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KINGSPORT — Kingsport has contracted with a local engineering company to figure out why the concrete has cracked at the new roundabout on Netherland Inn Road.

“Kingsport has contracted with local engineering company S&ME to test the structural integrity of the concrete truck apron and make a recommendation on how to fix the problem. Their report is expected to be given to the city this month.”

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Melvin Williams, business developer in the Charleston office, is the Vice-Chair for the SmartState Review Board of Directors, which oversees the SmartState Program. He indicates the program is responsible for creating over 7,000 jobs, 17 startup companies, and attracting $1.2 billion to the state of South Carolina.

Find out more about the SC SmartState program here. > http://www.sccoee.org

Engineering and environmental firm S&ME expands via assets purchase of BBCM

Raleigh, NC— S&ME, Inc. has taken its first steps in expanding beyond its traditional Southeastern footprint by acquiring Ohio-based BBC&M Engineering, Inc.

The deal, effective October 3, results from S&ME’s purchase of the assets of BBCM.

About 75 former BBCM employees joined S&ME, increasing the company’s employment to nearly 1,100. This staff will work from 27 offices in North Carolina, Ohio, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

Though concentrated heavily in the Southeast, S&ME has completed projects throughout much of the U.S. and in the Caribbean. The addition of BBCM is a continuation of S&ME’s strategic growth plan.

Announcement of the acquisition was made in Raleigh by S&ME President Randy Neuhaus, PE. “Clients will benefit through enhanced services, as well as, access to a deeper pool of expert talent to help them solve project challenges,” Neuhaus said. “We’re excited to bring on BBCM’s expertise in geodesign services and experience with mine reclamation and earthen structures including dams, landfills and upground reservoirs.”

Since 1957 BBCM, a civil engineering firm specializing in geotechnical engineering, geodesign, environmental, materials testing and construction observation, has provided services to clients throughout the Midwest.

S&ME was founded in Raleigh in 1973. Its major service lines include geotechnical engineering; construction materials engineering and testing; environmental services, occupational health and safety; water resources and solid waste engineering; and natural and cultural resources.

Market segments served include energy, transportation, industrial, federal, state and municipal government, solid waste, ports and terminals, healthcare, education, and petroleum retailing.

Contact: Randy Neuhaus, President / CEO
(919) 872-2660
email Randy Neuhaus

New York – Sunday, is the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In Manhattan, Ground Zero is slowly but surely being returned to its former role as a pre-eminent landmark of international commerce.
S&ME, in small measure, is importantly involved in this return.

The site includes a memorial to honor those who died there and tributes to the firefighters and police officers, along with skilled iron workers and others who rushed to the scene as volunteers, to cut through the mass of debris to help reach those trapped. Ongoing construction includes One World Trade Center (Freedom Tower), to be the nation’s tallest building, topping out symbolically at 1776 feet. Reflecting pools already occupy the footprints of the Twin Towers.

In the midst of all this and more will be the massive, mostly underground, $3.8 billion World Trade Center Transportation Hub, including a striking structure at surface level. Beneath the surface will be a multi-story central transit hall designed in the manner of New York’s Grand Central Terminal, and multi-story retail, parking facilities and pedestrian access to 13 subway lines.

And this futuristic-looking hub is where S&ME staff professional Lisa Earley has been working since May. But her immediate surroundings are not futuristic. “I’ve spent much of my time in a construction trailer,” Earley said. “That’s where I do my work.” Earley is part of the non-destructive evaluation group in the Raleigh branch. Among her areas of expertise are visual and ultra-sonic observations, post-tensioned structures and material properties analysis.

She said a typical task for her occurs when she receives information, for example, about roof-system joints that don’t fit properly. She then provides the information to address these issues.

Earley enjoys her work at the World Trade Center, is impressed by the security in place, and finds it an emotional experience just to be at the site, realizing what it represents and remembering watching on television as the Twin Towers fell that fateful day. She has taken the opportunity to go up in the yet unfinished One World Trade Center, and finds the view awe inspiring. She has been moved by talking with New Yorkers and tourists who were in town on 9/11/01 and hear how what they experienced impacted their lives.

Earley won’t be there Sunday, but she looks forward to going back to finish her work, which is expected to end in early 2012.

Chandler has completed roadway, sanitary sewer, drainage, stream relocation and site plans, along with exhibits and project renderings.  Most of his experience is in Kentucky, and he has also worked for the states of Tennessee and West Virginia. He is experienced in MicroStation, AutoCAD, and InRoads design packages, and in using ArcMAP and ArcGIS for calculating areas, and creating maps and displays.

Gordinier has more than 15 years of experience in transportation, commercial, health care, marine, and residential related projects from both the Geotechnical Engineering and Construction Monitoring aspects.  Gordinier has significant experience in design and construction of various deep foundation systems.  He is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Virginia and a member of numerous professional organizations including ASCE, SAME, and NSPE.

He is Senior Engineer Philip J. Erbland, PE, whose background covers foundation and soil studies including shallow foundation analysis, foundation settlement, slope stability and roadway studies with specialized experience in driven pile foundation design and installation. His work spans public and private sectors in the United States and the Caribbean.
Erbland holds a master’s degree in civil engineering and a bachelor’s degree in ocean engineering from the Florida Institute of Technology. He is a member of the Florida Engineering Society; the American Society of Highway Engineers; and the American Society of Civil Engineers, serving on the Ports and Harbors Committee of the Coasts, Oceans, Ports and Rivers Institute.

New York—Leapfrogging 13 places in the rankings, S&ME, Inc., moved up to number 154 nationally on ENR’s 2011 Top 200 Environmental Firms List.

The annual listing is based on gross revenues of the firm’s reporting.  Though records are not complete, this is likely the highest ranking S&ME has achieved on the Top 200 Environmental list.  The listing shows S&ME gross revenue in environmental services at $35.7 million and reports that figure as 32% of the firm’s entire revenue for the previous year.

This ranking among the nation’s top environmental firms comes on the heels of the company’s ranking of 97^th among ENR’s 2011 Top 500 Design Firms list, which was released in April.  That ranking was 41 places higher than in 2010.

ENR (Engineering News-Record) Magazine is a construction, building and engineering magazine published by McGraw-Hill, headquartered in Rockefeller Center, New York City.

Officials from South Carolina Electric & Gas and the Saluda Shoals Park held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, July 27, 2011 to open a new display at the Saluda Shoals Environmental Education Center in Columbia. The center will show off archaeological artifacts found by S&ME’s Columbia office, on the river’s bank in recent years.

More than 37,000 artifacts have been found at a site near an abandoned tree house along the Saluda. Some tools found there are said to be among the oldest found in the U.S. and dating back 13,000 years.

SCE&G Saluda Shoals Exhibit Video

The project managed by Bill Green, Cultural Resources Manager and Principal Archeologist for the Columbia branch, involved data recovery excavations for client South Carolina Electric & Gas Company (SCE&G).

The excavations supported SCE&G’s relicensing of its Saluda Hydroelectric Project and dealt with mitigating effects of erosion on a part of the site located on private property. Green called the project a unique opportunity to investigate one of the state’s most important archeological sites containing thousands of artifacts dating from 13,500 to 700 years ago.

“Our excavations were among the largest, most comprehensive and deepest undertaken in the state,” Green said. The investigation required meticulous organization and problem-solving as many staff and specialists joined their skills to face multiple challenges, including a tropical storm that flooded excavations.

One challenge was to maintain superior standards of archaeological excavation and recording techniques, while complying with OSHA safety requirements. S&ME engineers and archaeologists jointly designed a plan allowing excavators to safely perform highly scientific investigations following both archaeological and engineering standards to complete one of South Carolina’s most complex archaeological projects.

Awards Won:
2011 NHA Outstanding Stewards of America’s Waterways Award

2010 Engineering Excellence Award judged tops in the Studies, Research and Consulting Engineering Services category in South Carolina.