burns & mcdonnell 2002 no. 2/media/files/insightsnews/insights/...a 500mw coal-fired generating...

Bench MarkBurns & McDonnell 2002 No. 2

Water WorldPreserving aprecious resource

Dulles Airport UpdateMaintaining the gatewayto Washington, D.C.

Roadway WizardryRoute 141 modernization

Water WorldPreserving aprecious resource

Dulles Airport UpdateMaintaining the gatewayto Washington, D.C.


B e y o n d T h e S c o p e

There are very few substances in the world that we can say are

truly necessary to sustain life.

Water is one of those.

We as a population haven’t always been willing to recognize that.

For years, water resources management focused on the quickest,

cheapest ways to dispose of stormwater, and the easiest ways to

treat drinking water and wastewater.

That indiscriminate treatment of life’s most precious resource has

led to a crisis. Now we’re trying to change it by way of federal

regulations, and a general realization that if we want our quality

of life to continue as we know it, we need to do something to pre-

serve its most basic building block.

But it wasn’t a handful of people who got us into this mess, and it

won’t be a handful of people to get us out. The efforts of thou-

sands of us – from consultants to municipalities to agricultural

interests to you – will be needed.

Turn to our cover story on page 10 to learn how those efforts are

manifesting themselves, and how Burns & McDonnell has become

an integral part of them.

Jim Foil, P.E.Vice President, Infrastructure Burns & McDonnell

A Resource in Recovery

Burns & McDonnell

Dave Ruf, Chairman, CEO and PresidentMark Taylor, Vice President, Treasurer and CFOGerry Bukowski, Vice President and General CounselJim Foil, Vice President, Corporate Marketing

SPECIALTIESAviation and ArchitectureDave Griffith, President

Construction Don Greenwood, President

Energy Greg Graves, President

Environmental Paul Hustad, President

InfrastructureJoel Cerwick, President

Process and IndustrialJohn E. Nobles, President

OFFICE LOCATIONSKansas City(816) 333-9400 Fax: (816) 333-36909400 Ward ParkwayKansas City, Missouri 64114

Atlanta, Georgia (770) 671-0409Pat Croker, Vice President

Chicago, Illinois (312) 454-0674Oak Brook, Illinois (Chicago) (630) 990-0300Steve Linnemann, Vice President

Dallas, Texas (972) 248-9570Rick Norton, Manager

Denver, Colorado (303) 721-9292Paul Fischer, Associate Vice President

Fenton, Missouri (636) 305-0077Tom Zychinski, Manager

Houston, Texas (713) 622-0227John Lionberger, Manager

Jacksonville, Florida (904) 296-7022Jim Irvin, Manager

Los Angeles, California (714) 632-5183Paul Miller, Manager

Miami, Florida (305) 476-5820James Kanter, Manager

Summit, New Jersey (908) 598-0110Martin Durney, Manager

O’Fallon, Illinois (618) 632-0354Mark Everett, Manager

Phoenix, Arizona (602) 385-4500Bob Schulz, Manager

San Diego, California (858) 547-9869Paul Miller, Manager

San Francisco, California (650) 871-2926Gary Messerotes, Manager

St. Louis, Missouri (314) 821-9016Bob Berry, Vice President

Tulsa, Oklahoma (918) 744-7111John Masek, Manager

Wichita, Kansas (316) 941-3921Brian Meier, Manager

Burns & McDonnell InternationalTaipei, Taiwan

© 2002 Burns & McDonnell Marketing, Communications & Research

Corporate Marketing Manager Kevin FoxContributing Editors Joe Bathke and Margaret SmithPrinting Production Manager, Photography Bill CrippenArt Direction & Design Billie Iserman

For the latest listing of our worldwide offices and more information about the Burns & McDonnell Companies, visit us on the Internet athttp://www.burnsmcd.com

Printed on Recycled Paper

Dulles Airport UpdateMaintaining the gateway to Washington, D.C.

6

How Sweet It IsCleaning groundwater with HRC

19

Water World10


16

Bench Mark 2002 No. 2 3

C o n t e n t s

D e p a r t m e n t s4

Start UpSelecting the right HRSG. News in brief.Project finance. Front-end loading.

18Need to KnowEthanol all over again.

20Works in ProgressSecure, reliable power delivery.

Preserving a precious resource

U.S. Cellular has selected Burns &McDonnell as program manager for aninventory of communications infra-structure in eastern Iowa and parts ofIllinois. The system inventory willinclude antennae, towers and associat-ed equipment. Burns & McDonnellwill also perform structural analysis oftowers within the inventory area.

Burns & McDonnell received aConstruction Industry Cost-Effectiveness Award from the St.Louis Council of ConstructionConsumers, in recognition of outstand-ing performance of fire protectionupgrades at the Ameren Venice PowerPlant in Illinois.

Q:Technical Q&A

Space is another consideration. Whenplant space is limited, HRSGs may belaid out with a vertical gas path andforced circulation. This is commonlyseen in Europe. The normal arrange-ment in the United States is a horizon-tal gas path. A horizontal gas path isgenerally seen as more reliablebecause it doesn’t rely on a pump tomove water through the HRSG, likethe vertical arrangement does.

The share of electricity generated bynatural gas fuel in the United States isprojected to increase to 32 percent in2020 from 16 percent in 2000.

Q:

A:

Bob Heina is themechanical departmentmanager in the energygroup. He specializesin power plant designand startup.

News In Brief

4 Burns & McDonnell

The Iowa Air National Guard hasselected Burns & McDonnell to per-form conceptual design and pro-gramming activities for conversion ofthe 185th fighter wing in Sioux City,Iowa, to a KC135 air refueling wing.Plans include large-scale conversionof shops and hangars, and are to becompleted by December 2002.

The Jacksonville Electric Authorityhas chosen Burns & McDonnell toplan, permit, and design 230kV over-head and underground transmissionlines and 230/27kV substations forthe Cecil Commerce Center inJacksonville, Florida. The project willprovide for industrial redevelopmentof the former U.S. Naval Air station,Cecil Field NAF.

Gas turbine size is the biggest factor in selecting

an an HRSG, since it is usuallythe primary source of heat

for the boiler. The next factor to con-sider is steam turbine output. Howmuch steam is required? Since theheat output of the gas turbine isbasically fixed by the model select-ed, supplemental firing using a ductburner may be needed to producesteam above what the gas turbinecan provide. Other factors to consid-er when weighing steam turbineoutput are process steam demandsand fresh air firing capability.

A:

What factors are involved in selecting the right combined-cycle heat recovery steam generator (HRSG)?

The ConsultingEngineers Councilof Missouri gave itshighest honor, anEngineeringExcellence GrandAward, to Burns &McDonnell’s projectrebuilding KansasCity Power andLight’s Hawthorn 5,a 500MW coal-fired

generating unit destroyed by an explo-sion in February 1999.

Burns & McDonnell was selected byAssociated Electric to perform a Multi-Pollutant Regulatory Compliance studyof six generation facilities in its electricgeneration system in Missouri. Theresults of the study will assist Associatedin complying with existing and likelyfuture emission requirements.

How it Works

Eighteen months ago a booming economymeant that there was abundant financing fornew projects. Now the cash stream has ebbedto a trickle.

And the numbers prove it. Dealogic, a lead-ing financial information service, reports a 39percent reduction in global project financeactivity from the first three quarters of 2000to the same period in 2001. Preliminary full-year figures for 2001 show a reduction in vol-ume from 2000 of 44 percent.

But just because project financing has becomemore difficult, that doesn’t mean it isn’t stillavailable – you just have to know where tolook and how to position yourself once youfind it. That’s where Burns & McDonnellcan help. We have expanded our financialexpertise by adding a new group, Burns &McDonnell Project Finance AdvisoryServices (PFAS).

PFAS offers clients in all of Burns &McDonnell’s service areas advice onproject financing, a multifaceted aspectof development that is essential for aproject to succeed. Services that Burns

Fail to plan and plan to fail. Fewproject owners would dispute thewisdom of that axiom, but howmuch planning is enough? TheConstruction Industry Institute(CII) suggests a way to answerthat question: front-end loadingmeasured with the ProjectDefinition Rating Index (PDRI).

Front-end loading (FEL) is a con-struction-industry term for projectscope development and estimationactivities commonly known as pre-liminary engineering. (Such asidentifying and selecting majorequipment, defining structural, electricaland control requirements and developingpiping and instrumentation diagrams.)PDRI is a spreadsheet application devel-oped by CII to systematically measure thequality and completeness of front-end load-ing.

Front-End Loading and the PDRI


& McDonnell experts provide include adviceon the right balance of debt and equityfinancing, identification of funding sourcesand markets, revenue and cost projections,financial models, feasibility studies, andassessment and mitigation of the project’srisks.

“There are some major financial firms offeringthese services, but project sponsors who havetechnology questions could be out of luck,”says Bob Rose, Burns & McDonnell principaland leader of PFAS. “One advantage of turn-ing to Burns & McDonnell is we have theexpertise – not just in engineering, but infinance, construction, architecture and otherareas – to address every one of those ques-tions and issues. We can deliver a truly inte-grated solution to our clients. And our clientsenjoy the advantage of knowing that we willmatch the right funding source, among themany available choices, to each specific proj-ect.”

Together with the teams he has led, Rose hasclosed more than 30 project finance transac-tions around the world ranging from severalmillion dollars to nearly $2 billion in value.

To calculate a project’s PDRI score, projectmanagers and team members use a check-list of 70 scope definition elements identi-fied by research teams of project owners,contractors and engineer/constructors ascritical to project success. The project teamrates each checklist item from zero to five,

with a rating of one representingcomplete definition, and five,incomplete or poor definition.The resulting numerical valuesare entered into the spreadsheet,which computes the totalweighted average score.

CII research shows that projectsfunded at a target PDRI score of200 or less show 10 percent betterschedule performance, 5 percentbetter cost performance, andlower change order costs thanprojects with scores above 200(indicating less thorough scope

definition.)

“Many clients look to us for FEL designbefore proceeding with project funding,”says Paul Menne, process and industrialdivision engineering manager. “The abili-ty to rate FEL allows us to improve ourbasic engineering effort.”

Project Finance: Getting Your Deal Closed

DullesAirportM a i n t a i n i n g t h e

G a t e w a y t o

W a s h i n g t o n , D . C .

6 Burns & McDonnell

Meeting capacity needs at what is nowthe nation’s fourth largest transatlanticgateway has required continuingupgrades. Air traffic at Dulles grew anastounding 25.8 percent from 1999 to2000. Passenger levels continued toincrease in 2001. As of January 2002,passenger levels were still up 8% fromJanuary 2001.

“At Dulles, we’ve tackled nearly everyproject possible at an airport,” saysBurns & McDonnell Project Manager

ShawnDeKold.

Burns &McDonnellhas completedfueling systemand roadway

improvements and designed more than60 acres of airfield pavement at Dulles.The firm is currently working on a $3.4billion construction program the air-port authority began in 2000, scheduledfor design completion in 2006. Burns &McDonnell’s contribution includes

As the capital of the most powerfulnation on earth, Washington, D.C. isone of the most important destinationsin the world. It follows thatWashington Dulles International, thecapital’s largest airport, is one of thebusiest airports in the world. Morethan 20 million passengers, including 4million international travelers, passthrough its gates each year.

“Dulles is the nation’s front door,” saysRandy Pope, Burns & McDonnell asso-

ciate vice president. “When visitorsarrive at the capital on internationalflights, they land at Dulles. We’re pro-viding the Metropolitan WashingtonAirports Authority with design andconstruction services to increase the air-port’s capacity to handle that traffic.”

Update

“Dulles is the nation’s

front door,” says Randy

Pope, Burns & McDonnell

associate vice president.

“When visitors arrive at

the capital on international

flights, they land at Dulles.

We’re providing the

Metropolitan Washington

Airports Authority with

design and construction

services to increase the air-

port’s capacity to handle

that traffic.”


gpm, and had the new system testedand online in 2001. The design includeda new airport-wide emergency shutoffsystem, allowing for seamless transferto the new system and demolition ofthe old facilities.

“The project was unique in terms ofsize and scope,” says Burns &McDonnell Project Manager Mel Sehrt.

“It’s one of only a handful of replace-ment programs of this magnitude thathave been completed in the UnitedStates.” Burns & McDonnell can claimcredit for more than half those programs.

rehabilitating and expanding numer-ous systems and facilities: generators,roadway lighting, hold aprons, taxi-ways, parking, security improve-ments, fire protection and ramp serv-ices.

From the Beginning Opened in November 1962, Dulleswas the first U.S. airport specificallydesigned to handle jet aircraft — andits aircraft refueling system wasdesigned by Burns & McDonnell.Burns & McDonnell also participatedin master planning and designed theairport’s mechanical and electricalsystems and utilities.

By the late ‘90s, Dulles had outgrownits original hydrant fueling system.Burns & McDonnell designedrevamped airport fuel storage anddistribution facilities to provide 14million gallons of jet fuel storage andpumping capacity in excess of 15,000

Dulles • Dulles • Dulles Dulles

8 Burns & McDonnell

The firm provided design for completehydrant fueling system replacementprojects at two more of the country’slargest airports, LAX and Dallas-FortWorth.

Improving AccessRapid growth in passenger traffic atDulles also put a strain on groundtransportation. During the busy 1999Christmas season, traffic on the two-lane Dulles access highway and thethree-lane Saarinen circle experienceddaily backups. The airport authorityneeded to solve the problem before thenext major travel holiday — MemorialDay, just five months away — andcalled on Burns & McDonnell to getthe job done.

Widening the access highway andSaarinen circle presented a particularchallenge, says DeKold. “There were alot of issues, such as grading to accom-modate a future parking garage, transi-tioning the widening through a curveand designing overhead sign structuresacceptable in an historic preservationdistrict,” DeKold says. “With an exist-ing lane shut down only between thehours of midnight and 6 a.m., the proj-ect required complicated constructionphasing, but the improvements werecompleted on schedule.”

In addition to the hydrant fuelingreplacement and improvements, Burns& McDonnell is involved in projectsthat provide maintenance of numerousDulles facilities.

Dulles • Dulles Dulles • Dulles • Dulles Dulles • Dulles • Dulles Dulles • Dulles • Dulles


“Keeping a major airport up to date isan ongoing task,” says Sehrt. “We’reproud of the work we’ve done throughthe years to help make sure Dullesremains a world-class facility.”

Water World“Water resources

constraints and water

degradation are

weakening one of the

resource bases on

which human society

is built.”

- United Nations

Comprehensive Assessment

of the Freshwater Resources

of the World

Preserving a Precious Resource

There is no way to overstate the importance water

has on society and our lives. In the U.S. alone, we

consume 425 billion gallons a day. There is also no

way to overstate the consequences of its shrinking

supply: widespread public health problems, econom-

ic and agricultural stagnation, food supplies in

jeopardy.

Finding solutions to this potential crisis involves manystakeholders, and it is changing the dynamics of waterresources management like never before. Politics, agricul-ture and the environment are just some of the factors hav-ing a bearing on the common goal of preserving a resourcethat is becoming more precious each day.

“There is a definite sense of awareness now that didn’texist 25 years ago,” says Jerry Blain, water supply projectsadministrator for the city of Wichita, Kan.

A Rare CommodityYou might think that there’s plenty of water to go around.After all, 70 percent of the Earth is covered with the stuff.

That’s true. But there’s more to the story. Nearly 98 percentof all water on the Earth is salt water. That leaves less than3 percent as fresh water. Once you take away all the frozenicecaps and aquifers that are too deep to access, less than 1percent of all fresh water, or about .007 percent of all thewater on Earth, is accessible to the human population.

Continued on Page 12

12 Burns & McDonnell

“That’s not much,” says Jim Foil, Burns& McDonnell vice president. “Andwhen you consider that water use isgrowing at twice the rate of the Earth’spopulation, you begin to see whatwe’re up against.”

Changes in Water SupplyIt is no longer feasible or practical – asit may have been 50 years ago – to sim-ply drill a well or build a reservoir andtap it to serve a city’s water supplyneeds. Limited resources, water rights,land uses and a host of other issues areall causing water resource professionalsto reach for more innovative solutions.

One striking example of this is theEquus Beds Aquifer Recharge, designedto supply the water needs of Wichita,Kan. The project will capture floodwaters from the Little Arkansas Riverand inject them into an undergroundaquifer to meet the long-term waterneeds of Wichitans.

It’s too simple to call the Equus Beds awater supply project – its larger goalwas to devise an integrated local

resources plan to determine how thewater needs of Wichitans will be metfor the next 50 years. In addition to therecharge, Burns & McDonnell usedcomplex computer modeling to docu-ment and project the city’s water needs.The modeling tracked the daily flow ofthe Little Arkansas River from 1922 to1997, and used that history to strike abetter balance among Wichita’s variousnatural water resources.

“Since the goal of the project was torefill the Equus Beds, we showed thatWichita could do that more efficiently ifit relied more on other sources of waterin the area to meet demand,” said GeneFoster, a water resources engineer whoperformed the modeling for the project.

From the outset, Blain says, it becameclear the project was more than just asimple issue of supply and demand.“In some cases, activities and uses ofthe land from 60 years ago were havingan impact on what we were doing,” hesays. “And as new uses or activitiesoccurred, we looked at them and asked‘What does this mean for us and howdoes it affect others?’”

The plan involved a dizzying numberof stakeholders, and required all thepeople skills that associate vice presi-dent Frank Shorney could muster.

“Providing information to the publicand regulatory agencies on projectalternatives, receiving input andaddressing controversial issues are crit-ical activities for successful waterresource development in today’s envi-ronment,” says Shorney, also the proj-ect manager for the Equus Beds.

The Equus Beds project has involved atleast 10 state and federal agencies,nearly 30 engineering and environmen-tal reports, countless presentations andmeetings, and a monthly written statusreport that for the better part of 10years has been sent to city officials, thechamber of commerce, regulatoryagencies and members of Congress.

“Providing information to the public

and regulatory agencies on project

alternatives, receiving input and

addressing controversial issues

are critical activities for successful

water resource development in

today’s environment.”

Frank ShorneyProject Manager

Burns & McDonnell

Bench Mark 2002 No. 2113

“The reason these things are importantis that you’re trying to build a coalitionof support during the process of deter-mining the best water supply plan,”Shorney says. “It brings public rela-tions and educational issues into arealm that for many years was onlyconcerned with engineering.”

As far as the project’s primary goal ofreplenishing the aquifer, it has been asuccess. One billion gallons of waterhas been pumped to the aquifer.Shorney estimates the aquifer will con-tain 65 billion gallons in 10 years,enough by itself to satisfy Wichita’swater demands for three years.

When it Rains…Twenty-five years ago, there was notmuch concern about what happened tostormwater once it hit the ground. Thelargest concern was the quickest andcheapest way to dispose of it.

So it’s probably no coincidence that 25years ago, only a third of the nation’swaters were safe for fishing and swim-ming. Wetland losses were estimated at460,000 acres annually. Agriculturalrunoff resulted in the annual erosion of2.25 billion tons of soil and deposits oflarge amounts of phosphorus andnitrogen into waterways.

Through the 1972 Clean Water Act, andits 1987 amendments that addressedstormwater discharges associated withurban areas and other activities, thatbegan to change. Since their passage:

• The number of U.S. waterways safefor fishing and swimming has dou-bled

• The number of Americans servedby adequate sewage treatment hasdoubled

• Annual wetlands losses have beenreduced by 75 percent

• Soil erosion from cropland has beenreduced by more than a third

But stormwater management wouldnever again be the same, as a statetransportation agency would discover.In 1994, a group of citizens filed a law-suit against the agency accusing it ofviolating the Clean Water Act. Amongthe group’s complaints: Stormwaterrunning off state and federal highwayswas carrying with it trash and otherdebris that was polluting state water-ways.

"The agency for years was primarilyconcerned with the safety and mainte-nance of its 15,000 miles of state andfederal roadways," says Paul Miller,Burns & McDonnell project manager."Then all of a sudden they’re hit with alawsuit over stormwater. It made themsay ‘We need to do something aboutthis.’"

Burns & McDonnell is playing a part inthe agency’s resulting Storm WaterManagement Program. As part of apilot study, the firm designed andinstalled six litter solids removaldevices at specified state storm drains.Among the firm’s tasks: selecting sitesto install the devices, monitoring andinspecting them after every significantrain, and analyzing water samples col-lected at the sites for changes in pollu-tant concentrations.

This project points out how entitiesthat once had nothing to do with waterquality now find themselves knee-deepin it – sometimes by way of litigation.

Laws and More LawsThe Clean Water Act and the 1974 SafeDrinking Water Act are far from theonly pieces of legislation governingU.S. water quality. Since 1900, the fed-eral government has passed at least 46pieces of legislation aimed at waterquality.

Fortunately, technology has kept pacewith the expanding role of legislation,bringing about innovative techniquesthat make it less expensive to meetincreasingly stringent standards.

“We’re constantly looking for newtechniques from both a quality stand-point and a regulatory standpoint,”says Paul Fischer, Burns & McDonnellassociate vice president.

Perhaps recognizing that water is asgood as gold in some communities,Burns & McDonnell designed a mem-brane filtration plant for the city ofWestminster, Colo., that even treats theplant’s backwash wastewater.Backwash wastewater is generatedwhen the plant’s filtration units arecleaned. This can result in 200,000 gal-lons of treated water each day flusheddown the sanitary sewer system,reducing the plant’s total output.Through the Westminster plant’s inno-vations, it can reach a recovery rate of99.5 percent. Most traditional plantshave a recovery rate of 90 percent to 92percent.

“Westminster has recognized thatwater is a precious resource, and thatis reflected in the efficiency of theirwater treatment system,” Fischer says.

Getting Everyone TogetherOne positive to be found in the chang-ing face of water resources manage-ment is that many are starting to real-ize that a holistic approach is neededto reach solutions.

The most high-profile event to recog-nize this was the National WatershedForum, held in the summer of 2001 inArlington, Va. The event, organized bythe non-profit Meridian Institute,attracted nearly 500 delegates involvedin all aspects of watershed manage-ment. There were a handful of recom-mendations that had widespread sup-port among the delegates. Amongthem:

• Create a quasi-public WatershedTrust Fund/Endowment to be usedfor restoration, protection, advoca-cy, education, management, facili-tating local needs, research, andother priorities


The photos seen here show two construction

views of the city of Westminster, Colorado’s,

water treatment plant and a cross-section of

one of the microfiltration units, manufac-

tured by the Pall Corporation, used at the

plant. Recognizing that water is a valuable

resource, Westminster uses one of the plant’s

skids to treat backwash wastewater. This

allows the plant to reach a recovery rate of

99.5 percent. Most plants have a 90 percent

to 92 percent recovery rate. The plant was

designed by Burns & McDonnell.

• Implement a national media cam-paign to highlight the importance ofand foster general awareness ofwatershed issues

• Establish a clearinghouse to provideone-stop shopping that wouldenhance the flow of informationabout watershed protection andrestoration, technical assistance andfunding, and other relevant data

• Provide federal coordinators toassist local watershed partnerships.

Since that meeting, concrete effortshave been under way to meet thosefour recommendations, says ChrisLewicki of the EnvironmentalProtection Agency’s Office of Wetlands,Oceans and Watersheds. Lewickiattended the watershed forum and is amember of the steering committee thatwill help implement the recommenda-tions.

For example, in some post-forum focusgroups that were held with the public,it was discovered that many trustedtheir weatherman to deliver accurateinformation about forecasts. Based onthose talks, the steering committee hashelped implement a pilot programwhere a Washington, D.C.-basedweatherman presents informationabout watershed management in addi-tion to his nightly broadcast. If success-ful, the program could be expanded toother states.

“It was important to bring the diverseparties involved in watershed manage-ment together to find areas of agree-ment and work out areas of disagree-ment,” Lewicki said. “This was thenext step beyond pointing fingers ateach other and instead approaching theproblem to say ‘How do we solvethis.’”

Not the least of the issues in watershedmanagement is the impact of nonpointsource pollution (NPS). NPS occurswhen rainfall, snowmelt or irrigationpicks up pollutants from varioussources and deposits it in rivers, lakes,coastal waters or groundwater.

Agriculture is seen as the largest con-tributor to NPS. According to theEnvironmental Protection Agency’s(EPA) National Water QualityInventory, 60 percent of the river milesthat the EPA surveyed and judged asimpaired by national water qualitystandards were impaired as a result ofagriculture.

The 2002 Farm Bill may be the highest-profile recognition of this problem.Congress is working on a bill that, if

approved, would pay a subsidy tofarmers who manage their land inways that protect the environment. Themovement has strong support amongfarm groups. Ferd Hoefner with theSustainable Agriculture Coalition wasquoted in the Christian Science Monitoras saying “this whole idea of paying for


conservation on working farms hasreally taken off in the heartland. Wewould like to see a shift from payingfor production…to paying for environ-mental protection.”

“The idea of all stakeholders comingtogether to tackle these types of issueshas the potential to greatly affect thefuture of water resources manage-ment,” Foil says.

O n S i t e


RoadwayWizardry

Route 141 Modernization

carrying motorists through a series of sig-nals without interruption. The signalcontrol system is tied to MoDOT’sIntelligent Transportation System (ITS)Center, which monitors and controls traf-fic flow throughout the metro area.Along with safe sight lines and turnlanes, the synchronized lights protectmotorists and minimize slowdowns.

Before construction could begin, utilitieshad to be removed and reinstalled.MoDOT negotiated with utilities andlocal officials to obtain necessary permits,clearing the way for the project.

“MoDOT kept the project on track,” saysLuer. “They were such good facilitatorsthat even with all the complications, theproject never experienced any slow-downs.”

Burns & McDonnell water, wastewaterand electrical transmission specialistsdesigned the new sewer and stormwaterconveyance systems and coordinated theutility relocations. To satisfy communityconcerns, firm designers used earthenberms to enhance the project’s appear-ance and keep the use of sound walls to aminimum. Stormwater detention basinswere landscaped to create a park-likeeffect. The old highway was restored foruse as a service road, giving residents alocal byway to schools and businesses.

Outcome“The highway 141 improvements defi-nitely helped the situation — the trafficflows better,” says MoDOT ProjectManager Tom Montes de Oca. “The con-struction office had high regard for thedesign, and we had very good successworking with Burns & McDonnell dur-ing construction.” Completed on sched-ule and within budget, the project wonan engineering excellence honor awardfrom the Consulting Engineers Councilof Missouri. But the real winners are St.Louis County commuters who no longercontend with the frustrating bottleneckon 141.


BackgroundRoute 141 in St. Louis County was once apleasant, two-lane road that wound overtreed hills, and beginning in the 1960s, afew new, upscale suburban communityhousing developments — just right for aSunday drive. But as growth acceleratedin west St. Louis County throughout the‘70s and ‘80s, the north-south corridorbecame a commuter’s nightmare.

“The level of service went rapidly froman ‘A’ to an ‘F’,” says Jon Luer, projectmanager in Burns & McDonnell’s St.Louis office. “During rush hour, goingfour miles could take 20 minutes.”

The Missouri Department ofTransportation (MoDOT) developed con-ceptual plans to replace the rural roadwith a six-lane expressway, in a long-term project with total costs expected toapproach the half-billion mark. In 1995,Burns & McDonnell was selected to pro-vide design services for one of the mostheavily traveled and congested segments:a 1.4-mile section between Manchesterand Big Bend Road, projected to carry58,700 vehicles a day by the year 2015.

ProblemsPutting an expressway in the middle of afully developed suburban area involveda number of special considerations.Construction would cut through water,sanitary and electrical transmission sys-tems. The project required new stormwa-ter management structures, and becauseof proximity of residential areas to thehighway, sound walls were required.Homeowners were concerned about howthese structures would affect the area’sappearance — and how the highwayitself might change the community char-acter of their subdivisions.

The expressway had to retain ingress,egress and parking for roadside churchesand allow access from connecting roadswithout slowing traffic. Most important-ly, the expressway and traffic control sys-

tems had to protect motorists whilemoving very heavy traffic

SolutionsBurns & McDonnell combined expertisein new technologies and in a range oftraditional engineering disciplines tomeet challenges of the $9.8 million proj-ect.

“We used just about every element inour engineering tool box,” says Luer.

To make sure the new 141 could handlerush hour, Burns & McDonnell’s trans-portation experts designed the highwaywith just four access points admittingtraffic. Using buried sensors and fiberoptic communications, electronic com-munications specialists created an intelli-gent signal system to move traffic effi-ciently though the corridor.

The system’s computerized signal coordi-nator sends vehicle speed and volumedata to the next controller in the loop,

Suburban developments are designed for enhanced quality of life. But whentransportation systems can’t keep up with population growth, that quality can

deteriorate. Burns & McDonnell helped the Missouri Department ofTransportation (MoDOT) solve transportation problems in a St. Louis suburb.

N e e d T o K n o w


What if there were a clean-burning,renewable gasoline additive that couldtrim U.S. dependence on foreign oil,create jobs and boost agriculture?

There is. Like money, it doesn’t growon trees. But it does sprout from theground. It’s ethanol – used to oxy-genate high-octane fuel and improvevehicle performance while reducingemissions and improving air quality,according to the Renewable FuelsAssociation.

“Once you pump oil out of the ground,it doesn’t get replaced,” says JohnNobles, president of Burns &McDonnell’s process and industrialgroup. “Ethanol, however, is madefrom corn or other organic materialsand is an easily renewable resource.”

Natural AlternativeEthanol has been used as a gasolineadditive to prevent engine knocks foryears. But growing government con-cern about the safety of another widelyused additive, methyl tertiary butylether (MTBE) is prompting increasedinterest in the natural alternative.

According to the Missouri Departmentof Natural Resources, the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) may outlaw MTBE because oftaste, odor problems, and unreasonableenvironmental risk when it makes itsway into water sources. Ethanol, alsoknown as grain alcohol, is safer thanMTBE — so safe, in fact, that it’s actu-ally drinkable.

Fuel Additives’ FuturePhase-out of MTBE is pending inCalifornia, and the additive may like-wise be curtailed in other states. It’s agood time for businesses currently uti-lizing MTBE to consider convertingfacilities – or building new ones – to

accommodate ethanol production.That’s what Nesika Energy did, andselected Burns & McDonnell to buildan ethanol plant in Kansas that willproduce 10 million gallons of productper year.

While critics have argued that replac-ing MTBE with ethanol would result indistribution problems, a recentDepartment of Energy study analyzingthe requirements for a 5.1 billion-gal-lon-per-year ethanol market concludedthat no major transportation, distribu-tion or retailing infrastructure barriersexist. That amount would meetdemand if a proposed renewable fuelsstandard that would include phase-outof MTBE is approved.

Enough Ethanol?The U.S. ethanol industry produced1.77 billion gallons in 2001, up nearly10 percent from 1.63 billion gallons in2000 but still short of the amount thatwould be required to replace MTBE ormeet the renewable fuels standard.That could spell opportunity for pro-ducers who expand facilities or managetimely market entry, though eventually,producers may face narrowing profitmargins. Burns & McDonnell hasextensive ethanol industry experienceand process engineers who are expertat shaving costs through efficient pro-duction techniques. Burns &McDonnell also offers other distinctadvantages, Nobles says.

“We offer the best proven technologythrough our strong technology alliancepartners,” says Nobles. “And, we offerstability. The ethanol industry has hadits share of companies that makemoney quickly, then disappear. Ourcompany’s more than 100 years oldand we plan on being here anotherhundred. We build ethanol plants yourchildren will run.”

Ethanol Opportunity

O f f L i n e

Cleaning Groundwater with HRC

It looks like honey and smells vaguely like brownsugar, but if you’re looking for something to puton your toast, you’d probably be better off withthe real thing.

This orange glop of amorphous goo is known asHydrogen Release Compound (HRC), and itsskills as a remediation agent make it a tasty alter-native for cleaning up groundwater contaminatedby chlorinated solvents.

“It looks like something you might pour over yourpancakes,” says Debbie Ballard, Burns &

McDonnell associate vice president. “But it isshowing results as an environmental reme-

diation agent.”

HRC, produced by Regenesis, hasemerged in the last five years as apromising new groundwaterremediation agent. It is injectedinto groundwater where througha chemical process called anaero-bic bioremediation it graduallybreaks down chlorinated sol-

vents such as trichloroethylene(TCE) and tetrachloroethyl-

ene (PCE). TCE and PCE arecommonly used in manufac-turing plants to clean partsor machinery.

Those responsible for thecosts of cleanup are singingthe praises of HRC because

it typically costsless than more tra-ditional methodsof cleanup such aspump-and-treat.

“Five years ago, to treat a contaminated ground-water plume, you would need to pump large vol-umes of water over an extended period of time,”Ballard says. “If it’s a large site in a river valley,you could be talking about hundreds of millions ofgallons of water. Then, once you’ve pumped allthat water, you can’t just put it back in the ground.You’ve got to treat it. Over the course of severalyears, this could cost a million dollars or more.”

In the fall of 2001, Burns & McDonnell used HRCto clean groundwater contamination at a formerbleach processing plant in Missouri. The total proj-ect cost the client $150,000. It was the first projectof its kind in the state.

Burns & McDonnell environmental specialistsbegan by identifying the 1,000-square-foot area ofcontamination. The HRC was injected into theground using standard soil probing techniques atlevels ranging from 15 feet to 30 feet below the sur-face.

HRC is a fairly viscous fluid that is easier to pumpwhen it is warm, so Burns & McDonnell specialistsbathed the five-gallon jugs of fluid in a troughfilled with heated water before pumping the fluidinto the ground. In all, about 1,448 pounds of HRCwere injected at the site.

Because HRC works by way of a natural biologicalprocess, cleanup takes time. Depending on the sizeof the site, cleanup can take anywhere from oneyear to five years. Repeated monitoring of the siteis needed to check progress.

“Over time, if the HRC is doing what it’s supposedto do, contaminants from the chlorinated solventswill decrease to drinking-water-quality levels orbelow, or whatever level the state feels is appropri-ate,” says Ballard.


W o r k s I n P r o g r e s s

A Better GradeSeveral area power producers are anxious totie into Alabama Power Co.’s grid so they canget more power to market.

But on location in Vernon, Ala., it’s been achallenge to make the grade. Literally.

A Burns & McDonnell/New River ElectricalCorp. joint venture is adding a 500-kV sub-station to handle the capacity from new gen-erating facilities on a site that falls 60 feetwest to east – not exactly conducive todeveloping a switching station in an areaalready populated with existing transmissionline structures.

But before crew members can level the grade,they’re tackling another logistical challenge:Workers must remove a tower that connectsto an active transmission line, so they canmake room for new structures. To ensure thatelectrical service to customers remains unin-terrupted, engineers designed a dead-endstructure to attach this line to. Once workerssecure the line to the structure, workers canremove the tower and level the grade.

The 16-month design-build joint venture isscheduled for completion in September.

W o r k s I n P r o g r e s s

burns & mcdonnell 2002 no. 2/media/files/insightsnews/insights/...a 500mw coal-fired generating...

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