Project Highlights

S&ME Charlotte initially teamed with the design engineer for the proposed South Corridor Light Rail Transit project to provide geotechnical engineering services. The project corridor begins near Brookshire Freeway in Uptown Charlotte and extends along the existing railroad track to Pineville, North Carolina. S&ME performed the preliminary investigation to characterize subsurface conditions to allow reasonable design decisions to be made about configurations, depths of aerial structures and foundations in order to identify potential limitations on bridge abutments and wall heights due to subsurface conditions.  The investigation also delineated geologic hazards such as seismically active faults, highly expansive clays or soft deposits.

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.