Sep 2005 - Parsons Brinckerhoff

© 2005 david sailors
Lou Silano: Lauded for lifetime
achievement in design.
Notes
on the
Firm
PB Veteran Lou Silano
Receives OPAL Award
Lou Silano, who has been with
PB for 54 years and worked on
dozens of complex bridge and
tunnel projects, some among the
most well-known infrastructure
projects of the 20th century,
was honored by the American
Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE),
with its Lifetime Achievement in
Design Award at ASCE’s annual
Outstanding Projects and Leaders
(OPAL) gala in April.
Silano, Technical Director for
Major Structures, has worked on
such challenging projects as the
majestic Newport/Pell Bridge in
Rhode Island; the Central Artery/
Tunnel (CA/T) project in Boston;
the Fremont Bridge in Portland,
Oregon; the second Hampton
Roads Bridge-Tunnel in Virginia;
and, most recently, the 63rd Street
Queens Connector and rehabilitation
of Brooklyn’s landmark
Atlantic Avenue train station in
New York City.
“The OPAL award is one of
the industry’s most prestigious.
We are thrilled ASCE recognized
Lou for his decades of achievement
on behalf of PB’s clients,”
says Tom O’Neill, PB Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer.
As Engineering Manager of
the CA/T from 1986 to 1990, Lou
developed a solution for one of
the most difficult engineering
challenges on the project: how
to take a tunnel for I-90 under a
narrow body of water in Boston
Harbor (the Fort Point Channel)
and over a 90-year-old subway
line. Lou came up with the idea
of constructing concrete tubes
on site in a casting basin and
then floating the tubes a short
distance into place. The casting
basin was then used to construct
the approach tunnel to the underwater
tunnel—“an ingenious but
conceptually simple solution to a
very complex problem” that “in a
very real way saved the project,”
according to former Massachusetts
Secretary of Transportation
Frederick Salvucci.
Silano’s philosophy is simple:
“Working together produces successful
engineering projects.”
PB Recognized for
Excellence in
Service to Clients
During early 2005, PB and its projects
were honored by prestigious
organizations, receiving accolades
for environmental effort and
kudos for construction management
and overall excellence—all
in support of its clients.
Parsons Brinckerhoff was
named International Consultant
of the Year 2005 by New Civil
Engineer (NCE), the UK’s premier
civil engineering journal. The publication
noted that PB’s Europe-
Africa-Middle East company,
led by Tim Matthews, has such
impressive assignments as project
management of infrastructure
for the manmade Palm Jumeirah
island off the coast of Dubai.
The British Association of
Landscape Industries (BALI)
honored the A3 Thursley
Advanced Mitigation Contract
with a 2004 National Landscape
Award in the Special Award category
of Nature Conservation.
PB’s Project Manager John Craigen
accepted it with landscape contractor
Goddards Ltd. and PB subconsultant
ecologist MKA Ecology.
The project, involving a grade-separated
junction of the A3, is in an
area of Surrey officially designated
and protected for its beauty, nature
and scientific interest. Mitigation
and ecological work—including
preserving adders, slow worms,
common lizards and bats—was
performed for the Highways
Agency under PB’s leadership.
Projects on which PB worked
were honored by the Associated
General Contractors of America
(AGC). Terminal D at George
Bush Intercontinental Airport
won in the Building Renovation
category. Tom Staley, Construction
Project Manager for Terminal D,
working under Vince Lepardo,
Program Manager, and the
PB team, collaborated with
SpawGlass Construction Corp.
for the Houston Airport System’s
International Services Expansion
Program. Terminal D rehabilitation
consisted of upgrading systems
and facilities, and construction
of two sky bridges to the new
International Arrivals Building.
The St. George Island Bridge
Replacement Project in Florida
won for Bridge Renovation. Under
Project Manager John Kemp, PB
provided construction engineering
and inspection services. The contractor
was Boh Bros. Construction
Co., LLC. The 6.6-kilometer
(4.1-mile) bridge, connecting the
island with Florida’s northern Gulf
Coast over Apalachicola Bay, is
one of the Florida Department of
Transportation’s largest designbuild
projects.
Projects of the Year:
Outstanding Outcomes
PB’s Projects of the Year are
outstanding examples of the firm’s
commitment to its clients to develop
innovative technical solutions
and manage complex programs.
Recognizing projects completed
in 2004, the awards were given
in three categories.
In the Constructed Projects
category, the winner is the
Shuweihat Independent Water
and Power Project in Abu Dhabi,
United Arab Emirates. PB served
as technical consultant during
development and as owner’s
engineer during construction. PB’s
development of the first significant
change to the multistage flash
desalination process since its
invention in 1957 was a key
contribution to the project.
Engineers Paul Willson and
George Atkinson developed a
modification to the desalination
process that reduced fuel
consumption and cut emissions,
a boon to the owner and to the
environment. The innovation has
been patented in the UK and
other countries.
Key project personnel
included: Dave Griffin, Project
Manager; Ken Morris, Site
Construction Manager; Robin
Jones, Commissioning Manager;
Bob Docherty, Manager, Quality
Services; Derek Jamieson, Deputy
Project Manager; and John
At Shuweihat, seawater is supplied
to the desalination plant via
an open inlet channel and pumping
station. The desalination plant
performance is enhanced using a
PB-patented process. Stacks for gas
turbines are seen in the background.
Canisters forming the SEREBAR
Groundwater Treatment System
are lifted into place.
Ferguson, Project Administrator.
The winner in the Studies
and Special Projects category is
the SEREBAR Groundwater
Treatment System in Devon, UK.
Professor Bob Kalin of Queen’s
University Belfast, and PB, in
concert with the client, SecondSite
Property Holdings Limited, as well
as researchers from other universities,
developed a permeable reactive
barrier system for a former
gasworks and operating natural
gas storage and distribution center.
The unique SEquential REactive
BARrier (SEREBAR) treats groundwater
contaminated with cyanide,
polyaromatic hydrocarbons and
petroleum hydrocarbons from gas
manufacturing processes.
Key project personnel
included: Andrew Limage,
Principal-in-Charge; Jamie
Robinson, Project Manager and
Geochemist; Russell Thomas,
Biotechnologist; Stuart Jagger,
Resident Engineer; Stuart Cory,
Hydrogeologist; and Nicola
Heighway, Project Administrator.
The winner in the Construction
Engineering and Inspection
category is the Capital Improvements
Program of the Los
Angeles Unified School District
(LAUSD). PB provided program
management support for LAUSD’s
$15 billion construction and modernization
program, the largest
schools capital improvement
program in the U.S. Among the
challenges was the development
of a strategic execution plan
for more than 6,000 repair and
modernization projects. PB also
was instrumental in guiding the
construction department responsible
for managing LAUSD’s New
Schools Construction Program.
Key personnel on the program
included: Jim Delker,
Program Manager; John Doyle,
Director of Construction; Bill
Wilkerson, Director of Facilities
Projects; Chuck Sprick, Director,
Facilities Technology Program
Management Group; Scott Lewis,
Assistant Deputy Chief Facilities
Executive; Bob Moeller, Director
of Construction; and Wendy Reda,
Project Administrator. •
PB provided construction management services for many
schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
WTS Names PB
Employer of the Year
Parsons Brinckerhoff is the
employer for women in its
field, maintains the Women’s
Transportation Seminar (WTS),
which named PB Employer of
the Year at the WTS annual
conference in Scottsdale,
Arizona, in May 2005. WTS
cited the firm for developing
career opportunities for
women in planning, design
and construction management
of transportation infrastructure
through programs such as
the firm’s Women’s Outreach
Network, which works toward
greater participation by women
in PB’s activities. PB is a WTS
corporate sponsor; 118 PB staff
belong to 29 WTS chapters
across the U.S.
In addition, PB women
hold key WTS leadership
posts. Ann Koby, Principal
Consultant, PB Consult, is WTS
International Vice President.
Terry Gruver, Senior Technical
Specialist, is Director at Large
on the International Board.
Some have been Woman of
the Year in local chapters; for
2005, Gruver was lauded in
Phoenix and Janette Sadik-
Khan, PB’s Industry Director
for Transit, will be honored in
New York in October.
© 2003 david sailors
24 • Notes