TimesNews.net

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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S&ME gained an Honors Award as lead engineer for Bristol Motor Speedway for natural resource permitting and stream mitigation design at the race track in Bristol.  S&ME performed stream morphological and habitat assessments, prepared a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan, gained a “no-rise” certification, coordinated with regulatory agencies, and designed 2,900 feet of onsite stream enhancement that integrated stormwater management components.

The project reach of Beaver Creek at the Speedway had several exposed sewer line crossings and severely eroded banks. In-stream structures and a cellular confinement retaining wall were used to improve the stream within the limited construction corridor that accommodated existing Speedway infrastructure. The goal of the restoration was to stabilize the banks and address the geomorphologic imbalances to encourage a self-sustaining system, in contrast to the self-degrading system previously in place. The vegetated swales were designed so that they would not have to be managed differently than the surrounding area, making them easier to maintain over time. They also allowed the Speedway to continue using the grassed areas for parking during high-attendance events.

S&ME has given our client excellent, comprehensive assistance to meet its regulatory requirements and improve Beaver Creek, while fully supporting its strong sensitivity to ecological values and onsite operations. This project, providing socioeconomic benefits and overcoming sustainability challenges, is a long-term benefit to the community and to the Speedway.

Project Description

S&ME worked with client PDC Consultants to overcome difficult problems in permitting and stream location at the site of the new Cleveland, Tennessee Municipal Airport.  The team gained a Tennessee Department of Environmental and Conversation Individual Construction Stormwater Permit, one of the first in Tennessee requiring monitoring of Stormwater discharges.

S&ME performed natural resource permitting and mitigation design, including a half-mile of stream relocation for Little Chatata Creek that integrated with the site plan and met Federal Aviation Administration requirements.  S&ME also conceived a stormwater monitoring approach using automated in-stream monitors for turbidity and stage, allowing the permit’s required continuous monitoring with minimal personnel intervention.

S&ME was lead engineer for all natural-resource permitting and design for stream and wetland mitigation.  Our natural-resource services included a biological assessment, natural-resource evaluation, permitting of stream and wetland impacts. The creek had been impacted by past agricultural practices including cattle intrusion. S&ME also provided and executed a plan to continuously monitor construction stormwater leaving the site, as well as the instream monitoring stations in the creek. The project shows how unique requirements, such as limitations on tree height and wildlife attraction, can be incorporated into stream realignment while still returning adequate ecological uplift for regulatory approval.

Project Description

Through a subcontract with PDC Consultants, S&ME was responsible for stream and wetland permitting and mitigation design for the new municipal airport in Cleveland, Tennessee.  S&ME provided natural resource services including a biological assessment, natural resource evaluation, Rosgen survey, No-Rise Certification, permitting of stream and wetland impacts, and design of a half-mile of stream relocation for Little Chatata Creek that integrated with the site plan and met Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations.

Extensive regulatory coordination has been performed with multiple agencies, including the three lead permitting agencies, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and the Tennessee Valley Authority.  The project has also involved S&ME as the technical lead for the public meeting held by the permitting agency as part of the permitting public notice process.  The stream relocation plan utilized natural channel design techniques modified to address FAA design standards for water resources and vegetative canopy.  Extensive modeling of the proposed stream relocation was performed by S&ME using USACE Hydrologic Engineering Center – River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) to calculate flood elevations in the planned stream corridor and demonstrate a no-rise condition.  The modeling included a new 700 ft. long box culvert that allows the new runway to cross the realigned stream.

S&ME also provided and executed a plan to continuously monitor construction stormwater.  An Individual Construction Stormwater Permit issued by TDEC is one of the first in Tennessee requiring monitoring of stormwater discharges.  S&ME devised an innovative approach using automated in-stream monitors for turbidity and stage (converted to discharge using a rating curve) that allowed the permit’s required continuous monitoring with minimal personnel intervention.

Our client has expressed satisfaction and appreciation for our efforts in overcoming challenges to meet and exceed the project’s rigid needs and schedule.  We worked closely with the client’s and owner’s representatives to complete tasks on schedule and within budget.

The Post and Courier
By Katy Stech

Monday, January 3, 2011

Boeing Co. has run into countless obstacles in trying to build those 787 Dreamliner jets.

But one issue hasn’t seemed to cross its path: getting North Charleston building inspectors to approve construction at the $750 million plant at Charleston International Airport.

North Charleston building director Darbis Briggman said his staff of 10 inspectors are on call 24 hours a day for the project’s general contractor, BE&K/Turner Joint Venture. He estimates they visit the site every other day.

And that’s in addition to the inspections done by an outside engineering company: S&ME Inc.

Briggman said local building codes allow third-party specialists to inspect and sign off on parts of a structure that are beyond the city’s scope of knowledge.

The extra cost is assumed by the company, not the city.

Outside inspectors have had to examine about 75 percent of the building’s frame, such as some of the welding work and bolt patterns. City staffers have been called on to approve more basic construction work, such as the foundation and drywall.

Reach Katy Stech at 937-5549.

Runway 18R/36L Taxiway Bridges (Third Runway) Maintaining Charlotte Douglas International Airport as one of the country’s leading airports a fourth 9,000-foot runway and existing airfield improvement will provide additional capacity, strengthen the hub operation and reduce flight delays.

This project consists of two steel aircraft bridges supporting structural cast in place concrete decking.  The steel bridges are supported on cast in place concrete abutments. Taxiway N bridges is approximately 77.5 feet long, and is supported on concrete spread footings.  Taxiway S bridge is approximately 91.5 feet long, and is supported on 316 steel H-piles.  The abutment wall heights are approximately 40 feet for each bridge.

S&ME senior engineering technician and or staff professional observed the installation of the 316 steel H-piles to there termination criteria.

S&ME’s engineering technicians performed soil density testing to confirm required compaction, visual soil classifications to confirm suitability of fill material, laboratory proctor tests for maximum dry density and optimum moisture content.

S&ME’s engineering technicians performed the following activites for the concrete construction: monitorted the placement of concrete, performed slump testing, air content testing, unit weight testing, fabricated concrete cylinders, monitored concrete temperature and batch times, and compressive strength testing of concrete cylinders.

S&ME performed the following services on the structural steel: observation and visual weld inspections to verify torque on high strength bolt, nuts, and washer connections and observation of reinforcing steel.

In subsequent work, S&ME was selected by the general contractor, Archer Western, to provide a variety of environmental services related to the construction of the South Corridor Light Rail System. Services included coordination of 40-hour OSHA training for contractor personnel working in environmental impact areas as well as preparation of Soil Excavation and Disposal Plan for soils along the rail line impacted with arsenic, chlorinated solvents and petroleum constituents. S&ME environmental staff also prepared Air Monitoring and Sampling Plan for construction activities associated with arsenic impact and conducted perimeter and personnel air monitoring to document arsenic levels.

S&ME’s work on the South Corridor Light Rail project continues with assignments from the City of Charlotte for whom we are providing construction materials testing services for the proposed intersection improvements required for the rail project.  To date we have provided field density testing for roadway re-alignments, widening, and extensions, concrete testing for curb/gutter and cast-in-place retaining walls, and asphalt testing along  South Boulevard at the intersections with Arrowood Road, Archdale Road, Tyvola Road, Sharon Road West, Woodlawn, and New Bern.

Raleigh–Durham International Airport experienced a 34,000-gallon jet fuel spill resulting in impacts to air traffic and sensitive spill receptors and airfield contamination. S&ME provided expedient response and professional expertise to the Airport Authority, ensured compliance with all environmental regulations and requirements, and was the Authority’s liaison to federal, state, and local environmental agencies.

S&ME coordinated effective response, source control, waste management, and incident planning for short-term corrective measures. S&ME then prepared the Comprehensive Site Assessment Report, remedial plans, engineered specifications, permit applications, and installed a “green” gravity-flow recovery system where treated water discharges to a constructed wetland.

There were many challenges on this project including:

• Project activities were limited to minimal impact to an operating international airport
• Projects costs had to be minimized for approval by the municipal client
• Schedule required night work
• Site geology is shall Triassic Basin deposits with variable permeability
• Fracture and joint systems in bedrock were impacted by blasting for airfield development and system installation
• Groundwater flow rates and gradient are high variable
• Hydraulic head differential from system headwater to discharge point was limited
• NPDES permitting

S&ME prepared an innovative concept and design for the remediation system.  We combined several disciplines including geology, hydrogeology, environmental, surveying, engineering, safety and construction successfully to develop a comprehensive plan and economical design with proven results.

S&ME brought a solution that exceeded the needs for cost and schedule.

A RDU Authority representative stated, “We were impressed that S&ME’s engineers were able to accurately predict where to pick up the groundwater flow and how much it would be. Also it was impressive that the processing could all be done by gravity, thereby saving us a lot of upfront equipment and ongoing maintenance costs.

Construction of the system was completed in 2008 and a system upgrade will be performed in 2010.

Once the design was complete, S&ME prepared the Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan and bid documents/specifications and assisted the County with coordination with the Georgia Department of Transportation regarding Federal Highway Administration funding.  We also prepared bid documents and bid evaluation.

Construction at the stream mitigation site began in September 2009. During the construction, S&ME provided construction observation and contract management services for the client. While the stream channel was under construction, several sections were re-aligned to take advantage of existing site conditions identified during the construction grading. The revised alignments provided a savings in the construction costs of the project. The project is currently under construction, and completion of the project is anticipated in February or March 2010.

Extensive regulatory coordination has been performed with multiple agencies, including the three lead permitting agencies, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).  The project has also involved S&ME as the technical lead for the public meeting held by the permitting agency as part of the permitting public notice process.  The stream relocation plan has utilized natural channel design techniques modified to address Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) design standards for water resources and vegetative canopy.  Extensive modeling of the proposed stream relocation was performed by S&ME using USACE Hydrologic Engineering Center River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) to calculate flood elevations in the planned stream corridor and demonstrate a no-rise condition.  The wetland mitigation plan maximizes mitigation credits on a former golf course facility that will be restored to a functional wetland and will also serve as a community asset featuring a walking trail around the wetland mitigation area.

The cultural resources activities have been closely coordinated with multiple regulatory agencies that have participated in a Memorandum of Agreement to address adverse effects anticipated for the archaeological site.  In order to achieve compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, Phase III data recovery of a former home site has been completed.

S&ME supported the civil design contractor throughout the construction bid process by preparing technical specifications, bid forms, and bid package addenda.  The contractor’s bid price was slightly less than S&ME’s estimate of construction cost.

Project Highlights:

• Stream Assessment
• Wetland Delineation
• No-Rise Certification
  • Bioengineering and Natural Channel Design
  • Wetland mitigation
  • Multiple permits
  • Archaeological Survey
  • Stormwater Management
• Agency Coordination