FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 29, 2012
Contact: Darrel Berry, Marketing Communications Manager
Hanson Professional Services Inc.
(217) 747-9291
dberry@hanson-inc.com
Hanson receives Special Achievement Award for work on Spaulding Dam
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Hanson Professional Services Inc. recently was honored for its work on City Water, Light and Power’s (CWLP) Spaulding Dam gated spillway in Springfield, Ill. The firm received a Special Achievement Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Illinois (ACEC-IL). Special Achievement Awards recognize worthy projects as well as the engineer and client/owner for achieving engineering excellence.
CWLP, Springfield’s municipal electric and water utility, selected Hanson to evaluate rehabilitation and replacement alternatives for Spaulding Dam’s five floating steel-drum gates. After 70 years of continuous operation, the dam’s original five floating steel-drum gates were nearing the end of their service life.
The project team achieved a sustainable design by reusing some elements from the original structure to update and improve operations at Spaulding Dam. A historic bridge crossed over the gated spillway, and a major roadway bridge crossed the downstream spillway slab. Working in cooperation with the client and various permitting agencies, the project team kept the historic elements of Spaulding Dam intact while constructing a new gate system using modern design and construction techniques. Hanson was joined on this project by design firm Bergmann Associates.
In addition to rehabilitating the dam’s gates, Hanson conducted one of the largest breach analyses in Illinois, studying more than 5,000 square miles of watershed and more than 150 miles of river. Hanson used GIS to develop the modeling and mapping of areas downstream of Spaulding Dam to update CWLP’s Emergency Action Plan — identifying critical infrastructure, buildings, neighborhoods and communities that might be affected during a dam failure. The entire project was completed in January 2010.
Judges for the 2012 Engineering Excellence Awards Competition included Farhad Ansari, Ph.D., professor and head of the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Civil and Materials Engineering Department; Greg Stukel, P.E., deputy director of program controls/system integrity, Illinois Tollway; Jim Jerozal, general manager of energy efficiency for Nicor Gas; Aaron Carlson, P.E., LEED AP, project manager, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Roger Less, P.E., chief, design branch, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District; and Scott Stitt, P.E., bureau chief of design and environment, Illinois Department of Transportation.
Hanson is a national, employee-owned consulting firm providing engineering, architecture, planning and allied services. The firm’s corporate headquarters is located at 1525 S. Sixth St., Springfield, IL 62703. The office may be reached by phone: (217) 788-2450 or fax: (217) 788-2503. For more information about Hanson, please visit http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hanson-Professional-Services-Inc/119667132848?sk=wall or http://www.linkedin.com/company/hanson-professional-services-inc.
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