D&B’s “Clean Water for Carlls River” sewer project received an Honor Engineering Excellence Award (EEA) from ACEC National at their black-tie event on May 15. The “Clean Water for Carlls River” project was one of only 24, out of more than 200 projects from around the world, selected for this national honor.
The Engineering Excellence Awards are an annual celebration of engineering excellence, honoring projects worldwide that demonstrate innovation, creative problem-solving, and engineering’s unique ability to improve our world. The competitions are juried by a panel of industry, government, and academic experts. All projects considered by the national competition must first be entered through one of ACEC’s 51 state and metropolitan Member Organizations.The landmark project also received a Diamond Engineering Excellence Award (EEA) from the American Council of Engineering Companies New York (ACEC NY) during their 57th annual gala event at the Midtown Hilton on April 13, 2024.
Steven A. Fangmann, President of D&B Engineers and Architects commented, “The American Council of Engineering Companies has selected projects from around the globe to showcase the value of engineering and how it benefits and impacts our communities. As the design engineer and construction manager of the Carlls River project, D&B is proud that Suffolk County’s Carlls River sewer project was recognized with the National Honor EEA 2024. The collaborative efforts of the Suffolk County Department of Public Works and the D&B team have ensured that this project will protect Long Island’s ground water, surface waters and wetlands for generations to come.”
The Carlls River project was authorized by Suffolk County Department of Public Works for the installation of sanitary sewers in residential communities on Long Island, New York including Deer Park, North Babylon, West Babylon and Wyandanch. The new sewer system replaced failing cesspools and septic systems that allowed an estimated 200 pounds of nitrogen per day to enter ground water and surface water including Carlls River, Sampawams Creek, Guggenheim Lake and Belmont Lake which discharge into the Great South Bay. The project aids in preserving coastal wetland ecosystems as increased nitrogen and other contaminants damage sensitive wetland areas, Long Island’s first line of defense in slowing wave action, ocean storm surge and flooding.
The project redirected sanitary waste from almost 2,300 private residences into the Bergen Point Wastewater Treatment Plant. A low-pressure sanitary sewer system with individual home Grinder Pump Units (GPUs) was implemented, presenting unique challenges including the need for the ‘government’ to perform work on private property. This required a communications program inclusive of a public-facing website, an informative newsletter to residents, direct mailings to residents educating about the program’s benefits of increased coastal resiliency, and many local meetings to inform the public and address homeowner concerns.
Unique engineering solutions were utilized such as trenchless construction methods that minimized disruption and damage to local roadways. This included horizontal directional drilling, pipe jacking methods, vibration monitoring, micro-tunneling under a busy parkway and ground freezing techniques. Overall, the project included installation of 150,000 linear feet of low-pressure sewer pipe, 2,300+ residential Grinder Pump Units (GPUs) to replace on-site cesspools and septic tanks that were ultimately abandoned, and a 48-inch extension to an existing reinforced concrete interceptor pipe connecting to the Bergen Point Wastewater Treatment Plant.
While the primary goal of the project was to provide generational environmental sustainability by protecting vital wetland areas, a secondary benefit was to make the watershed area more attractive to developers. This project is transforming the Carlls River watershed area’s four villages from aging sprawl cases into attractive targets for investment and residential and mixed-use development, contributing to sustainable growth opportunities, while protecting the area’s wetlands from contamination.
About ACEC: The American Council of Engineering Companies is the business voice of America’s engineering industry. It represents nearly 6,000 firms employing more than 600,000 engineers, architects, land surveyors, highly trained specialists, and licensed professionals who design and improve our world. ACEC is a federation consisting of 51 state and regional Member Organizations, advocating for policies at the federal, state, and local level that promote economic growth and improve the quality of life for every American. For more information, visit www.acec.org.
About ACEC New York: ACEC New York is a proactive coalition of almost 300 firms representing every discipline of engineering related to the built environment—civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, environmental, geotechnical—and affiliated companies. Our shared goals are to further the business interests of our membership, enhance the quality and safety of the environment we live and work in, and help ensure the vitality of our communities. For more information, visit www.acecny.org.
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