ACEC/MA Engineering Excellence Award Winners 2018

Firm: Arup

Project: Northeastern University Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Center

Project Location: Boston, MA

Client: Payette / Northeastern University

Arup provided engineering and consulting services for Northeastern University’s Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex. By using advanced energy modeling software and building information modeling early in the design process and holding workshops with Payette and Northeastern, Arup empowered the client to make better, more informed design decisions. This enabled them to reach performance and sustainability goals.

Ambitious goals required innovative solutions including an optimized building façade, cascade air system, and chilled beam technology. These solutions helped ISEC surpass the Massachusetts Stretch Energy Code, achieving 33% energy-cost savings over code and 75% energy savings compared to typical laboratory performance.

Firm: CDM Smith Inc.

Project: Massachusetts Turnpike All-Electronic Tolling System

Project Location: Statewide – 138 miles on Mass. Turnpike and Boston

Client: MassDOT

In the fall of 2016, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) closed all toll booths on the Massachusetts Turnpike and converted to an All-Electronic Tolling System (AETS). AETS allows for free-flow speeds on the mainline highways with the use of a toll transponder or a license plate image capture for transactions. Gone are the days of long backups caused by toll booths and cash collection. MassDOT utilized a “best-value” Design-Build procurement method and selected the team of Raytheon, CDM Smith, SPS New England, and Liddell Brothers. The project spanned 138 miles from the New York border to Logan Airport. 

Firm:  Nitsch Engineering

Project: Complex Issues in a Small Site: Boston Public Library's Johnson Building Renovation

Project Location: Boston, MA

Client: City of Boston 

In 2013, the Boston Public Library (BPL) began reinvigorating the Johnson Building to make space not just for books, but for people, by transitioning from an inward-facing fortress to an inviting public space. To help meet this goal, Nitsch Engineering applied innovative civil engineering techniques on a heavily-trafficked site on the corner of Boylston and Exeter Streets. The key challenge was to solve multiple complex issues within a very small site, particularly recharging vulnerable groundwater levels to maintain building stability, all while keeping the library open and accessible to the public.

Firm: Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc.

Project: Bahá’í Temple of South America

Project Location: Santiago, Chile

Client: Hariri Pontarini Architects

High in the foothills of the Andes Mountains outside of Santiago, Chile, the Bahá’í Temple of South America is the stunning vision of architect Siamak Hariri of Hariri Pontarini Architects, who wanted to create a temple of light for spiritual inspiration. The temple’s nine-leaf motif is intended to celebrate the faith’s spiritual beliefs and evoke oneness with nature. Despite significant challenges — including a high-seismic zone, untested materials in thin structural applications, and high-durability and reliability requirements — the team successfully brought the architect’s vision to life. Global visitors will gather, pray, and celebrate at the Bahá’í Temple for years to come.

Firm: Simpson Gumpertz & Heger

Project: University of Massachusetts Design Building

Project Location:  Amherst, MA

Client: University of Massachusetts Building Authority

The University of Massachusetts (UMass) wanted to bring their design programs – Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, and Building and Construction Technology – together in one creatively designed building exemplifying sustainable construction practices. A first of its kind for Massachusetts, the Design Building uses wood products in new and creative ways. While a steel- or concrete-framed structure would be conventional for this building’s size and use, the new Design Building features a timber-framed superstructure with an innovative composite floor system. The exposed wood structure emphasizes the potential of engineered wood elements while complementing and influencing the aesthetics inside and out

Silver Award Winners

Firm: AECOM

Project:  I-90 AETS Conversion Program

Project Location:  I-90 Statewide

Client:  MassDOT

The 138-mile Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90), which runs from the New York State border to Boston, operated as a ticket and barrier toll system for over 50 years, until the Massachusetts Department of Transportation transformed the roadway into a modern 21st century facility—one that uses All Electronic Tolling (AET). The conversion to an AET system was achieved on the Go-Live date of October 28, 2016, followed by the simultaneous demolition of 22 legacy toll plazas. Achieving these milestones required an extraordinary level of coordination across each element of the conversion. AECOM was a key technical lead during the program’s three key phases.

Firm: BR+A

Project: Project Legacy

Project Location: New Orleans, LA

Client:  Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System

The project’s vision was clear – provide the highest level of care and compassion for our veterans. This resulted in a 1,700,000 sf facility, designed as “VA Mission Critical” with the capability to remain fully operational for five days upon the complete incapacitation of public utilities; while maintaining thermal comfort for patients and being 30% more energy efficient than code requires. The facility is a testament to the innovative design of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems that meet demanding “Mission Critical” goals and provide a state-of-the-art healthcare environment for veterans. Project Legacy sets new standards for patient-centered care, resiliency, and sustainability.

Firm: Gannett Fleming, Inc

Project: Springfield Railcar Assembly Facility

Project Location: Springfield, MA

Client: Plaza Construction, LLC

The Springfield Railcar Facility project transformed a 40-acre brownfield into the home of a modern manufacturing facility. China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation built the facility as its North American headquarters, where it is assembling more than 400 railcars for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and serving clients across the country. This project created 150 new jobs for the Springfield community and represents a $95 million foreign investment in the U.S. economy. Innovative facility design features include portable assembly platforms, an oblique and curved 2,240-foot-long outdoor test track, and a complex power system that can accommodate multiple transit clients.

Firm: Geocomp Corporation

Project: Seismic Assessments Using Best Practices for Risk Management of TVA Coal Combustion Residuals Surface Impoundments

Project Location: Six (6) TVA Facilities located in TN and KY

Client: Tennessee Valley Authority

In 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency issued the “Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) Rule” to address risks associated with failures of surface impoundments and landfills used to dispose of CCR generated by coal-fired power plants. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) retained Geocomp to perform comprehensive seismic assessments after simplified and conservative initial evaluations by others indicated that six TVA surface impoundments would not comply with the CCR Rule for seismic stability. Geocomp’s assessments using “Best Practices” resulted in all six facilities complying with the CCR Rule seismic requirements. This helped TVA avoid potential remediation costs exceeding $100,000,000 or power plant shutdowns.

Firm: Howard Stein Hudson

Project: Quincy Center Transportation Improvements

Project Location: Quincy, MA

Client: City of Quincy

To implement the vision for Quincy Center, we developed a plan to repurpose 500 feet of an urban arterial roadway to parkland. Howard Stein Hudson is proud to have collaborated with the City and MassDOT to deliver a sophisticated Complete Streets project.  Our plan showed that closing a section of Hancock Street, coupled with circulation changes, would enable the vision of the new civic space to be realized; one that reconnects the Church of the Presidents with Quincy City Hall and the Quincy Center MBTA Station.  The $6.6 million project was completed in summer 2017.

Firm: Inter-Fluve

Project: Tidmarsh Farms & Wetland Restoration

Project Location: Plymouth, MA

Client: MA Division of Ecological Restoration & Tidmarsh Farms

Holistic ecological restoration of cranberry bogs to native stream and wetland ecosystems was pioneered by Inter-Fluve through the Tidmarsh Farms project. Over 20,000 feet of stream channel and 250 acres of fen and Atlantic white cedar swamp were restored, improving climate change resiliency. The project used 3,000+ pieces of large wood to improve habitat for fish and aquatic organisms, and involved removal of a 20-foot-high dam. The landowners’ Living Observatory project unites private, public and educational institutions from 10 universities to perform long-term monitoring and is partnering with Mass Audubon following their purchase of the site for a wildlife sanctuary.

Firm: STV Incorporated

Project: Boston Landing Station

Project Location: Boston, MA

Client: NB Development Group

The Boston Landing Station was designed by STV as part of an approximately $25 million public- private partnership between NB Development Group and Massachusetts transportation officials. The station provides a vital link to the New Balance shoe and athletic apparel company’s world headquarters and the overall Boston Landing development, which encompasses 2.15 million square feet of office/lab, sports, entertainment, retail, hotel, and residential space, including practice facilities for the Boston Bruins and Boston Celtics. The station serves customers along the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Framingham/Worcester Line and is designed to provide access for employees, visitors and residents of the development and surrounding Allston-Brighton neighborhood.

Firm: Tata & Howard, Inc

Project:  Long Pond Water Treatment Plant

Project Location: Falmouth, MA

Client: Town of Falmouth, MA

Tata & Howard, Inc. provided lead engineering services for the design and construction ad- ministration of the new 8.4 million gallon per day Long Pond Water Treatment Plant (WTP) in Falmouth, MA.The new WTP, which replaces an 1890s-era facility that operated under a filtration waiver, provides the Town with the ability to meet current regulatory requirements, remove pathogens, taste, odor, organic matter, and algae/algal toxins, produce stable water quality, and provides flexibility to meet uncertain future regulatory and water quality challenges. The project reached Substantial Completion on schedule and was completed with- in budget.

Firm: Thornton Tomasetti, Inc.

Project:  Boston University, Rajen Kilachand Center for Integrated Life Sciences & Engineering 

Project Location: Boston, MA

Client: Boston University

Boston University’s Center for Integrated Life Sciences & Engineering (CILSE) is a state-of-the-art, 170,000-square-foot building housing researchers, scholars and staff working on new technology. These researchers will work in shared spaces designed to encourage collaboration. The need for a flexible, interdisciplinary research environment to accommodate current research and offer adaptable space for future exploration, combined with the unique characteristics of this building presented a number of structural challenges through design and the construction. Through close collaboration, Thornton Tomasetti and the entire design team addressed and solved these challenges and delivered an outstanding, sustainable project on time and within budget.

Firm: VHB

Project:  MassDOT Infraspace (Underground at Ink Block)

Project Location: Boston, MA

Client:  MassDOT Office of Real Estate and Asset Development

VHB helped transform an underutilized, blighted site under the elevated portion of I-93 into a vital community asset. The site, which had long formed a barrier between neighborhoods, had become a haven for illicit activities, homelessness, and violent crime. Today Underground at Ink Block is a vibrant space that combines revenue-generating parking lots, a boardwalk, stormwater treatment, 24-hour security and lighting, and an urban park to accommodate art exhibits, markets, and community activities. The space features specialty uplighting, a unique landscape with water retention areas and a boardwalk, and multiuse path that connect South Boston with the South End.

Bronze Award Winners

Firm: Beta Group, Inc.

Project: Downtown Framingham Design and Construction Oversight  

Project Location:  Framingham, MA

Client: City of Framingham Department of Public Works & MassDOT

BETA was hired by the Town of Framingham, MA to serve as designer to address severe traffic congestion and resulting safety issues in the downtown area. BETA provided traffic and transportation engineering design work and also oversaw construction for this $8.8 million project. BETA’s work included traffic studies, traffic signal design, roadway design, and construction oversight.  A Complete Streets approach was recommended and implemented, including: crosswalks; sharrows (a demarcation in a lane indicating the lane is shared with bicycles); application of updated pavement markings; and installation of landscape architectural elements such as sidewalk seating, LED lighting, and planting areas.

Firm: CDR Maguire Inc.

Project: SR 0136-G10 Bridge Replacement Project

Project Location: Eighty-Four, Washington County PA

Client: Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Engineering District 12-0

The SR 0136-G10 Bridge Replacement Project replaced a 70-year-old, 210-foot-long, 4-span bridge with a new 2-span, 206-foot-long bridge. The bridge carries SR 0136 over Little Chartiers Creek and the B&O (CSX) Railroad. The new bridge was raised approximately 2 feet to meet current vertical clearance requirements over the railroad. Because of high traffic volumes and a lengthy detour, the bridge was designed and constructed using Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) methods. Using precast concrete elements and Prefabricated Bridge Units (PBUs), the typical 6- to 9-month detour duration was reduced to just 24 days.

Firm: Environmental Partners Group, Inc.

Project: Reaching New Heights: Modernizing Water Infrastructure on a Historic Site

Project Location:  Medfield, MA

Client:  Town of Medfield-Department of Public Works

The Point is a 500,000 square foot mixed-use development located on 90 acres adjacent to Route 495 in Littleton, MA. The project features a “stacked” retail concept allowing the development to sit seamlessly within the hill and natural grades that surround it. Using urban design principals, the design features a mix of amenities that draw consumers to places to connect and socialize. Despite its great size, the Point showcases the ability of a large-scale development to occur adjacent to priority environmental resource areas without risk of degradation.

Firm: GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. 

Project: Route 128 Add‐A‐Lane Project

Project Location: Route 128/I-95, Needham, MA

Client: MassDOT Highway Division

The widening of the Route 128 roadway between Highland Avenue and Kendrick Street in Needham, MA required construction of embankment fill over soft, compressible organic soils that are up to 25 feet thick.  As an alternate to excavation and replacement of unsuitable soils or preload/surcharge, ground improvement using timber piles with a geosynthetic reinforced load transfer platform was used to reduce the impact of construction on the environment, community and traffic.

Firm: HDR

Project: Thomas J. Butler Dedicated Freight Corridor & Memorial Park

Project Location: South Boston, MA

Client: Massachusetts Port Authority

The new Thomas J. Butler Dedicated Freight Corridor and Memorial Park solves the “last mile” challenge for freight trucks accessing the port. The new haul road addresses long-term access needs and accommodates anticipated growth while the 4.2-acre memorial park will reduce noise and provide a visual buffer for adjacent residents.

By cleaning up the Coastal Oil brownfield and removing more than 1,000 trucks per day from a residential street, the project enhances public safety, future growth and quality of life for residents. The on-budget, on-schedule project was heralded as a model for future development in South Boston.

Firm: Howard Stein Hudson

Project: Central Square Complete Streets Reconstruction

Project Location: East Boston, MA

Client: City of Boston

The HSH team worked with the Boston Transportation Department, Parks and Recreation Department, Public Works Department, and the Boston Water and Sewer Commission on the design of roadway, drainage, and streetscape improvements in Central Square.  This East Boston Complete Streets project accomplishes the following goals of the City:

- Creates a safer environment for cyclists;

- Shortens pedestrian crossings, expands the park, and widens the sidewalks;

- Includes green stormwater infrastructure elements; and

- Provides back-in angle parking, which is safer than head-in angle parking.

Firm: Kleinfelder Northeast, Inc.

Project: Alewife Sewer Separation and Surface Improvements Project

Project Location: Cambridge, MA

Client: City of Cambridge Department of Public Works

The Alewife Sewer Separation and Surface Improvement Program spread across 420 acres of West Cambridge. As part of the federally mandated Boston Harbor Cleanup, the City of Cambridge aimed to reduce combined sewer overflows (CSOs) to Alewife Brook and, in turn, improve the water quality of the Mystic River and Boston Harbor. As a result of this program, Cambridge achieved an 85% reduction of untreated CSO discharge from the Huron/Concord neighborhood while also providing the community with the benefit of extensive utility investments, improvements for cyclists and pedestrians, and new street trees and plantings.

Firm: Louis Berger

Project: Replacement of MBTA Shore Line Bridge No. B-16-475

Project Location: Readville, Boston, MA

Client: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

The MBTA Shore Line Bridge No. B-16-475, carries the Fairmount and Franklin Line commuter rail service, CSX freight service and spans over Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor and MBTA Shore Line. The existing single span bridge, built in 1898, required replacement. To achieve what everyone considered impossible from risk angle, the proposed design recommended several Pre-Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) techniques for the systems relocation, foundation construction, and structure fabrication to facilitate implementing ABC techniques for the demolition and placement of bridge within substantially restricted work window hours.

Firm: Pare Corporation

Project: Replacement of Central Bridge No. 182

Project Location: Barrington, RI

Client: Rhode Island Department of Transportation

Pare Corporation was responsible for design and construction-phase services for the Central Bridge No. 182 Replacement Project.  The project consisted of the replacement of a structurally deficient and functionally obsolete 324-foot, six-span concrete bridge structure built in 1939.  Pare’s replacement design is 21 feet wider, adds a third travel lane, bicycle/pedestrian improvements, increased freeboard for boat traffic, and is the first bridge in Rhode Island to use NEXT Beam girders. The design required sensitivity to environmental issues (endangered turtles, coastal wetlands) and historically significant buildings located nearby, and allowed for phased construction to maintain vehicular use throughout.

Firm: Pare Corporation

Project: Stiles Reservoir Dam Reconstruction

Project Location: Leicester, MA

Client: Stiles Lake Water District

Pare Corporation developed a rehabilitation program to bring the 150-year-old Stiles Reservoir Dam into compliance with current dam safety regulations.  This required completing a full-depth excavation of the 40-foot high dam to replace the outlet, install a sheet pile cutoff wall, an internal drainage system, and raise the top of the dam.  Pare corrected the significant seepage and leakage issues through the embankment and enabled a re-impoundment of the lake. This project demonstrates how a dam can be upgraded to modern safety and resiliency standards while maintaining adjacent resource areas and retaining the aesthetic character of the original structure.

Firm: PRIME AE Group

Project: Shippee Bridge

Project Location: Burrillville, RI

Client: Rhode Island Department of Transportation

Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) methods were used to replace a deteriorated bridge that could not accommodate today’s transportation needs.  The new Shippee Bridge, in Burrillville (RI), was constructed in less than120 days with minimal impact to traffic and environment.  It was on time and on budget.  The new bridge is an aesthetically pleasing low maintenance structure that can safely accommodate vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic.

Firm: SMMA

Project: Winchester High School

Project Location: Winchester, MA

Client: Education Facilities Planning and Building Committee (EFPBC)

The Winchester High School site was centrally located in a dense, downtown neighborhood with no excess land to construct a new school, with expansive floodplain, site settlement, and contaminated soils, all while the occupied school’s enrollment grew. The town’s directive was to transform the out-of-place 1970’s brutalist building and poor learning environment to reflect the school’s top 10 status and National Blue Ribbon credentials. SMMA faced many challenges on this project, including designing for settlement both under the building and around it. The high school’s rapidly deteriorating condition did not inspire belief that it could be saved, much less transformed.

Firm: Stantec Consulting Services, Inc.

Project: Anderson Memorial Bridge

Project Location: Boston and Cambridge, MA

Client: Massachusetts Department of Transportation

The Anderson Memorial Bridge is an Historic three-span concrete arch that spans the Charles River. The bridge provides a critical transportation link between Boston and Cambridge. Stantec’s scope included an in-depth inspection and testing program to assess the condition of the arches and define the rehabilitation program. The evaluation concluded that the arches and substructure could be rehabilitated and retained. The design also resulted in the restoration of architecturally sensitive details necessary to maintain the historic character of the bridge. The project included approach roadways, signalized intersections, parklands along the banks of the Charles River and improved pedestrian/bicycle features.

Firm: Stantec Consulting Services, Inc.

Project: Rehabilitation of Runway 4L-22R

Project Location: Logan Airport, East Boston, MA

Client: Massachusetts Port Authority

As prime consultant in the rehabilitation of Runway 4L-22R, Stantec successfully completed the design and reconstruction of 6,300ft of the 7,800ft runway. We needed a plan that would extend the life of the runway while minimizing impact on airport operations and safety. Approximately 40,000 Tons of Warm Mix Asphalt were paved along with the installation of a runway centerline lighting system within a 30-consecutive day closure. The project involved runway pavement mill and inlay rehabilitation inclusive of paved shoulders, one intersecting runway, and seven intersecting taxiways, rehabilitated to beyond the Runway 4L-22R Safety Area.

Firm: STV

Project: WRTA Vehicle Maintenance, Operations and Storage Facility

Project Location: Worcester, MA

Client: Worcester Regional Transit Authority (WRTA)

The Worcester Regional Transit Authority (WRTA) has built a new two-story, 150,000-square-foot vehicle maintenance, operations and storage facility. Housing up to 75 buses, 30 vans and other vehicles, and workspace for 150 employees, the facility increased fleet maintenance and storage space while providing an efficient and safe work environment as WRTA increases its fleet size and adopts fuel-efficient, low-emission bus technologies. Innovative design solutions addressed the project’s complexity and challenges, creating an aesthetically pleasing and functional landmark building constructed on a reclaimed site to serve the WRTA and the Worcester region for years to come.

Firm: Tetra Tech

Project: USAID Kajaki Dam Hydropower Capacity Expansion

Project Location: Afghanistan

Client:United States Agency International Development (USAID)

After USAID completed initial construction of the Kajaki Dam Hydropower Plant in 1975, Afghanistan entered an extended period of war, civil turmoil, and economic hardship. For over four decades, regional insecurity prevented efforts to maintain and upgrade Kajaki. Electricity production did not meet the needs of residents so many turned to illicit activities, including those controlled by the Taliban, for economic stability. In 2015, USAID engaged Tetra Tech to support the rehabilitation of Kajaki and expand its capacity. The successful completion of this project was lauded by USAID as a “major accomplishment” toward the rebuilding of Afghanistan

Firm: Tighe & Bond, Inc.

Project: Winchell Reservoir Dam Removal

Project Location: Granville, MA

Client:City of Westfield

Constructed in 1899, the Winchell Reservoir Dam served as a water supply for the City of Westfield, but the reservoir ceased serving this purpose in the 1950s.The goal of the fast-track dam removal was to improve public safety, save tax payers money in costly repairs and recurring engineering inspections, and restore the historic area’s riverine ecology. The project was designed, permitted, and construction completed within 211 days to meet the Dam and Seawall Repair and Removal Grant Program deadline (which paid for 75% of the project cost). Tighe & Bond provided funding application assistance, engineering, permitting, and construction phase services.

Firm: VHB

Project: Replacement of Four Bridges Along the Future South Coast Rail

Project Location: New Bedford and Fall River, MA

Client:MassDOT and MBTA

The replacement of four bridges along the future South Coast Rail (SCR) corridor will improve freight service to the South Coast Region and provide critical momentum for the SCR project. The $45M accelerated project included the construction of four bridges, elevated freight platform and loading dock, roadway, and track upgrades. The most complex component was the replacement of the existing bridge over Route 18/Wamsutta Street/Acushnet Avenue in New Bedford. Due to short railroad closure windows, the 420-foot, three-span Wamsutta Bridge required the use of precast substructure elements and other accelerated bridge construction techniques.

Firm: Weston & Sampson

Project: Black Brook Road Reconstruction and Slope Stabilization

Project Location: Savoy, MA

Client:Town of Savoy

Significant storm flows in Black Brook from Tropical Storm Irene overtopped culverts and destroyed 1.3 miles of Black Brook Road, a critically important connector, in Savoy, MA. Weston & Sampson evaluated the storm-ravaged roadway, secured all funding, prepared final designs, and provided construction administration to achieve roadway reconstruction and slope stabilization without using local taxpayer money. The collaboration among the town’s personnel, consultants/contractors, state legislators/gubernatorial administrations, and five funding sources for this project is a testament to persistence, innovation, and resilience. The reconstructed roadway is a benefit to local residents, the town, surrounding communities, and emergency response services within Savoy.

Firm: WSP

Project: MIT, Building 2 – Departments of Mathematics and Chemistry

Project Location: Cambridge, MA

Client:Massachusetts Institute of Technology

WSP provided MEP/FP services for the renewal and two-phase renovation of Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) 100-year old Building 2, home to the Departments of Mathematics and Chemistry. As part of the well-known historic Main Building Group, the renovation is not the only first for this building. For the first time in campus history, a new floor was added to an existing iconic building. The design and engineering features had to be delicately decided to ensure the building’s exterior was minimally altered. All these changes resulted in improved energy results, and therefore a LEED Gold certification from the USGBC.

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