L.R. Kimball

Project of the Week: L.R. Kimball Converts Rail Bridge to Pedestrian Trail, Providing Missing Link in Great Allegheny Passage

For many years, communities have been building an interconnected system of pedestrian and cycling trails stretching from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C.

A critical segment of this 320-mile route through highlands and river valleys is the Great Allegheny Passage, extending 150 miles from Duquesne, Pa., to Cumberland, Md. As the City of Pittsburgh neared the celebration of its 250th anniversary in 2008, leaders in Allegheny County set a goal of helping celebrate the event by completing the passage, building a connection between McKeesport, on the south side of the Monongahela River, and Duquesne on the opposite shore.

The Riverton Bridge became the focal point for reaching this objective.

Owned by U.S. Steel Corporation, the 118-year-old bridge was carrying heavy Union Railroad train traffic on a regular schedule across the river. Officials had looked at other options in evaluating where to make the connection; but, for example, a proposal to use the sidewalks adjacent to the McKeesport-Duquesne Bridge was determined to be undesirable because the sidewalks were too narrow.

Read about how L.R. Kimball created a critical link in this system in our case study, L.R. Kimball Converts Rail Bridge to Pedestrian Trail, Providing Missing Link in Great Allegheny Passage

Marcellus Shale - An Unexpected Windfall for Williamsport Regional Airport

Marcellus Shale is helping to fuel the future of development at the Williamsport Regional Airport located in north central Pennsylvania by accommodating companies that supply drilling support companies.

How? One company was looking for 25 acres on which to build a pipe yard to serve the industry and it needed a site near an airport, a railroad line and a highway. Williamsport Regional Airport was a perfect fit because it was bound on the north by a rail line, was located a half-mile from I-180 and offered a nearly 7,000 foot runway that would support the industry’s jets. Nice setup!

L.R. Kimball helped the airport realize this opportunity by working closely with them to provide the air spacing of five different scenarios for the development, including the development itself, two buildings on the property, the pipeyard and the crane that would be used to construct the building.

We also helped to make the appropriate pen-and-ink changes in the airport layout plan and handled the environmental impact categorical-exclusion filing.

We send our congratulations to Williamsport for capitalizing on this opportunity. In the past two years, they’ve experienced 50-percent growth in general aviation traffic, almost all of it attributable to Shale drilling and the new development there is expected to pay big dividends in job growth. Almost 75 new well paying jobs for managers and yard workers will need to be filled locally.

A Federal Funding Update for the AEC Industry

>>> Guest post contributed by Chris Grady, Federal Analyst

On Friday, April 15, President Obama signed a compromise fiscal year 2011 continuing resolution bill, ending the long-running debate on federal funding for the remainder of the current budget year.

The compromise bill cuts $38.5 billion from Fiscal Year 2010 enacted levels, including significant cuts to infrastructure and in additional road and bridge investments from FY10.

The following highlights some areas of interest to the A/E/C industy:

Federal Highway Administration:
$41.1 billion for highways and bridges, which would be the same level of funding as the FY10 enacted level. The funding level includes a decrease of $650 million in additional road and bridge investments from FY10. It also rescinds $630 million in earmark funding that is over 13 years old and $2.5 billion from unobligated balances of highway contract authority. The TIGER Grant program would receive $528 million, $72 million below FY 10 enacted levels.

The Exploration of Marcellus Shale - A Benchmark Special Edition

If you are a current, former client or colleague of L.R. Kimball, it's likely that you've seen a copy of Benchmark, a quarterly corporate magazine we have produced for nearly thirty years.

This quarter, we released a very special edition of Benchmark, The Exploration of Marcellus Shale.

Whether you are from one of the states that has natural gas trapped beneath it's surface or from another part of the country, it's likely that the Marcellus Shale deposit will impact you. 

By some estimates, this 500 trillion cubic feet natural gas supply could fuel up to 20 years of the nation's present gas consumption.

We invite you to download the special edition of Benchmark to learn more about the economic opportunities associated with Marcellus Shale, protecting our water resources, environmental impacts of oil and gas exploration and what it means for infrastructure.

Marcellus Shale: Tips to Prepare Roads for Drilling Operations

L.R. Kimball has experience working with roadway owners and construction companies and expertise with local, state and federal regulations. 

To help transportation agencies and local municipalities take preemptive steps to ensure that road damage is minimized and/or quickly repaired, we've prepared some tips to help prepare roads for drilling operations.

Take proactive steps to make road improvements that will jointly benefit the municipality, state, natural gas companies and well-operators before development and drilling begins.  It can be extremely expensive for all parties involved to shut down and repair roadway damage when drilling is still underway.

Plan ahead. Use pavement condition assessments to determine the feasibility of roadways handling additional traffic volume.  Proper truck route planning will help to mitigate future risks.  Develop pavement repair options and estimate the cost of future pavement repair options by preparing a roadway maintenance program and QA/QC that includes winter maintenance.

Gather all of the right permitting and necessary regulatory approvals early to accelerate your project’s completion and avoid costly fines.  Ensure compliance with state transportation agencies’ maintenance requirements and obtain all of the permitting required for highway repair and restoration.

Consider working with an outside consultant to function as a coordinator between multiple parties.  Consultants can complete erosion and sedimentation controls for all aspects of drilling operations, conduct construction cost tracking, inspect roadway maintenance activities and function as a liaison between state and local agencies and gas companies.

The FAA's Wildlife Hazard Initiative: New Program Announced for General Aviation Airports

The bird strike that caused the USAir Flight 1549 emergency landing in the Hudson River in 2009 may seem like an uncommon occurrence, but the truth is that bird strikes and other wildlife hazards pose a major threat to airports.  In fact, since the Federal Aviation Authority made the National Wildlife Database public, there have been approximately 21,489 strike reports over the last three years.

In 2009, the FAA initiated a rulemaking making Wildlife Hazard Assessments mandatory for commercial service airports regardless of a triggering event.  Late last month, the FAA’s Office of Airports further enforced their commitment to bird strike prevention by initiating a program encouraging General Aviation airports to conduct wildlife hazard assessments. (Read the press release.)

To help fund these mitigation efforts, the FAA will support general aviation efforts by making Airport Improvement Programs grants available to conduct an assessment.

Airport planning: lifting a runway project off the ground

When their airport was in need of serious repair, the Bucks County Airport Authority that operates Quakertown Airport in Bucks County, PA looked to L.R. Kimball to help them improve the subpar condition of their runway and improve their ability to safely meet their customer’s needs.

L.R. Kimball and other project partners helped Quakertown Airport locate an estimated $2.5 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Within a short 115 day time frame, the project was funded and Quakertown Airport had accomplished all of their project objectives, including:

• New runway construction and an additional 3-foot elevation increase
• Moving the centerline to meet FAA runway/taxiway separate regulations
• Increasing the Runway Safety Area to 150 feet, in width and extending 300 feet beyond the ends of the runway
• Increasing the pavement section approximately 38 percent
•  Adding a new underdrain to manage high water table issues
• Building a displacement to provide 300 feet of runway safety area due to a nearby stream

The completion of the runway reconstruction project marked the end of a five-year strategic initiative designed to improve safety conditions at the Airport.  They are now experiencing significant improvements, such as greater safety stemming from a wider taxiway and wider separations and the removal/trimming of obstructive trees.  They are also in full compliance with FAA minimum standards and have improved runway pavement conditions.  And, they are prepared to handle future airport needs because of three new retention ponds and underdrains on the taxiway and runway.

Read more about the project by downloading the success story, “Targeted Results. Expertly Managed. Expert planning lifts runway project off the ground.”

Marcellus Shale Road Maintenance Plans and the Impact of Freeze/Thaw Cycles

Marcellus Shale drillers are required by Pennsylvania law to submit Winter Maintenance Plans because of the pounding that drilling and hauling puts on state, county and local roadways. 

Wintertime in this region can wreak havoc on the longevity of roadway pavements. Snow and ice buildup causes major acceleration in pavement degradation and heavy operations from Shale drilling forces the formation of potholes. 

This combined with the repeated freeze/thaw cycle weakens pavement and expedites the pothole process.

Upcoming Marcellus Shale Events in March

There are two significant Marcellus Shale related events planned for the next several weeks that you can't miss if you are involved in the Marcellus Shale gas play in Pennsylvania or in a neighboring states.

The International Quality and Productivity Center (IQPC) is hosting an Environmental Summit from March 28 - 30 in Pittsburgh that will focus on managing risk and maximizing profits.. Featured topics featured include  permitting, mitigating the impacts of fracturing and environmental impacts of pipeline construction.

L.R. Kimball's regulatory expert Tanya McCoy-Caretti is scheduled to moderate a panel on "Managing Permitting in an Evolving Regulatory Landscape" that will be held on March 28 from noon - 2:30 pm. 

Visit the IQPC's event website.
Learn more about Tanya's panel discussion.

The 34th Annual Airports Conference is being held in Hersey, PA. Designed for government officials, airports owners, consultants, contractors and material testing laboratories personnel, the conference's primary purpose is to satisfy the needs of Pennsylvania's aviation interests. 

L.R. Kimball airports expert Rick Holes is a confirmed speaker at the conference, which is being held March 1-3. Rick will speak on March 3^rd, from 9:00-10:00 on the topic “Marcellus Shale, Gas and Other Mineral Extraction on Airports”.

Visit the Annual Airports Conference website.

Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS): Safety for Kids and Much More

Safe Routes to School is a renowned national program that was launched in 2005 by the Federal Highway Administration with $612 billion in funding created by the SAFETEA-LU federal transportation bill. (To learn more about the SRTS Program, download our Safe Routes to School: Critical for Children, Central to Communities white paper.

The Safe Routes to School National Partnership is a fast-growing network of hundreds of organizations, government agencies and professional groups that promote the practice of safe walking and bicycling to and from schools in the United Sates.

The ideal outcome of this partnership is to provide an environment for pedestrians, especially school children, the elderly and the handicapped a safe and uninhibited public right of way, cross walk or pathway to travel to their destination.

We’re helping champion many SRTS programs throughout Pennsylvania by helping to position our clients for local, state, federal and private funding that will help build safer street crossings to establish programs that encourage children and their parents to walk and bicycle safely to school. 

Listen to L.R. Kimball expert Sydney Kaikai discuss the Program and L.R. Kimball’s influence on it in this video.