Project Highlights

ACEC/NC Engineering Excellence Grand Award

S&ME, Inc. Selected as Consultant for Construction of 31-Acre Belews Creek Steam Station Ash Landfill

SCOPE AND SIZE OF THE PROJECT: S&ME, Inc. awarded contract to assist Duke Energy to design, permit and construct a state-of-the-art facility that minimized environmental impacts to the adjacent Belews Creek and Belews Lake. The landfill site is bordered on two sides with water, raising concerns that disposal operations could pose a harmful impact to the lake and groundwater.

OTHER CONSULTANTS IN THE PROJECT: Perigon Engineering provided electrical engineering services.

The Belews Creek Steam Station Ash Landfill is a high-tech 31-acre, industrial landfill under development in Stokes County, North Carolina. The landfill, owned by Duke Energy, is located adjacent to Belews Creek, which empties into Belews Lake. The facility is being developed in three phases. S&ME was selected to work as the consultant to Duke Energy for Phase I, and our work was substantially completed and ready for use in October 2006. For Phase I, we provided permitting (including environmental), engineering design, construction administration and construction quality assurance services.

Concerns over environmental impacts to the surrounding ecology of the lake and groundwater threatened permitting delays. But S&ME developed an innovative approach to design and permit this complex project and design and oversee construction of the state-of-the-art facility for Duke Energy within schedule and budget.

S&ME’s permitting services consisted of an application for Permit to Construct and a Hydrogeological Design Report submitted to the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR) Solid Waste Section. In addition, numerous other agencies were involved in the permitting process at federal and state levels.

The permit application for Phase I construction entailed:

• Engineering plan
• technical specifications
• facility plan
• drawings
• calculations
• construction quality control plan
• operations plans

Engineering services for Phase I included design of the:

• landfill
• access roads
• erosion and sedimentation control
• leachate lift station
• leachate storage facilities
• geosynthetic liner systems
• stormwater management facilities
• borrow areas
  • leachate conveyance systems
  • leachate force mains
  • realignment of facility road

S&ME managed the bid process for the initial 31-acre Phase I, and prepared construction bid documents, specifications, and construction drawings. Construction involved 1.1 million cubic yards of earthwork, 4.5 million square feet of geosynthetics, approximately three miles of access roads, a 3,500 foot facility road realignment, stormwater management facilities, erosion and sedimentation control, borrow areas, leachate collection and removal system, leachate storage facilities, leachate conveyance system, leachate lift station and leachate force mains. S&ME coordinated the pre-bid meeting, contractor’s pre-qualifications, and assisted in the evaluation of bids with Duke Energy.

S&ME was responsible for construction management of the $11.6 million project starting in April 2006 and finishing in October to completion in 2006. We provided construction quality assurance; soil and geosynthetic testing services; existing observation well abandonment services; and monitoring well installation and dedicated pumps and will install dedicated pumps during the construction of the new facility. S&ME is responsible for the certification of the construction and is submitting the Application for Permit to Operate to NCDENR Solid Waste Section.

This project won an Engineering Excellence Award in 2007.