Firm awarded a 2017 Engineering Excellence Merit Award and a PCI Design Award
Tata & Howard was recently awarded a 2017 Engineering Excellence Merit Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Vermont (ACEC/VT) for the Canaan, Vermont/Stewartstown, New Hampshire Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrades, and a 2016 PCI Design Award from the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) for the Rehabilitation of the Skilton Road Stone Masonry Arch Bridge in Watertown, CT.
The Towns of Canaan, Vermont and Stewartstown, New Hampshire operate a shared wastewater treatment facility, which required significant upgrades. The existing facilities were 40 years old and although a few upgrades were performed in the 90s, the facilities were not performing well, did not meet Life Safety codes, and required significant maintenance. The upgrade met all of the goals of the Towns by providing for simple operation and maintenance requirements, meeting the Life Safety codes, eliminating confined spaces, lowering electrical power costs, and meeting discharge parameters through production of high quality effluent.
“We were thrilled to learn we received an ACEC Vermont Engineering Excellence Award,” said Gary A. Leach, P.E., Vice President, who served as Project Manager for the project. “Upgrading the Canaan/Stewartstown shared wastewater treatment plant was absolutely critical for both residents and plant employees, and to be able to design such an efficient, safe, and affordable solution while procuring 100% financing for the project was quite an accomplishment. We are glad that ACEC Vermont agreed.”
The Skilton Road Bridge, originally built in 1865 as a one lane, dry stone masonry arch bridge over the Skilton Gorge in Watertown, Connecticut, was found to be structurally deficient in 2013 and required rehabilitation. The bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places, so special consideration was required during design to preserve the historic nature of the bridge. The project was partially funded by the Local Bridge Program, which required the width of the bridge to be increased to accommodate two traffic lanes, and the Town requested that a sidewalk be installed on one side of the bridge. These two design challenges were met by installing transverse prestressed concrete across the existing bridge. The bridge is owned by the Town of Watertown, Connecticut.
“Receiving the PCI Design Award for Best Rehabilitated Bridge was quite an honor,” said William S. Andres, P.E., Associate at Tata & Howard, who served as Project Manager for the project. “The project was of great value to Connecticut residents for both safety reasons and historical significance, and the utilization of transverse prestressed concrete beams was truly innovative.”
The PCI Design Award was presented on March 3, 2017 at the PCI Design Awards Breakfast held during The PCI Convention and National Bridge Conference in Chicago, Illinois. The ACEC/VT Engineering Excellence Award was announced on February 24, 2017 at the Vermont Society of Professional Engineers’ E-Week Banquet, and will be formally presented at the Annual ACEC/VT Engineering Excellence Awards Dinner held in late spring.