Structural Engineering – DuBois & King, Inc.

Jay Peak Resort Austria Haus

D&K provided mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and structural design engineering services for the renovation to the Austria Haus building at the base of the mountain at Jay Peak. The building was redesigned to serve as a “country store” at the main level. Provisions General Store includes a small commercial kitchen, café seating, a general store grocery area, and retail “logo wear” area.

The store includes a walk-in beer cooler and vertical cooler/freezer grocery cases – both with custom designed economizers for winter free cooling operation. The food service includes a meat and deli line, hot food line, and drink service.

MEP upgrades for the 3-story building include new condensing boilers, pumps with new distributed heating systems, energy recovery unit, new plumbing and toilet rooms, electrical upgrades, and structural improvements. The upper level of the Austria Haus – used as a small conference and banquet facility – received new toilet rooms and improvements to the heating and ventilating systems. The lower level which includes back of house for the store and the mechanical spaces was left largely intact pending future planning by the Owner.

Middlebury College Fall Protection Inspection

DuBois & King provided an annual condition assessment of fall protection systems permanently installed at six facilities. System components inspected consisted of horizontal lifelines, tip over roof anchors, roof top anchors, shock absorbers, freestanding counterweight anchors, portable guardrail systems, and concrete bolt anchors. D&K’s structural engineers carried out field investigations and completed a letter report with annotated sketches and photographs summarizing the existing equipment, equipment condition, serviceability of the equipment and recommendations for repairs, annual inspections, and service.

North Street Retaining Wall

DuBois & King conducted engineering and construction phase services to reconstruct a failing retaining wall located on North Street near the street intersection. The existing retaining wall was a metal bin-wall with chrysotile asbestos coating. The wall, constructed in 1981, had reached the end of its design life and showed signs of deterioration. North Street is located immediately adjacent to the bin wall, and the street and traffic would have been compromised had the deterioration of the wall continued.

The replacement retaining wall consists of precast segmental block concrete construction. The new wall is approximately 12 ft high and 70 ft long and is consistent with AASHTO and Vermont Agency of Transportation standards. The wall also protects the existing water main and local services. D&K assisted the City throughout the bid, preconstruction, and construction phases of the project.

Professional services included:

Field topographical survey
Geotechnical investigation (coordinated with drilling contractor and laboratory testing of soil)
Preparation of construction level plans
Preparation of opinion of probable construction costs
Bid phase assistance
Assistance with construction contract execution
Review of contractor submittals
Schedule and attend pre-construction and progress meetings
Construction observation and field quality control
Provision of final record drawings

Weidmann Electrical Technology Manufacturing Expansion

Weidmann Electrical Technology, a producer of electrical transformer insulation material, initiated a 38,000 sf expansion (65 ft by 283 ft by 60 ft high) to house a new 2,000,000-lb hot press for increased production capacity at their St. Johnsbury facility. Building construction and equipment investment totaled $38M. To meet client schedule goals, the project was fast-tracked and delivered through a construction-managed process.

D&K provided conceptual, preliminary, and final design services, as well as bid/negotiation assistance and construction phase services related to the design and construction of the foundation and structural systems. D&K also provided Special Inspection coordinator services during the construction of the project.

Problematic soil conditions required the use of a complex foundation system consisting of 48-inch and 60-inch diameter caissons, grade beams, and a 500-pound per sf capacity structural slab on grade. The superstructure consisted of structural steel framing, an elevated floor with 500-psf load capacity, and a 30-ton overhead bridge crane.

The structural and foundation design were developed by integrating the use of RAM Structural System with AutoDesk’s Revit Structural System for 3-D modeling and construction document production.

The project received a Grand Award in the Engineering Excellence Awards sponsored by the American Council of Engineering Companies/Vermont Section. The project was recognized as an outstanding example of engineering excellence in the category of: Buildings, Structures, and Support Systems.

Vermont State House Chiller Upgrades

DuBois & King performed mechanical, structural, and electrical services for the design of a replacement chiller to provide year-round cooling capacity utilizing water-to-air cooling coils. New chiller senses 8 different air-handling units throughout the State House. Design included replacement of control valves on air handling units to provide variable speed pumping to save energy. Structural evaluation was performed to evaluate existing equipment framing and to ensure roof load carrying capacity was adequate.