Steve Dumas, PE, LEED-AP, CPMP, DuBois & King’s Mechanical Engineering Department Manager, can now add Certified Commissioning Authority (CxA) behind his name. Steve is a mechanical engineer with 35 years of experience in design, project management, and construction administration services for projects ranging from conceptual design studies and facility evaluations, to complex multidisciplinary design packages for multimillion-dollar building projects. He holds a Commissioning Process Management Professional Certification (CPMP) through ASHRAE. The CPMP certification, an ANSI accredited certification program, demonstrates Steve’s capabilities to develop and manage the whole building commissioning process.

The CxA certification is ANSI-accredited and recognized by the Department of Energy’s Better Buildings program. The CxA designation recognizes building commissioning professionals who manage and implement commissioning processes in new and existing buildings. This certification builds on Steve’s experience with the overall commissioning process. Steve has been involved in all areas of the project development process: initial client needs definition, basis of design definition, design development, commissioning services, start-up, operational verification, and construction administration. Steve’s commissioning services begin in the Pre-Design phase Owner Project Requirements (OPR) development and extend through the Design, Construction, and Acceptance phases to post occupancy operational verification. The primary focus is on HVAC, controls systems, and energy efficiency, with non-HVAC systems such as emergency power, lighting controls, and fire alarm interface also covered.

Steve’s recent commissioning and retro-commissioning projects include the new Field Maintenance Building for the New Hampshire Army National Guard, a LEED building in Hooksett, NH, the new $40M, 90,000-sf NH Correctional Facility for Women in Concord, the new National Guard Readiness Center in Pembroke, NH, and the Littleton Readiness Center in Littleton, NH. Congratulations Steve!

Winning projects entered into the annual ACEC-VT Engineering Excellence Awards competition were announced at the Engineering Excellence Awards dinner in South Burlington, Vermont on Friday, February 24. DuBois & King was recognized with two Grand Awards and one Merit Award. In the Transportation category, D&K received a Grand Award for the Ryegate Structure Replacement Design-Build project. In the Water Resources category, D&K received a Grand Award for the Lake Fairlee Rehabilitation project. The firm’s Randolph Wastewater Treatment Facility Process Conversion project received a Merit Award in the Environmental category.

Ryegate Structure Replacement Design-Build

For years, deteriorated, undersized culverts contributed to flooding of US Route 5 and jeopardized the integrity of the roadway and Washington County Railroad (WACR) embankments. Working with VTrans, the design-build team of DuBois & King and Engineers Construction, Inc., designed and constructed 32-ft-wide by 16-ft-high, cast-in-place, reinforced concrete arch structures beneath US Route 5 and the rail line to convey Manchester Brook beneath the embankments. 70-ft-deep braced excavations were required to construct the new 144-ft and 128-ft-long structures. A curved section open to daylight connected the two buried structures. The total length of the structure is 330 ft. The new structure improved hydraulic capacity by 25 times. Temporary bridges maintained rail and roadway traffic during construction.

Lake Fairlee Dam Rehabilitation

The Lake Fairlee dam has impounded the 427-acre lake for over 75 years. The low-hazard dam was found to be in a progressive state of failure for more than 40 years and the three abutting municipalities became concerned about potential loss of revenue from declining lakefront property values, should the dam fail. Complicating factors included the presence of a camp located on top of the dam and the likelihood that a complete failure of the dam would negate the possibility of reconstruction, due to current regulations. An in-kind replacement to the existing structure would change the dam’s classification to high-hazard because the camp used the dam as its foundation. The “permit-able” concept required design and construction of two separate structures: a new pier and wall foundation for the camp and a new cast-in-place concrete gravity dam which also functions as support for a new walkway to the camp. The project resulted in the construction of the only new non-snowmaking dam in Vermont in recent memory and the preservation of property values and a regional recreational resource.

Randolph Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade and Process Conversion

The 40-year old Randolph Wastewater Treatment Facility, originally designed for a 20-year service life, was past due for a total treatment process change and facility upgrade. Project objectives included: state-of-the-art treatment process upgrade, design capacity for nitrogen removal, improve operations efficiencies and reduce operating costs, address issues with the location in a floodplain, and develop a demonstration facility that could be accessible for educational purposes. The activated sludge treatment process was updated with sequencing batch reactor (SBR) technology and the treatment process was designed with the capability of meeting a total nitrogen limit of 7.0mg/l requirements. Existing facility buildings were repurposed and flood proofed saving project costs and preventing future damage from flooding. A completely overhauled SCADA controls system was designed for operational efficiencies. The facility was designed for ADA compatibility and accommodates tour groups from regional educational institutions. Wastewater treatment capabilities had to be maintained during construction and sequencing of construction activities were developed to allow the treatment process to continue without interruption.

The Town of Randolph, Vermont, officially opened their new wastewater treatment facility at a ceremony on September 1. The facility and treatment process replaced a 40-year facility that had reached the end of its useful life. The construction, which began in 2013, was funded by $8.8M of Federal grants and loans through USDA Rural Development. Ted Brady, USDA Rural Development State Director for Vermont and New Hampshire, joined town officials and community members to celebrate the completion of the project. Brady noted that USDA Rural Development funded this project through its Water and Environmental Program that provides support to municipalities that seek to improve the water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure serving their communities.

DuBois & King engineers began design on the project in 2010. The new facility is one of the first in Vermont designed to comply with new state and federal requirements to reduce the amount of nitrogen discharged to the Connecticut River. The new facility will retain the existing permitted capacity of the previous facility and will serve 2,000 homes, community institutions, and the Vermont Technical College and a new senior living campus located in nearby Randolph Center.

Wastewater treatment will be accomplished using Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) technology. As cost saving measures, the design included reuse of existing infrastructure from the previous facility. An inverted siphon was designed to convey 40% of the total wasterwater flow entering the WWTF, eliminating pumping and reducing long-term operating costs. An existing pump station serving a portion of the collection area was downsized as a result of rerouting the majority of flows through the siphon, further reducing energy costs.