoxic selectors for their new facility. This type of treatment offers flexibility in process control to accommodate current and future flows and loads, especially during wet weather events.

The plant includes additional features to support the City and surrounding area effectively into the future, including facilities to accept hauled waste.

As Ellsworth transitions to operations at the new facility, there will be an increase in the level of complexity and sophistication in day-to-day facility operations. The new WWTF includes a state-of-the-art supervisory control and data acquisition system to assist the staff by allowing for automated operation of the facility.

Staff members attended training sessions and have been proactive in developing an understanding of the treatment capabilities the new facility provides.

The new facility accepted live sanitary flow for treatment in the first week of November and has been operating successfully ever since. It provides Ellsworth with the technology and capacity it needs to grow into the future.

The old WWTF will be demolished during the spring and summer of this year, allowing the City to redevelop the waterfront area where it was located. n

BDN MAINE SPECIAL SECTION • BANGORDAILYNEWS.COM • February 23, 2013

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ENGINEERS WEEK 2013

Wanted: Maine-trained engineers

University of Maine trains tomorrows engineering talent today

t n n wBy david M. fitzpatrick, special sections writer • Photograph Courtesy University of maine o Dana Humphrey, the dean of the UMaine percent, engineers are at just 2 percent. Engi-College of Engineering, is used to people’s neers are the first to be hired when the econoassumptions. One day, a businessman told my is surging ahead, Humphrey said, and the sHumphrey that he could never be an engineer last to go when things get bleak.

“Good engineers are hard to find, so compa-because engineers didn’t make enough money. e “And I said, ‘Well, what’s the most common nies are reluctant to let them go during a recesbachelor’s degree of the executives of the Fortune sion — because, when it gets better, you’ve got w500 companies? It’s engineering,’” Humphrey said. to go get them back again,” Humphrey said.

He also noted that 72 percent of CoE gradu-“So if you’re the CEO of Ford Motor Company, do ates stay in Maine. ryou think that salary’s high enough for you?”

“Sometimes we get locked into this notion - Ford CEO Alan Mulally holds master’s dethat there are no opportunities in Maine,” he grees in aeronautical and astronautical engie neering and management. Then there’s Law- said. “That is absolutely not true.”

Bangor-area native Eve Jordan, who gradugrence Bender, who graduated from UMaine -with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. ated in 2012 with a degree in civil engineering, aHe became a Hollywood producer for films like “An Inconvenient Truth,” the “From Dusk Sometimes we get locked Til Dawn” trilogy, and most of Quentin Taraninto this notion that there tino’s films, including “Pulp Fiction.”

“What engineers learn how to do is solve are no opportunities in problems,” Humphrey said. “What does a producer need to do? He needs to be able to solve Maine. That is absolutely problems.”

The demand for engineers in the U.S. is not true. growing at a furious pace as the country’s engineering workforce ages toward retirement and dana humphrey dean, college of Engineering there’s a resurgence of manufacturing. The U.S. is also on the verge of making $2.2 trillion in infrastructure improvements which will require can attest to that. During her schooling, she massive undertakings by civil, mechanical, com- completed internships at Katahdin Paper, Old Town Fuel & Fiber, Civil Engineering Services, puter, electrical, and other types of engineers.

It’s showing at UMaine, whose Engineering and Thornton Tomasetti, which exposed her Career Fair set a record with 78 engineering to many aspects of civil engineering.

“I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do,” firms attending. “As the economy picks up, these companies absolutely need engineers,” Jordan said. “I just decided I would try to get exposed as much as I could.” said Humphrey.

It paid off with a job offer: She recently beAnd they pay well. An engineer fresh out of school can expect to start at $50,000 to $65,000, gan working for Cianbro as a project engineer, all for tuition that runs perhaps $12,000 a year. and she went through her orientation with two A UMaine Mechanical and Electrical engineering student works on a robotic hand.

Humphrey said that while the country is still other new-hire project engineers.

Jordan said all of her engineering friends got dependent on fossil fuels, the younger generations will likely see a steady shift to a renewable- jobs here in Maine. “The jobs are there if you’re ing degree can find a valuable niche in patent heard about the increasing female enrollment willing to make the connections and network or environmental law, or in representing en- in engineering programs, and remembers beenergy economy that will change the world.

“This is going to be a slow transformation, and actually go seeking them,” she said. “I gineering firms. Combining an engineering ing surprised at just how many women there but engineers are needed to determine what think that things are certainly turning around degree with a medical degree can make for a were on her first day in college. But it’s normal that transformation should be,” said Hum- and there are more and more job opportuni- more effective physician, surgeon, or research- now, she says. er. And the engineering degree makes for a phrey. “And for young folks today — what an ties popping up every day.”

“It’s not unheard of or even unusual now For those with other career aspirations, an great fallback career. exciting opportunity.” for women to go into engineering,” she said.

For anyone out there who thinks engineer- “If you like math and you like problem-solvIt’s good job security, too. In October 2009, engineering bachelor’s degree can be a great when the national unemployment average was start. Like the Fortune 500 example, coupling ing is a boys’ club, female enrollment at the CoE ing, it’s the perfect job... [It] isn’t just set to one 10 percent, engineers were just 6.4 percent. an engineering degree with a business degree has been steadily rising in recent years. That’s gender. No one should be surprised that there Now, with the national average at about 7.9 can be formidable. A lawyer with an engineer- something Jordan understands firsthand; she’d are more and more women in engineering.” n

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BDN MAINE SPECIAL SECTION • BANGORDAILYNEWS.COM • February 23, 2013

ENGINEERS WEEK 2013

Maine Maritime Academy tests its METEL

MMA faculty, student researchers helping develop low emissions marine fuels By brian swartz, special sections editor • Photograph Courtesy MMA Maine Maritime Academy faculty and students are conducting research that will help reduce engine emissions and lower fuel costs for commercial shipping.

Around the globe, marine vessels burn different fuels to power their engines. Among these fuels are Bunker C oil and diesel, according to Rich Kimball, MMA associate professor of engineering. When marine engines burn those fuels, pollutants such as nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, and particulate matter are emitted into the air.

A worldwide effort to reduce all pollution related to commercial shipping led to the signing of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships in November 1973.

Under the Convention, the International Maritime Organization has established standards to reduce various pollutants. The standards are being phased in gradually. Currently, the deadlines for reducing the levels of nitrogen oxide, sulfur oxide, and particular matter loom on the horizon.

According to Kimball, ship owners are scrambling to meet the new standards. Possible solutions range from burning low-sulfur fuel to retrofitting an existing ship with a new engine.

Such solutions are expensive. Low-sulfur fuels could cause fuel prices to increase while repowering a ship with a new engine could result in it being more cost-effective to scrap the ship entirely.

Under another proposal, scrubbers could be added to clean a ship’s engine emissions. Kimball described this solution as “more feasible” for large commercial ships and “problematic for work boats,” such as ferries and tugs.

Other solutions could be feasible, as MMA researchers are discovering. The college established the Marine Engine Testing and Emissions Laboratory so researchers — faculty members and students — can work on marine-engine emissions-and-efficiencies improvements that can be practically implemented into industry.

The current METEL research efforts include: • A project involving thermoelectric heat recovery systems that convert the waste heat in an engine’s exhaust directly into electricity. The school is working with the American Bureau of Shipping and other industrial partners, he said.

• A project involving the development of lowcost, low-emission marine fuels which utilize biofuel waste products.

“The bio[fuels] industry produces tons of waste products, such as glycerin,” Kimball said.

“There is a glut of glycerin on the market; it’s viewed as a commodity right now, there is so much of it. It’s low cost, compared to even the lowest grade fuels.”

In collaboration with the Cape Elizabethbased SeaChange Group, researchers at MMA and the University of Maine are developing and testing low-cost, low-emission marine fuels. Launched as a technology start-up in 2009, the SeaChange Group has focused on developing such fuels; grants from the Maine Technology Institute, the National Science Foundation, the United States Department of Energy, and industry have funded research efforts.

According to Kimball, a fuel formulated with blended diesel and glycerin shows excellent possi-

Richard Kimball, an associate professor of engineering at Maine Maritime Academy, monitors testing being done on a 12-cylinder EMD diesel engine set up at the college. bilities. “If blended with diesel fuel in an emulsion, [glycerin] can actually lower the emissions” of nitrogen oxide and particular matter in engine emissions, he said. Because it contains no sulfur, glycerin also lessens the amount of sulfur emissions.

Research has revealed that a diesel-glycerin emulsion also improves the fuel’s lubricity, a factor that reduces engine wear-and-tear. The SeaChange Group has developed Eco-Hybrid Fuel, a trademarked product that has been tested in engines at MMA’s Castine campus. “We’re really focused on the development side, testing the fuels.”

MMA students have been widely involved in the research. “We are a college; we do not have” graduate students to conduct research, Kimball pointed out. “The student component is vital to what we’re doing at Maine Maritime Academy. We’re working on the next generation of fuels for the shipping industry,” he said.

“Because of their participation in the research,

our students will bring their knowledge about those fuels into the industry as they graduate.

“We have attracted a lot of students because of the research initiatives we have been involved in,” Kimball said.

“It’s a win-win for the industry,” Kimball said. “We have demonstrated that it significantly lowers the emissions” of nitrogen oxide and particulate matter and also “sulfur dioxide by dilution with the glycerin. It’s a fuel that can work in existing engines,” which could mean that in order to meet the tightened emissions standards, ship owners need not retrofit their vessels with expensive new engines.

Because it includes glycerin, Eco-Hybrid Fuel not only costs less, but is considered a 30to-40 percent renewable resource fuel making it “lower cost per kilowatt hour than the base diesel” fuel. The implications for the shipping industry extend worldwide. n

BDN MAINE SPECIAL SECTION • BANGORDAILYNEWS.COM • February 23, 2013

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ENGINEERS WEEK 2013

Geothermal goes to school

Teamwork is key at Cianbro

By WBRC Architects/Engineers

By cianbro

Early in 2008, the MSAD 22 community set a goal for the new Hampden Academy: no fuel-oil systems. To reach this goal, local voters funded what is now the largest geothermal system in the state of Maine.

Choosing geothermal: Several heating system options were evaluated. Natural gas was not available within several miles of the project site, and wood, biomass, and methane gas were also ruled out. The school was designed for year-round community use, and a geothermal system would provide mechanical cooling, a desired feature.

Location and size of system: Hampden Academy’s 156-bore hole geothermal system was installed under what is now a practice football field.

Designed by WBRC Architects/Engineers, the s closed-loop system consists of piping, vault and .manifold, bore field circulating pumps, facility circulating pumps, and more than 30 water-towater heat pumps that generate hot or chilled water to coils in the building’s air-handling systems.

Drilling the bore field: Testing by S. W. Cole Engineering helped determine the number and depth of bore holes needed. Pipe was installed in 156 500-foot-deep vertical bore holes, in a 20-foot-square grid. Conditions varied during construction, with as many as two bore holes drilled each day. At approximately 200 feet the contractor hit ground water, and several sediment basins were set up to treat the water. The vertical work of drilling, looping, and grouting took more than a year to complete, and the horizontal work of connecting loops to the vault took nearly two months.

Inside the building: Two 10-inch mains (plus a spare) connect the vault to the building. Inside, close-loop piping circulates a foodgrade glycol solution to localized heat pumps.

Air-handling systems are located in dedicated mechanical equipment rooms designed to isolate sound and vibration, and also offer ready maintenance and service access. n

Awarded

BUSINESS of the

YEAR

You’ll like working with us WBRC Architects/Engineers celebrates Engineers Week 2013 Visit us March 2 at the University of Southern Maine, Gorham

2013

“If they had a place to stand, they could find a way to move the Earth.”

That’s how Cianbro Corporation President Andi Vigue describes the company’s engineering team which is integrated into everything Cianbro builds. Their capabilities are vast, ranging from wide experience in deep excavation, to working in and around water, to using single or multi-crane plans for erecting structures safely, to using Mother Nature to move massive structures such as the lift spans of moveable bridges.

“We do everything from mills to bridges to railroads,” said Senior Design Engineer Joe Foley. “So we have to know all of the specifications involved. It’s not something you just jump into out of school. It requires a lot of experience.

And all our people are very experienced.”

Cianbro’s Engineering Group Designer James Haut says an outstanding engineering team must have the ability to relay ideas. His CAD skills are crucial to that achievement at Cianbro.

“It’s not just coming up with a bright idea, but being able to communicate to other people who will implement that idea at the construction site,” Haut said. “We have the abilities in our group to do that.”

Technology accentuates Cianbro’s engineering abilities.

“I can remember back in the day when we had scales and pencils and now we’re all on computers with CAD,” said 27 year veteran Dave Saucier.

“We stay current. We need to. All of our clients are current. And for us to communicate with them, we have to stay up to date as well.”

Perhaps the greatest asset of Cianbro’s engineers is each other. They work together and trust each other to get the job done for the client.

“It all goes back to an old Cianbro motto,” said 30 year veteran Tom Gilbert. “No one in this room is smarter than all of us. Teamwork.

It’s great to talk about, but we live it. We live it in this group. We live it in this company.” n

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BDN MAINE SPECIAL SECTION • BANGORDAILYNEWS.COM • February 23, 2013

ENGINEERS WEEK 2013

Engineering Maine’s future

Communities benefit from work of engineers, scientists By stantech consulting With the abundance of programming on channels like Discovery, National Geographic, and others, it’s no secret that engineers and scientists turn amazing ideas into reality. But what often goes unmentioned is that engineers and scientists also make that kind of difference here, in our very own communities.

Here in Maine, dozens of engineering firms are working to better our cities and towns every day, from improving our roads and bridges to ensuring our homes have electricity. Stantec, an international firm with over 200 engineers, environmental scientists, and other design professionals in three Maine offices, is able to offer the expertise of its homegrown, Maine-educated staff to not only improve Maine’s future, but also drive cutting-edge, life-changing projects all over the world.

Many of Stantec’s projects, for example, are helping communities find ways to use alternative sources of energy. The Stantec team is designing systems that convert landfill gas into energy, turn abandoned paper mills into biomass fuel plants, and adapt oil and coal power facilities to burn natural gas, which reduces costs and air emissions. The team also helps assess and design solar and wind farm sites, both in Maine and across the country. As oil prices continue to fluctuate, these systems and processes are helping lead the way in finding viable alternatives to our country’s approach to power generation.

Similarly, Stantec helps Maine develop other types of projects in an environmentally responsible and sustainable manner. For example, Stantec’s scientists are researching bat species in the offshore environment, restoring wetland and habitat for endangered species, and design-

ing dam removals to restore fish populations.

This notion of exploring alternatives to conventional systems even extends into Stantec’s airport projects. In their work at small airports across the state, all the way to the international airports of major cities across the globe, Stantec’s aviation engineers are designing projects to test innovative new techniques and technologies. The team has studied the runway performance of asphalt pavements that use less energy to produce, integrated solar-powered lights into airfields, and designed runway safety systems that essentially slow or stop an airplane if it overruns the runway during takeoff or landing.

The work Maine engineers and scientists do translates directly to the community, whether through their projects or their people. In the midst of downtown Portland, for instance,

lies a rain garden, designed by Stantec, to test how well a natural water treatment system can capture and treat stormwater runoff in a busy, harsh, urban environment.

Stantec’s engineers and environmental scientists partner with Maine’s colleges and universities to develop curriculum, offer scholarships, and mentor the industry’s next generation. Staff from across the state band together regularly to support local charities and community events, from sponsoring MEST Up, a science, engineering, mathematics and technology game show on WPXT for high school students, to supporting cyclists in the American Lung Association’s annual Trek Across Maine, to fundraising for the Maine Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Engineers truly do make a world of difference, and it starts here, at home, in Maine. n