Featured Projects

Project Excellence in Infrastructure

54-inch HDPE Redundant Bypass Force Main Horizontal Directional Drill

Fort Lauderdale, FL

In December 2019, the City of Fort Lauderdale’s wastewater system suffered a catastrophic failure of its primary force main, which delivered the city’s wastewater flows to the George T. Lohmeyer Treatment Plant. This failure was followed by several other failures and breaks in the aging sewer system. Over 211 million gallons of raw sewage were spilled into area waterways.

The sewer spill was devastating for the Fort Lauderdale community, and particularly for the city’s waterways and environmentally sensitive areas. CHA’s team was prepared to tackle the enormous scope of this project which included installation of 38,000 linear feet of 48” and 54” HDPE pipe using horizontal directional drill technology. Sections were drilled under a golf course and crossed three waterways without environmental or public disruption. The high profile nature of this project resulted in considerable public involvement at all stages. The project also required a rigorous permitting process involving 11 jurisdictional agencies, including several environmental agencies. Segmental certification was also required to activate and allow city use of the installed force main as quickly as possible. Due to the nature of design/build delivery and project emergency status, our team was extremely flexible and ready to take on any scope changes requested by the city or as demanded by emerging field conditions.

Completed in just 18 months, the extremely expedited design and installation of the thousands of linear feet of bypass force main ensured that the City of Fort Lauderdale’s wastewater infrastructure was restored and protected against future failure and system interruption.

Project Excellence in Buildings

Mt. Ararat School

Topsham, ME

Opened in 2020, the new Mt. Ararat High School is a ubiquitous learning environment within Maine School Administrative District 75, serving approximately 750 students in grades 9 – 12. Citizens, students, and families from the communities of Topsham, Harpswell, Bowdoin, and Bowdoinham were involved in an extensive community planning process to create a place where students would feel comfortable and could consider a second home. Built on the existing campus, Mt. Ararat High School continues its relationship with the middle school on a central site with abundant natural features.

The 150,000-square-foot building is organized around a hub of spaces critical to the established culture of Mt. Ararat High School. The spaces house programs such as the Digital Media Makerspace, Robotics Makerspace, Learning Commons, Student Affairs offices, Main Administration, and Dining Commons. The school boasts extensive energyefficient features such as a closed-loop geothermal heating and cooling system, increased insulation, triple-glazed windows, roof structure reinforcement for future PV panels, solar hot water preheating, snow melt systems, and highly durable finish materials.

Three primary wings intersect at a centrally located and secure main entry lobby. The classroom wings radiating from the lobby contain a diverse variety of spaces, including 40 small and large classrooms, 9 science labs, makerspaces, a forum lecture hall, a learning commons, art rooms, and seminar rooms. A public main street traverses the school building from the main lobby, connecting the entry to a light-filled cafeteria, band and choral rooms, and the 17,000-square-foot gymnasium and fitness rooms. A competition track, multi-purpose fields, baseball field, and competition field concessions building are all part of the school’s overall athletic program. Numerous special education spaces, special education professionals, and social workers are distributed throughout the building to promote the inclusion of all students. Informal seating areas and breakout spaces within the building promote casual encounters and informal meetings.

NEWS: Two Sports Projects Earn 2023 ACEC Virginia Engineering Excellence Awards

Dorey Park Baseball Stadium in Henrico County, Virginia, and the Abingdon Sportsplex in Abingdon, Virginia, earned Merit Awards from ACEC Virginia. These state-of-the-art sports venues serve local and traveling teams, support community recreation needs, and drive sports tourism. Read more