Civil Engineering Consulting Services, Inc. was presented several awards from the American Council of Engineering Companies of South Carolina (ACEC) at the awards ceremony that was held on June 6, 2021 at the USC Alumni Center in Columbia, SC. The awards were presented for:

I-85/I-385 Design-Build Interchange

Awards: 2021 National Finalist Award; 2021 Palmetto Award for Best Project in SC; 2021 National Recognition Award in Washington, DC

The interchange carries 200,000 vehicles per day. The purpose of the project was to improve the operational efficiency of the existing I-85/I-385 interchange to accommodate existing and projected traffic volumes as well as improve the safety of the interchange. The design challenge was to create a new three level complex interchange within the footprint of the current interchange by stage constructing of the new lanes, ramps and bridges while maintaining the flow of traffic. The overall boundary of the interchange improvements included the reconstruction of the I-85/I-385 interchange, widening of I-385, 4.5 miles of rehabilitation along I-85 and improvements to major local streets in the vicinity of the project. The design team was led by CECS. The delivery of the interchange on the aggressive fast track schedule required efficient interaction with all team members and close coordination with the contractor, SCDOT/FHWA, resource agencies and utility companies. During the pursuit of the Request for Proposals (RFP), the designers made several changes to the publicly approved design such as eliminating an “S” curve on one of the ramps and realigning it to go underneath Woodruff Road as part of the collector-distributor roadway. The modification enhanced the operation over the original design and provided early upfront savings to the project in excess of $20 million dollars. By being creative, knowledgeable and extremely aggressive in addressing the challenges associated with the relevant design features, the CECS design team overcame the obstacles which led to a successful project for SCDOT.

Carolina Bays Parkway, Phase III

Awards: 2021 National Finalist Award, 2021 Honor Award in Washington, DC

For decades, people living in and visiting the Myrtle Beach area have realized the need for a north-south, high-speed roadway on the west side of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AIWW) that would alleviate congestion on the local roadway network, especially along US 17 Bypass. The vision became a reality when limited funding to begin planning for a highway became available in 1991.  After much discussion, a decision was made by Horry County, the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT), and government representatives to construct the project in phases as additional funding became available. The third phase opened in November 2019 which extended the high-speed roadway from SC 544 to SC 707 near Surfside Beach, a distance of 4.3 miles. The cost of Phase 3 was over $200 million and included a modification to the existing SC 544 interchange, a bridge across the AIWW, a new interchange at SC 707, and the relocation of a secondary roadway. The CECS design team overcame the challenges facing them through their knowledge of the history of the area and by being creative in their thinking which led to a successful project for SCDOT and Horry County. More importantly, the travelling public who live near or visit the Grand Strand will benefit from the reduced congestion and improved level of service that is attractive to businesses in the South Strand and safer for the travelling public now that the final phase of the Carolina Bays Parkway is complete.

How Utilities Impacted Wilton Dam Repair

Award: 2021 Engineering Excellence Award

In October 2015, the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) closed Wilton Road (S-32-365) in Lexington County due to a dam breech. It was thought the storm events of early October caused the dam to overtop thus exposing a water line on the dam. Once uncovered, the water line ruptured triggering erosion and thus dam failure. CECS was a subconsultant contracted to provide Utility Coordination and Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE). Due to the project constraints on both sides of the dam, construction and design had to be performed within the existing right of way or lengthy environmental permitting would be necessary. Working within the constraints of the design, the designer proposed utilizing turf reinforcement matting and geogrid with the dam/roadway repair which is great from the dam repair stand point, but is extremely challenging from the utility relocation standpoint because no utilities can go in the geogrid area. Realizing that utilities would need to be accurately located, CECS performed the SUE for the project in March 2019. Of critical importance was the location of the 12” water line owned by the City of West Columbia which could not be “cut off”. The complexity for this project dealt with one item since all the utilities had been coordinated in the design phase. This issue was the guardrail installation along the left termini of the project, the same point where the 12” ductile iron water line transitioned to asbestos cement.  Due to the fragile nature of asbestos cement, the guardrail installer was skeptical about driving the posts for the guardrail.  As a solution, the CECS team dug test holes over the water line. Once the asbestos line was located, additional test holes were drilled for the guardrail posts, thus preventing vibration from affecting the structural integrity of the asbestos cement pipe. By avoiding the relocation of the water line, the project saved over $500,000 in tax payer dollars. A cost savings of more than the actual cost of the roadway/dam repair.