Author: Sawyer Sutton

D&K has received a Grand Award for the Bethel Mountain Road Emergency Slope and Roadway Repair in Rochester, Vermont. The award was received in the Special Projects Category of the annual American Council of Engineering Companies of Vermont (ACEC/VT) Engineering Excellence Awards Program, a showcase of exemplary engineering projects completed around the state.

On April 15, 2019, a significant rainfall event melted snowpack on frozen ground above the Bethel Mountain Road, a vital mountain connector road that carries 1,400 vehicles per day between VT 100 and VT 12. The stormwater and sediment runoff overwhelmed inadequate drainage and scoured the unstable roadway embankments, leading to six roadway slope failures and rendering the road impassable.

D&K led the design and supported the project through the reconstruction of a half-mile section of road and repairs of steep embankments in a compressed six-month timeframe, meeting schedule requirements that resulted in the town receiving one hundred percent federal funding. Working with the Town of Rochester, the Vermont Agency of Transportation, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, the Federal Highway Administration, Sanborn Head (which provided geotechnical engineering), G. W. Tatro (contractor), and John Turner Consulting, D&K successfully led the stabilization of six failed slopes, developed new stormwater collection and erosion mitigation practices, and reconstructed 2,800 linear feet of roadway. Construction was completed and the road reopened for traffic on October 11, 2019.

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D&K is excited to announce that Elijah Daniels has been promoted to Project Manager in D&K’s Electrical Engineering Department. Elijah joined D&K in September 2011 and is based in our Springfield office.

Following his 1997 graduation from Springfield Technical Center where he studied Drafting and Design and Manufacturing Technology, Elijah served as a Machinist Apprentice in the Lovejoy Tool Company. After three years, he left to work for a cable TV company as a Cable TV and Fiber Optic Communications Designer. Next, he transitioned into a job as a Cabinet Designer, making kiosks for mall shops and for a Ben & Jerry’s scoop shop. In 2009, he went to work as a Mechanical Designer at another consulting firm, where he met and occasionally worked with Wilbur Horton. Their meeting was fortuitous, and Elijah joined D&K several years later as a Mechanical and Electrical Designer.

At D&K, Elijah quickly found that his true interest lies in electrical design, where his talent and responsibilities have grown substantially. He was thrown into the deep end, working with Wilbur on the $3M White River VA Medical Center Electrical Deficiencies Upgrades project (an ACEC award winner). Some of his other notable projects have included the Leeds VA Electrical Deficiencies Upgrades, Craig Brook Fish Hatchery in Maine, and the Outer Limits Brewing Company.

Over the last several years, Elijah has played a key role in D&K’s electrical arc flash study projects. While the work is technically challenging, he rapidly became proficient with the specialized analysis process and modeling software.

DuBois & King received a Silver Award in the Structural Systems Category for the Lilac Bridge Replacement project in Hooksett. The award was presented by the American Council of Engineering Companies of New Hampshire Engineering Excellence Awards Program, a showcase of exemplary engineering projects completed in the state and/or by New Hampshire firms.

DuBois & King provided investigation, evaluation of alternatives, and design for a replacement of the Lilac vehicle bridge with a new pedestrian bridge. The new bridge maintained the viewscape of the previous bridge—a historic high Pratt through truss bridge constructed in 1909—and served as a crossing over the Merrimack River. The existing bridge was bypassed and closed to vehicles in 1976 and closed to pedestrians in 1995. In August 2014, the NHDOT advised the Town of Hooksett that a recent inspection revealed the existing bridge had failed, citing four locations where critical truss members had fractured, and the bridge was in imminent danger of collapse. While closed to vehicles and pedestrians, the bridge still supported a major sewer line.

D&K led planning, design, and permitting of this project while simultaneously balancing the needs of eight stakeholder groups that had interest and jurisdiction in the project. Managing the stakeholder groups’ conflicting needs added complexity during the project’s compressed schedule. The replacement bridge satisfies pedestrian and sewer crossing requirements while providing an economical, long-lasting structure that mimics the appearance of the historic structure it replaces.

Construction Contractor E. D. Swett developed an aggressive construction schedule that demolished and removed the superstructure, rehabilitated the substructure and erected the new bridge to carry the sewer line before the bridge succumbed to collapse and failure of the supported sewer line and impending environmental disaster.

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Winning projects entered into the annual ACEC-VT Engineering Excellence Awards competition were announced at the Engineering Excellence Awards dinner in South Burlington, Vermont on Friday, February 24. DuBois & King was recognized with two Grand Awards and one Merit Award. In the Transportation category, D&K received a Grand Award for the Ryegate Structure Replacement Design-Build project. In the Water Resources category, D&K received a Grand Award for the Lake Fairlee Rehabilitation project. The firm’s Randolph Wastewater Treatment Facility Process Conversion project received a Merit Award in the Environmental category.

Ryegate Structure Replacement Design-Build

For years, deteriorated, undersized culverts contributed to flooding of US Route 5 and jeopardized the integrity of the roadway and Washington County Railroad (WACR) embankments. Working with VTrans, the design-build team of DuBois & King and Engineers Construction, Inc., designed and constructed 32-ft-wide by 16-ft-high, cast-in-place, reinforced concrete arch structures beneath US Route 5 and the rail line to convey Manchester Brook beneath the embankments. 70-ft-deep braced excavations were required to construct the new 144-ft and 128-ft-long structures. A curved section open to daylight connected the two buried structures. The total length of the structure is 330 ft. The new structure improved hydraulic capacity by 25 times. Temporary bridges maintained rail and roadway traffic during construction.

Lake Fairlee Dam Rehabilitation

The Lake Fairlee dam has impounded the 427-acre lake for over 75 years. The low-hazard dam was found to be in a progressive state of failure for more than 40 years and the three abutting municipalities became concerned about potential loss of revenue from declining lakefront property values, should the dam fail. Complicating factors included the presence of a camp located on top of the dam and the likelihood that a complete failure of the dam would negate the possibility of reconstruction, due to current regulations. An in-kind replacement to the existing structure would change the dam’s classification to high-hazard because the camp used the dam as its foundation. The “permit-able” concept required design and construction of two separate structures: a new pier and wall foundation for the camp and a new cast-in-place concrete gravity dam which also functions as support for a new walkway to the camp. The project resulted in the construction of the only new non-snowmaking dam in Vermont in recent memory and the preservation of property values and a regional recreational resource.

Randolph Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade and Process Conversion

The 40-year old Randolph Wastewater Treatment Facility, originally designed for a 20-year service life, was past due for a total treatment process change and facility upgrade. Project objectives included: state-of-the-art treatment process upgrade, design capacity for nitrogen removal, improve operations efficiencies and reduce operating costs, address issues with the location in a floodplain, and develop a demonstration facility that could be accessible for educational purposes. The activated sludge treatment process was updated with sequencing batch reactor (SBR) technology and the treatment process was designed with the capability of meeting a total nitrogen limit of 7.0mg/l requirements. Existing facility buildings were repurposed and flood proofed saving project costs and preventing future damage from flooding. A completely overhauled SCADA controls system was designed for operational efficiencies. The facility was designed for ADA compatibility and accommodates tour groups from regional educational institutions. Wastewater treatment capabilities had to be maintained during construction and sequencing of construction activities were developed to allow the treatment process to continue without interruption.