News

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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D&K is very pleased to announce that Christopher L. Sargent, AICP, CFM, has been promoted to Manager of the D&K Planning Group, effective July 1, 2019. Chris joined D&K in March 2017 as a senior planner and is now in responsible charge of planning services at D&K.

Prior to joining D&K, Chris worked for the Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Planning Commission from 2001 to 2017. He started at TRORC as an intern planner and advanced up the ranks to a Senior Planner. He completed his undergraduate studies with a BA from Johnson State College in 1993 and then his Master of Science in Resource Management and Administration in 2001.

Chris has continued his upward professional growth since joining D&K. When he started, the Planning Group was largely focused on the transportation sector.  His broad knowledge and experience, combined with his strong desire to bring diverse projects to the group has resulted in an impressive expansion of professional services. Under Chris’s leadership, the D&K Planning Group is now directly involved with a wide array of planning disciplines, such as aviation, environmental, stormwater and water resource-related projects, as well as continuing with transportation.

In addition, Chris brings a great depth of client and managerial leadership. He and his team have been building success, winning notable projects such as the Town of Fairlee Corridor Action Plan and the soon-to-be-completed Tri-Park Cooperative Housing in Brattleboro, which addressed housing within floodplains. He is serving as the senior environmental planner for significant federal clients in Connecticut and Maine.

Chris is an excellent mentor to young professionals. His strong managerial, technical and communication skills provide high-quality professional development opportunities to the people on his team, as well as throughout the firm.

D&K has had a Planning Group as part of the company’s operations for decades, and is excited to have Chris in this leadership position. He has hit the ground running, bringing much energy to the team.

DuBois & King is pleased to announce the promotion of Randall Otis, LS, to Survey Department Manager. Randy has 16 years of survey experience, including topographic, boundary, right-of-way, construction layout, and deed preparation and research.

Randy graduated from Paul Smith’s College of Arts and Sciences in 2002 with an associates degree in Survey and Applied Science. After working as a Survey Technician and Party Chief for Trudell Consulting Engineers for several years, Randy joined D&K in 2006.

At D&K, Randy was Survey Party Crew Chief, providing services on all manner of survey projects ranging from historical right-of-way document research to detailed construction layout for vertical structures. He has provided survey services under successive VTrans Right-of-Way Survey and Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation contracts, as well as an on-call contract with the US Fish & Wildlife to establish base survey control benchmarks at 10 national wildlife refuges around the Northeast.

While Randy loves all things survey, he is particularly passionate about topographic and construction layout survey. This past summer, he completed construction layout survey work on the newly constructed Miller building for the UVM Medical Center.

The Survey Department has grown significantly in recent months, with the addition of D&K’s Keene office, which is currently focused on survey. As head of survey, Randy has oversight of a seven-person department that includes another licensed land surveyor (who is based in Keene), an Assistant Survey Department Manager, several survey technicians, and an Administrative Assistant (for Keene).

Randy looks forward to his department’s continued growth as he focuses on doing more work for VTrans and making additional inroads into New Hampshire and beyond. He plans to add drone services to D&K’s survey capabilities.

Randy is a board member of the Vermont Society of Engineers and on Vermont’s GIS advisory board as the licensed representative of the Vermont Society of Land Surveyors.