State – DuBois & King, Inc.

Slope Stabilization for Vermont Highways

In the aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene, many roadways throughout the State were severely damaged due to flood waters from adjacent streams and rivers. DuBois & King was tasked with designing permanent fixes to five of these areas. They include areas along VT Route 14 in Sharon, VT Route 100B in Moretown, VT Route 100 in Granville, VT Route 125 in Hancock, and areas of VT Route 125 in Ripton. Emergency repairs were made to these areas following the storm to reopen the roadways to traffic. The current focus is to provide permanent designs to stabilize the stream embankments and provide additional protection against future storm events.

Project locations received hydrological and geomorphological reviews. Stream bank protection measures were designed for each site. Roadway drainage at project locations was analyzed and updated to meet current design standards. The Hancock location includes the installation of a new buried, 14′ x 7′ concrete box culvert to alleviate potential flooding to the roadway and an adjacent residence. All proposed designs received an environmental permitting review from the State of Vermont.

Design of new guardrail systems was included, also providing additional shoulder width in many areas to increase safety for pedestrians and bicyclists. The Sharon location included an adjustment to the vertical profile of the roadway to help alleviate a substandard geometric condition. Project locations received new pavement and signage to meet current design standards.

Ryegate Design-Build Culvert Replacement

D&K is the lead engineer for the $15.2 million dollar VTrans Ryegate STP CULV (10) design-build project, which replaces a deteriorated culvert conveying the Manchester Brook under US Route 5 and the Washington County Railroad. The existing undersized culvert has contributed to flooding of US Route 5 and the backwater jeopardizes the integrity of the roadway and rail embankments. The existing culvert is a deeply buried structure (over 60 ft under the railroad embankment) with steep embankments on both sides of the roadway and rail line. Partnering with the contractor, D&K has developed a solution that provides savings in initial construction costs, safer conditions for future inspections, better access for maintenance, improved aquatic habitat, and improved service life and constructability.

The structure consists of two 32-ft-wide, cast-in-place, reinforced concrete arch culverts beneath the roadway and rail line. The culverts are 141 ft and 128 ft in length and will have a 100-year service life, eliminate flooding potential, and greatly improve aquatic organism passage. The project includes a temporary rail bridge to allow culvert excavation below, and temporary track realignment and superelevation removal to minimize lateral forces of trains on bridge throughout construction. Complex design issues include designing a culvert to meet better than a 100-year service life; design of support for temporary roadway and rail bridges; design for significant slope stability issues; protection of the brook throughout construction; and limiting settlement between footings to 1 inch or less.

133 State Street Parking Lot and Utilities

Montpelier, Vermont, was selected as one of EPA’s “Green Capital” projects from capital cities across the country. The pilot program consisted of retrofitting existing infrastructure with innovative stormwater treatment practices. The concept for this project, developed by others, included renovating an existing parking lot and incorporating stormwater rain gardens.

DuBois & King was retained by the Vermont Department of Buildings and General Services to complete the design, prepare construction documents, and assist in overseeing construction. The project included design for rainwater gardens, parking lot reconstruction, sidewalks, stairways, storm drainage system, sanitary sewer system, and two precast concrete gravity retaining walls to separate the lower parking lot from the upper lot.

VTrans Survey Services

On-call contract to provide a wide range of survey services in support of Route Survey Unit mission on assignments throughout State. Services encompass two-dimensional and three-dimensional preliminary surveys, traverses, level loops, roadway centerline, runway centerline, staking for borings, staking for right-of-way bounds, cross-sections, property surveys, historic right-of-way research, providing control for photogrammetry, and as-builts. Work also includes providing all field notes in electronic format for topographic surveys (2D and 3D) and/or paper notes for traverses, curve data, ties, and benchlines. Specific assignments include:

Brandon, Pittsford. Historic right-of-way determination for US 7 and side streets in the Village. Performed Town record research for road survey before and after 1850, and compiled and analyzed VTrans data, parcel abstracts, and Secretary of State and other State and county records. Produced right-of-way plans, Town Road Report of surveys before 1850, and a Project Report to explain and defend historic right-of-way determination. Set monumentation on Route 7 and adjoining side street right-of-way limits. Produced plans for the resurvey of Route 7 to be recorded.

Parking Garage, Rutland. ALTA/ACSM survey of parking garage parcel based on record research of recent acquisitions of properties by the City and State to create a parcel for the parking garage and access routes.

Rutland City Bridge, Rutland. Survey and plans to realign a 210-ft bridge at the intersection of Town Highways 8 and 10. Full topographic survey for 2,000-ft of roadway and 300-ft of stream channel. Details include wingwall locations, dimensions, and elevations; abutment locations with bridge seat dimensions and elevations; and pier locations, dimensions, and elevations.

Otter Creek Bridge, Salisbury and Cornwall. 200-ft survey of Route 7 and 100-ft survey of a channel for a bridge rehabilitation located in a floodplain area. Topographic plans included right-of-way limits, drives, intersections, and drainage features within project limits.

I-89 St. Albans to Swanton. 6-miles of interstate survey on both the north and south bound lanes including control traverse and topographic surveys for reconstruction of the sub-base and five bridge decks and seven culverts.

Roadway Improvement Projects. Under multi-year contracts, provided survey for 14 roadway improvement design projects, encompassing over 80-miles of roadway throughout the State of Vermont, including field survey, base mapping, and construction layout.

VTrans Safe Routes to School

Selected for consecutive retainer contracts to assist VTrans and schools statewide to implement the Safe Routes to School Program (SRTS). Services provided were developed in accordance with the Federal SRTS Program. The purposes of the SRTS program are to enable and encourage children to walk and bicycle to school; make bicycling and walking to school a safer and more appealing transportation alternative, thereby encouraging a healthy and active lifestyle from an early age; and facilitate planning, development, and implementation of projects and activities that improve safety and reduce or calm traffic in the vicinity of schools. Specific assignments include:

Bicycle and Pedestrian Feasibility Study, Bristol. Feasibility study for several bicycle and pedestrian improvements including bicycle and pedestrian accommodation on Pine Street, traffic and bicycle/pedestrian circulation in and around the Bristol Elementary School on Mountain Street, and evaluation of alternatives for a shared use path along Stony Hill Road/Lovers Lane.

West Pleasant Street Sidewalk Design, Bristol. Evaluation/design of a 425-ft sidewalk along West Pleasant Street within Bristol Village, including two crosswalks.

VT 116 Sidewalk and Streetscape Improvements, Hinesburg. Conceptual through final design of 1,100 ft of sidewalk, on-street parking, and streetscape improvements along the west side of VT 116. The sidewalk will connect the downtown area and neighborhoods to the Hinesburg Elementary School.

Vine Street Signing and Pavement Marking Design, Northfield. Engineering services to evaluate and design signing and pavement markings on Vine Street in the vicinity of the Northfield Schools.

Brush Hill Road Signing and Pavement Marking Design, Williamstown. Evaluation/design for signing and pavement markings on Brush Hill Road in the vicinity of the Williamstown School. The project also included the installation of a radar speed feedback sign.

Technical Assistance to Schools Statewide. Technical assistance to several schools to help determine what infrastructure improvements could best address their needs. D&K met with each school to discuss their needs, ideas, and concepts, and then prepared a letter summarizing recommendations and the associated costs for design and construction of the improvements. This assistance was provided so that each school could apply for an infrastructure grant.