Geotechnical, Water, Ecology, Environmental, Construction Mgmt
Challenge GZA was asked by the manager of the commercial plaza to evaluate approximately 950 feet of rock slope, as high as 70 feet, that bordered the plaza’s rear access, loading docks, and portions of public parking areas. The granite and basalt slope had been cut very steeply with no catchment area and had produced … Read more
Challenge When the Resident Engineer noted that the widened roadway would be in close proximity to the existing rock cut slopes, GZA was called in to visit the site and made the preliminary assessment that several slopes presented a risk of rock fall to the new travelway. Solution GZA mobilized a two-person crew for field … Read more
Challenge The Wrentham Water Department required the replacement of two existing 12-inch dead end watermains with a new 16-inch loop through Madison Street. The purpose of this project was to increase fire flows and provide redundancy throughout the water distribution system. Despite the critical nature of this watermain loop, the project had never been attempted … Read more
Challenge The 3-acre property, located in South Stamford, CT along the East Branch of the Stamford Harbor, was underlain by fill material dredged from the adjacent canal between the mid-1800s and the early to mid-1900 that had been impacted by historical manufacturing activities. The approximately 30,000-square foot two-story site building, which was constructed c. 1920s, was … Read more
Challenge In 2005, the Bridgeport Regional Maritime Complex (BMRC) became a milestone brownfield success story for the State of Connecticut, The Bridgeport Port Authority and the City of Bridgeport by enabling 200 high-wage, ship building jobs on an abandoned 48-acre waterfront site located on Bridgeport Harbor and the Yellow Mill Channel. This project addresses three … Read more
Challenge GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. (GZA) was retained by the Planning Office for Urban Affairs, Inc. (POUA), a non-profit affordable and mixed income housing developer, to perform environmental, building, and construction services for the Harbor Place project, a transformative redevelopment project on the Merrimack River. The 1.5 acre waterfront project consists of six contiguous parcels of … Read more
Challenge The Rowan is a new six-story residential structure in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens, New York. The developer boasted that “we are creating a product that hasn’t existed in Astoria—a modern, thoughtfully designed condominium building that has all the high-end finishes and amenities you see across the city.” An unusual and interesting aspect of … Read more
Challenge A confidential client was considering the building located at 370 Lexington Avenue in New York, NY for an acquisition. However, the building was 77 years old, with 26 stories and a floor area of 290,000 square feet. Before an acquisition process could confidently commence, the client needed to know the overall state of the … Read more
Challenge The New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal was the first U.S. port facility designed for the offshore wind industry. The $133 million project was completed in 2015 for the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. The design team consisted of Apex Companies, CLE Engineering, Fuss & O Neil, Aspera Associates, and GZA. The terminal was designed to … Read more
Challenge The City of Springfield is responsible for 22 waterbodies within its borders. These desirable natural resources in an urban setting provide a valuable public recreational resource but are adversely affected by the encroaching urban development. GZA has been engaged by the City to stay abreast of related wetlands regulatory compliance and to address ongoing … Read more
Challenge Artificial recharge basins enhance aquifer productivity and protect the environment. A groundwater production well using Artificial Recharge was developed by EGGI in the Spruce Hole Aquifer to meet peak water supply demands of the UNH/Durham Water System during late summer and fall periods. The client desired to increase the productivity of their production well from … Read more
Challenge GZA was commissioned to assist a legal client with active litigation proceedings on the part of several owners of a residential condominium development. The condominiums were constructed on top of an improperly closed landfill, resulting in both environmental and geotechnical issues. The building slab had begun to crack because of differential settlement in the … Read more
Challenge Since 1999, Dartmouth College has called upon GZA to provide a wide range of technical services to the offices of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS), Real Estate, and Campus Planning and Facilities. Through this strategic partnership, more than 140 assignments have been successfully executed to date, including environmental, geotechnical engineering, ecological, and construction management … Read more
Challenge GZA was engaged to assess the feasibility of upgrading two existing dams on the East Branch of the Housatonic River for hydroelectric generation. Originally built to provide water and hydromechanical power to paper mills adjacent to the river, the dams no longer generated energy. GZA’s work was integral to the client’s multi-phased approach to … Read more
Challenge The Mill River Reservoir Dam is a 100-ft high earthen embankment structure located in Pound Ridge, New York and impounds the 2,180 acre-ft Mill River Reservoir. Nearby, the Trinity Reservoir Dam is a smaller earthen embankment dam. Both impoundments are used for water supply by Aquarion Water. In 2009, the State of New York … Read more
Challenge GZA was contracted by a private client who wished to expand their existing facility in Stoughton, Massachusetts to re-evaluate Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Flood Insurance Rate Mapping (FIRM) in the vicinity of the Site. The facility was located within a delineated Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), Zone A in the FEMA FIRM. FEMA … Read more
Challenge This property was historically impacted by releases of large quantities of waste oil. The waste oil was brought to the site to, ostensibly, heat on-site greenhouses and to be processed and resold. Remediation of the impacted upland portion of the site has been largely completed under the Massachusetts Contingency Plan. GZA is finalizing the … Read more
Challenge Starr Mill Pond Dam is a 15-foot-high, 85-foot-long stone masonry dam located on the Coginchaug River in the City of Middletown, Connecticut. Originally constructed to power an adjacent mill in the early 1800s, the dam is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is now privately owned. The dam no longer provides … Read more
Challenge Preferred foundation systems for ground-mount solar projects are short driven or screw piles able to resist high lateral loads. The piles are typically designed by a design-build contractor based on multiple site-specific load tests. For bidding projects, designers need to know the soil type and potential for shallow obstructions, such as boulders and bedrock. … Read more
Challenge While staging offshore wind operations for Block Island Wind Farm, the developer was confronted with an aging port facility where the bearing capacity of the facility and condition of the quay was largely unknown. GZA was retained by Deepwater Wind and General Electric to conduct a geotechnical assessment of the facility where proposed staging … Read more
Challenge In the emergent offshore wind industry of the U.S., GZA’s client sought to develop two wind farms off the East Coast: South Fork Wind Farm off Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts and Garden State Offshore Energy 1 (formerly Skipjack) Wind Farm off Maryland’s eastern shore. Each site was approximately 25 miles offshore, in 75 to … Read more
Challenge The six-million-gallon capacity Oak Hill tank is critical to meeting peak demands and fire flows in the Attleboro water system. When its original coating systems failed, resulting in corrosion and metal loss, and thermal stratification in the tank threatened water quality, GZA provided concept to start-up engineering services to address these issues and maintain … Read more
Challenge When the Wrentham water distribution system required improvements to provide fire flow to an area targeted for economic development, GZA was asked to design the installation of 5,500 feet of 12-inch reinforcing main. Timing was critical to support a planned development project and to meet the requirements of the State MassWorks Grant, which funded … Read more
Challenge When Shell Oil entered the Appalachian Basin in 2011, it sought comprehensive on-ground support to handle the decommissioning of newly-acquired conventional oil fields in southwest New York and northwest Pennsylvania. Shell retained GZA to determine liability costs and manage the decommissioning and reclamation of their Enterprise field in Limestone, New York. Solution GZA … Read more