The 2017 federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act created the new federal Opportunity Zone program, designed to spur economic development and job creation in distressed communities by providing tax benefits for private investment. Based on low-income census tracts and typically representing urban centers, there are some 8,700 qualified Opportunity Zones (OZs) across the United States…
Read More
The City of Bristol, CT, recently completed the construction of rockfall protective measures along a section of Mountain Rd. The main function of rockfall protection is to prevent and control rocks and debris from falling onto roadways and passing vehicles. Called an “Energy Barrier,” the new structure is designed to absorb the kinetic energy released…
Read More
Nobody likes a surprise in development, especially during construction. Urban Site development and excavation for foundations and utilities often encounters material referred to as urban fill or historic fill . This material originates from commercial, industrial and manufacturing uses dating back to the nineteenth century. Urban fill is also found at waterfront locations where land has been created or…
Read More
GEODesign is providing geotechnical engineering services to F&T Group and Shanghai Construction for the Tangram development project located at 133-21 39th Avenue in Flushing, New York. The site occupies nearly two blocks between 37th & 39th Avenues and between Prince Street & College Point Boulevard in the downtown Flushing neighborhood of Queens. The project is…
Read More
Is Design Build (DB) here to stay? In the construction industry, trends come and go. In 1992 F.H. “Bud” Griffis authored “ADR, TQM, Partnering and Other Management Fantasies” (reference 1). At that time Partnering was being hailed as the latest new solution in successful construction outcomes. Now DB is the trend. This writer was involved…
Read More
GEODesign provided geotechnical, geostructural, geoenvironmental and related construction-period engineering support to John P. Picone (JPP) for construction of the Site P Station Entrance for the No. 7 Flushing Line Extension (Borough of Manhattan), for the MTA/NYCTA. The Site P Station is located across from the Jacob Javits Center between 34th and 35th Streets and 10th…
Read More
Cost-effective geotechnical engineering expertise proved crucial in constructing Connecticut’s highest permanent soil nail wall on schedule. The wall was completed as design-built commission by a team lead by Fusco/Clark who chose GEODesign to be on their team. The 54-foot high structure makes parking feasible at the University of Connecticut Health Center’s outpatient center, which opens this…
Read More
Peer reviews of geotechnical design by owners and their design teams are steadily increasing in the construction sector. In the last couple of years, GEODesign has received more requests for peer reviews than ever before. Often these requests come in one or more of these contexts: “We would just like to double-check the solutions being…
Read More
GeoDiligence – What is it? Purchasers of real estate are frequently looking at a property with a specific plan in mind. All too frequently, due diligence is only considered for environmental liabilities (the evaluation of known or potential contamination from prior industrial uses, underground tanks, spills etc.). The pre-purchase assessment of soil, groundwater and bedrock…
Read More
The railroad embankment for the Hudson Line tracks just north of Peekskill, New York was identified by Metro North as a location requiring slope stability improvement. The embankment had historically experienced localized slope failures and slides. Slide detectors at that location were tripped several times a year, necessitating the closure of both tracks while an…
Read More
© 2019 GEODesign, Inc.