ELEMENTS

CEC has had contracts with TDOT since 2004 and will again re-apply in 2024 for the next three-year contract period.

As the SWPPP consultant, CEC is ensuring established standards are met at every phase of the project — the roadway design guides, the TDOT drainage manual guidelines, and the TDOT standards.

“The bulk of what we do is commenting on compliance to TDOT standards,” Wolf says.

CEC is directly coordinating with the designer and commenting collectively on the various phases of the project as it moves along toward completion.

“I enjoy the diversity of people — consultants, designers, engineers — I get to work with. I like to see how to apply the standards in a practical manner,” she adds.

Stream Mitigation

With more than 20 years of civil engineering, water resources, and project management experience in both the public and private sectors, CEC Nashville Principal Jeffrey B. Shaver, P.E., CFM, is a guiding force for a number of TDOT stream mitigation projects.

CEC truly offers start to finish, A to Z services in stream mitigation.

“Nashville has performed some level of stream mitigation work with TDOT since the early 2000s,” Shaver says.

“Through our On-Call Contract, TDOT sends us a work order for natural channel design for streams that will be impacted during a proposed road project. The projects may be for streams being relocated within the roadway right-ofway or for restoring another degraded stream to offset the impacts from the roadway project. We then evaluate the existing streams to determine the best restoration approach to return their natural/historic functions,” Shaver says.

The process starts in the field. “We evaluate the existing stream and score it using the Tennessee Stream Quantification Tool (TN SQT). The primary purpose of the TN SQT is to calculate functional lift and loss associated with stream restoration and impact projects,” he adds.

CEC then uses the TN SQT throughout design to estimate the score of the relocated or restored stream to show the functional lift. “Our Ecological,

Survey, and Water Resources practices work together to make the restoration plan,” he says.

“A typical stream restoration plan includes incorporating meanders, pools, and riffles into the stream. Wood and stone structures along with a vegetation plan for the stream buffers are also part of the plan to provide habitat. As part of TN SQT, we look at the aquatic organisms at the beginning and then regularly during the five- to seven-year monitoring of the restored stream.”

“When we do the design work, then managing the project and overseeing the stream construction is more seamless for our client,” he says.

A True Partner

Building trust, familiarity, and confidence is paramount in CEC’s relationships with its clients. When public officials and agencies are facing funding challenges, aging infrastructure, and regulatory uncertainties, we offer a clear understanding of regulatory responsibilities and an integrated approach to engineering, design, construction, and consulting.

CEC works hand in hand to provide comprehensive, turn-key services and reliable, cost-effective solutions that address the challenges of a community’s unique infrastructure and economic development projects. ■