Geotechnical, Water, Ecology, Environmental, Construction Mgmt
Cobbs Creek Reservoir in Cumberland County, Virginia, is a $280 million project designed to secure drinking water for Henrico County for decades. It is a 14.8-billion-gallon regional water supply that will help augment the James River’s flow during dry periods and store water during wetter months. Challenge This project included the construction of the three … Read more
Atwater Park is one of Springfield’s most scenic neighborhoods, known for its beautiful parkways and residences. When the Atwater Park neighborhood association asked the City to develop a small garden at one of its public terraces, they came to GZA and its team of landscape architects for professional design services. Challenge The City had limited … Read more
The City of Springfield wished to enhance recreational opportunities, achieve universal accessibility, and implement climate-resilient design within the 166± acre Blunt Park, which hosts the popular Stone Soul Festival held annually on Labor Day weekend. Challenge The City needed a site design that could be included in state and federal grant applications to fund … Read more
Calhoun Park is a 2.5-acre park occupying one full block in a residential neighborhood, and offers large shade trees, a playground, splash pad, handball court, picnic areas, and open lawn space. Challenge Many of Calhoun Park’s amenities were aging and falling into disrepair, and the overall site design required an update. At the same time, … Read more
Greenleaf Park is a 46-acre public park located in Springfield, MA which hosts an assortment of playing fields, tennis, and basketball courts, parking lots, wooded areas, and wetland resources. Challenge The City of Springfield came to GZA to develop a conceptual master plan to address the lack of play amenities, accessible pedestrian circulation and … Read more
Challenge The Town of Branford, a Connecticut coastal community bordering Long Island Sound, was looking to update their Natural Resources Inventory (NRI) that had traditionally been a document with encyclopedic-like text. Furthermore, the Town had a limited budget with which to update its NRI. GZA proposed creating a digital web experience to make the NRI … Read more
Challenge Safe Harbor Marinas, LLC (SHM) marinas are vulnerable to the impacts of natural hazards – in particular, coastal storms. The risks associated with this vulnerability include marina and member property damage, operational disruption (including possible extended closure), and uninsured or beyond coverage financial loss, and these risks will only increase due to the effects … Read more
Challenge Pollinators are a key component of our ecosystems and an important component for US food production. Renewable energy facilities can replace diverse meadows with monocultures of turf grasses with low ecological importance. Eden Renewables have long incorporated biologically diverse communities into their European projects. Full acceptance of these practices here in the US often … Read more
East Grand Rapids is a Michigan municipality committed to leading in sustainability and environmental stewardship. In 2022, the City set an ambitious goal: achieving carbon neutrality for its government operations by 2040. While East Grand Rapids had already begun implementing reduction initiatives by 2024, it lacked a clear understanding of its baseline emissions and the … Read more
Addressing the impacts of climate change is increasingly important for public and private stakeholders alike. While major corporations and organizations have taken steps to quantify, disclose, and reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from sources they control (Scope 1 and Scope 2), the largest contribution to climate change comes from Scope 3 emissions—those that occur … Read more
Challenge This project involved replacing the Madawaska International Bridge over the St. John River between Madawaska, Maine and Edmundston, New Brunswick. The original bridge was opened in 1920 and had become fatigued enough to warrant load limits threatening this vital international link. MaineDOT and their bridge designer, HNTB, opted for a replacement bridge on a … Read more
GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. provided comprehensive acoustical consulting services for a proposed private membership club at 656 6th Avenue, located at the corner of West 20th Street, in Manhattan’s Flatiron District. The project involved the adaptive reuse of a deconsecrated former church into a multi-level, high-end hospitality venue offering dining, social, cultural, and co-working spaces, along … Read more
The Edge at Hudson Yards hosts an event venue perched atop Manhattan’s skyline that holds commercial music events. In response to noise complaints from neighboring residential units, GZA was engaged to conduct a comprehensive noise study. Challenge The project faced the challenge of measuring and mitigating noise transmission between a bustling commercial venue and … Read more
GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. provided comprehensive acoustical consulting services for a proposed Mixed-Use Development on a parcel of land located along Highland Avenue in Cheshire, Connecticut. The proposed mixed use development is slated to include a sit-down restaurant, two light industrial buildings, a supportive housing building, a cold storage building, associated parking, and a wooded area … Read more
GZA was engaged to conduct a comprehensive noise study, including ambient monitoring, acoustic modeling, and regulatory analysis for a proposed solar development in Suffolk, VA. Challenge Suffolk, VA’s noise ordinance requires solar facilities to keep noise levels below 45 dB(A) at residential property lines within 500 feet of any equipment, with additional penalties applied for … Read more
The proposed project involves the re-development of a former industrial parcel into a purpose-built marine terminal that will support heavy-lift deployment and logistics services for the offshore wind industry. The 42-acre waterfront parcel is located on Salem Harbor and is the site of a former coal- and oil-fired power plant that serviced the area for … Read more
A description of work GZA did on the Whittier/I=95 Bridge in Salisbury, MA.
PRINT READY VERSION> The Stringtown Quarry, owned by LafargeHolcim Ltd., and operated by Lattimore Materials Corp. is one of the oldest and largest limestone mines in Southern Oklahoma. The mine has been in operation for approximately 100 years. Challenge During the early Winter of 2019 a small retaining wall failed, forcing operations at the … Read more
Challenge The King Philip’s Stockade, an historic area of the larger Forest Park managed by the Department of Parks, had been closed to the public for several years and was in need of new and improved facilities. Additionally, the park did not originally provide comfort stations and there was no sewer service to the site. … Read more
Background The Chicago Regional Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) program improvements are intended to reduce congestion experienced by freight and passenger rail lines throughout the Chicago area. GZA has evaluated noise, vibration, special waste, and natural resource impacts for more than 15 individual CREATE projects. The involvement of multiple regulatory bodies adds complexity: projects are … Read more
Challenge The Interstate 290 (I-290) Eisenhower Expressway improvement project, involving reconstruction and/or upgrades for the congested, 50-year-old multi-modal corridor, has a long history and has proceeded in phases commensurate with available funding. Public scrutiny of the project is high, particularly for the traffic noise. The high-profile nature of the project, dense urban development through which … Read more
Challenge This brownfield remediation site presented a risk management challenge to our client due to its location in a dense urban neighborhood with nearby sensitive receptors including a public park. Technical challenges associated with remediating the site and limiting exposure to off-site sensitive receptors included the comingled waste, including former dry-cleaning waste (chlorinated solvents) and … Read more
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were detected in water samples collected from our client’s on‐site public water supply well in March 2022, as part of the quarterly sampling required by the MassDEP drinking water program. The reported detection of PFAS started an inquiry by MassDEP and prompted a site audit. The MassDEP required the sampling … Read more
The project involves construction and operation of a floodwater storage reservoir at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRDGC) Lawndale Avenue Solids Management Area (LASMA) in two stages. Challenge This project required the stabilization of the reservoir rock wall by means of surface preparation, scaling and installation of reinforcement and support construction. Project … Read more