ExCHAnge | Summer 2022 - DRAFT

SUMMER 2022

IN THIS ISSUE • Industry Insights: Bridge Engineers Modernize the Straddle Bent • Featured Projects: Sports | Aviation | Landscape Architecture • Technology: New Tools for Old Buildings • Health & Safety: Beware of Heat Stress on Warm Days Cover Photo: Tivoli Park Preserve Stream Daylighting

CELEBRATING

YEARS

1952-2022

ExCHAnge | Summer 2022 Issue | CHA Consulting, Inc.

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS Bridge Engineers Modernize the Straddle Bent Engineers are faced with complex problems that require thoughtful solutions. Sometimes the answers are tried and true methods that have been tested over time and are certain to fill the need. But at other times, innovation is in order as traditional methods do not always address the changing landscape of engineering.

According to the American Society for Civil Engineers (ASCE), there are more than 617,000 bridges in the United States, and 42% are at least 50 years old. (ASCE 2021 Infrastructure Report Card).

While the industry is making progress in addressing the most serious issues for bridges in poor condition (about 7.5%), it will still take many years to catch up on the needed rehabilitation, maintenance and

replacement. Engineers are challenged with finding ways to reduce cost, improve safety, reduce road closures, and reduce future maintenance costs of our bridge assets.

Our own bridge engineers are on the cutting edge of innovation—most recently designing a unique solution that represented a milestone change in how the industry can build safer and more costeffective steel bridges. CHA’s bridge team designed a unique steel straddle bent using the “Load Path Redundant Member” (LPRM) approach, resulting in improved safety, reduced construction costs, and reduced long-term bridge inspection costs – three big wins for the owner and the traveling public.

One of the ramp bridges on the Charter Oak Bridge interchange in Hartford, Connecticut, includes a structure featuring the inaugural use of this unique design approach. Specifically, the design converted a typical single-cell box girder section into a triple I-girder member, eliminating the fracture-critical designation and the special long-term inspection requirements. An added benefit is the fabrication costs are up to 50% less than an equivalent box girder section.

certainly proud to earn these recognitions, but more importantly, we’re energized to bring innovation to our clients and communities that will serve them now and into the future.

This innovative design’s advantages are so substantial that it was awarded the inaugural 2022 National Steel Bridge Alliance (NSBA) Bridge of the Year Award and 2022 National Steel Bridge Alliance Prize Bridge Award (Medium Span Bridge). We are

Read “Bent on Innovation”

For more information, contact Chief Bridge Engineer Michael Culmo, PE, at mculmo@chacompanies.com.

Originally published in Modern Steel Construction magazine.

NEWS: CHA Wins 2022 NSBA Bridge of the Year Award CHA’s bridge engineers have been recognized for their innovation with the inaugural 2022 National Steel Bridge Alliance (NSBA) Bridge of the Year Award.

Read More about Bridge of the Year

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ExCHAnge | Summer 2022 Issue | CHA Consulting, Inc.

FEATURE PROJECTS Pete Frates Center | Boston College, Massachusetts The 31,000 square-foot Pete Frates Center is the centerpiece of the baseball and softball program at Boston College, located at the Harrington Athletics Village on the Brighton Campus. It includes a state-of-the-art baseball stadium, softball stadium, restrooms, an entry plaza, and a campus recreation field, all completed by CHA. The facility is named in honor of Pete Frates, a star Boston College baseball player who developed ALS at age 27, passed away at age 34, and was the inspiration behind the ice bucket challenge that raised millions of dollars for ALS research.

The impressive two-story facility provides studentathletes with the latest amenities, including an indoor turf field and hitting tunnels with retractable cages for year-round baseball and softball practice.

Locker rooms and player lounges, a satellite sports medicine suite, and strength and conditioning space round out the athletic offerings. There is also a designated hospitality area. Brick, cast stone, masonry detailing, and coloring match the façade with the surrounding campus architecture.

Inside, natural lighting and warm neutral coloring provide a bright and airy environment. This spectacular sports venue recently earned LEED Silver Certification status. LEED is the most widely used sustainable rating system globally, where buildings earn points based on a rating system that includes prerequisites and credits that address carbon, energy, water, waste, transportation, materials, health, and indoor environmental quality.

NEWS: Happy Anniversary CHA! Founded in 1952 in Boston, MA, CHA began designing interstate highways and has grown to nearly 1,400 employees in more than 20 states and Canada. We thank our employees, clients and many partners for being part of our past success and bright future. Read our series of posts remembering our history: 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s

FEATURED PROJECT Tyson McGhee Airport | Alcoa, Tennessee The longest and largest construction project in Tyson McGhee Airport’s 84-year history is complete.

After more than a decade of planning and creative, phased construction to maximize funding sources, Runway 5L/23R reopened for air traffic, restoring the airport to a two-runway system. In addition to Runway 5L/23R, the project included all the connector taxiways associated with Runway 5L/23R, significant portions of Taxiways B and G, replacing most of the airfield lighting system, and constructing a new airfield lighting vault. The project also lengthened Runway 5L/23R by 1,000 feet, installed a new Instrument Landing System (ILS), and replaced all the airfield’s NAVAID power and communication systems.

From start to finish, the project was ripe with opportunities to be innovative and employ environmentally friendly operational practices. The concrete from the old runway was recycled on-site and used as base material for the new runway, and over 1,000 LED airfield lights were installed to reduce the airport’s energy consumption. The 1,000-foot extension of the runway improves the mission capability of the Tennessee Air National Guard, and the runway was brought into alignment with modern-day FAA standards. The commercial and cargo air carriers that use McGhee Tyson Airport can now land on a pristine runway with brand new NAVAIDs, and a new taxiway system that improves operational efficiencies and increases capacity, with enhanced runway exits and a more direct connection to the air carrier ramps.

JUST RELEASED: Annual Sustainability Report Our latest report chronicles our “green” efforts during the last calendar year. Read CHA’s 2021 Sustainability Report to learn more about our commitment to Responsibly Improving the World We Live In.

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ExCHAnge | Summer 2022 Issue | CHA Consulting, Inc.

FEATURED PROJECT Tivoli Preserve Stream Daylighting | Albany, New York CHA’s landscape architecture design team recently transformed a culverted creek into a welcoming natural stream and space to appreciate nature within the City of Albany, NY. Tivoli Park Preserve is the second-largest urban preserve in New York State. The Albany Water Board saw the opportunity to jumpstart the preserve redevelopment by daylighting more than one-third of a mile of the culverted Patroon Creek running through the preserve.

Given the preserve’s location within the watershed, daylighting a portion of the culverted creek presented a way for the city to alleviate upstream flooding and protect critical infrastructure routed through the preserve. The designers accomplished this while constructing a new stream habitat, installing native plants, and creating meaningful opportunities for the adjacent underserved neighborhood and the greater community to engage with the natural environment.

The design required considering the entire watershed, regular and high flows within the creek, and critical infrastructure, including waterlines, sewer lines, and an adjacent railroad. The final plan included a main channel for regular flows with complex stream habitats, including pools, riffles, runs, slides, and waterfalls, and a high-flow overflow channel to manage higher water flows during storm events. In addition, the designers made the stream corridor highly naturalized and accessible to visitors. Large rock scrambles, an ADA accessible path, and viewing nodes provide direct access to the water’s edge. The design team’s vision created a meandering channel with large local stone boulders and used a native plant palette, including over seven thousand native plants, that support local wildlife and pollinators to make the stream look like it has always been there.

NEWS: Troy Seawall —ENR Best of Best Project Engineering News-Record (ENR) has selected CHA’s Troy Seawall Stabilization project as one of the 20 winners of its Best of the Best Projects competition.

Read More about ENR Best of the Best

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Awards: 2021 APWA New York State Environmental Project of the Year (<$5 Million) 2021 APWA New York Capital Branch Environmental Project of the Year (<$5 Million) 2022 ASLA New York Upstate Awards — Merit Award

UPDATE: Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (IIJA) Read our white paper on IIJA funding to build, improve, and expand utility infrastructure and clean energy systems.

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ExCHAnge | Summer 2022 Issue | CHA Consulting, Inc.

TECHNOLOGY New Tools for Old Buildings One of the oldest and largest school districts on the East Coast sought a solution to assess the conditions of its nearly 100 campus buildings.

The challenge would be to collect detailed and actionable information across different locations and building types that could then be used to prioritize structures and systems that most urgently need repair, rehabilitation, or be retired from use.

The assessment had to capture structural integrity, conditions of interior and exterior elements such as walls, windows, roofs, and flooring, in addition to mechanical, electrical, plumbing, water, and fire suppression systems. What was formerly a manual pen and paper data entry process followed by manual input into a spreadsheet would now be replaced by a field-based collection tool using hand-held devices, allowing for near-instant collaboration and updates.

The solution developed to capture all this critical information was built on an Autodesk platform called Assemble. With an easy-to-navigate user interface, condition information on each element in a room is entered by engineering staff on-site and synced online utilizing Revit models and Excel.

Due to the number of rooms within the school system, about ten percent of each school building is assessed for the purposes of the data capture.

Relational data is linked to Revit models to ensure that migrated data can be tracked throughout the process. To help minimize errors, the tool

only allows for controlled input selection and allows for synchronization of multiple field teams simultaneously collecting data.

The benefits of this technological approach are numerous. Clients, project managers and other essential stakeholders can have real-time data updates and control as the data is captured, creating opportunities for troubleshooting and quick decision making. In addition, the data can be used to generate Facility Condition Index (FCI) scores to analyze repair options and jumpstart the work to address the most critical issues identified.

Most importantly, the school system will have reliable, reportable data to develop budgets and capital plans. Harnessing forward-leaning technology to help this school system face the future is a chapter we’re eager to help write.

For more information, contact Sam Lucido, Design Systems Administrator, at slucido@chacompanies. com, or Eri Ramson, Corporate BIM Manager, at eransom@chacompaies.com.

NEWS: On the Move Read about our move in Indianapolis, IN and our new office in Reading, PA. Later this summer, our Boston, MA office move will be complete and our two Connecticut offices —Rocky Hill and East Hartford—will consolidate into one office location at 400 Capital Boulevard, Rocky Hill, CT.

HEALTH & SAFETY Beware of Heat Stress on Warm Days Heat stress refers to a family of heat-related illnesses that occur when an individual’s core body temperature exceeds 100.4˚F. From least to most severe, common heat illnesses include: •

heat rash

•

heat syncope (fainting)

•

heat cramps

•

heat exhaustion

•

heatstroke

According to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), millions of U.S. workers are exposed to heat in the workplace.

Thousands become sick from occupational heat exposure every year, with some fatalities.

According to OSHA, 50% to 70% of outdoor fatalities occur in the first days of working in warm or hot environments. The body needs to gradually build a tolerance to the heat over time (heat acclimatization). Hazardous heat exposure can occur indoors or outdoors during any season if the conditions are right.

Working in high heat lowers an individual’s mental alertness and physical performance but increases the worker’s irritability, physical discomfort, and emotional states.

This can cause individuals to overlook safety procedures or divert their attention from hazardous tasks.

Heat Stress Prevention The body relies on sweat and blood circulation to cool itself. Any interruption in this process can lead to a heat-related illness or even death. Employees who are exposed to heat are encouraged to:

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Learn more about Heat Stress

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION

Heat-related illnesses, symptoms, signs, and first aid

Tips for Preventing Heat-Related Illness

CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION

OSHA-NIOSH Heat Safety Tool for planning outdoor work

Warning Signs and Symptoms of Heat-Related Illness

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