American Council of
Engineering Companies (ACEC)
recognizes
outstanding engineering achievement
at its annual conference.
Washington,
D.C.
On April 29, 2008, the North
Hudson
Sewerage Authority (NHSA) and
CH2M HILL were honored with a
National ACEC Engineering Excellence
Honor Award for their
collaboration in implementing
innovative technologies to support
Gold
Coast development in Hudson County,
NJ. This award was preceded
by a New Jersey ACEC Engineering
Excellence Honor Award in
December 2007.
For many years, Hudson County
communities in New Jersey along
the Hudson River had unsightly
shorelines of derelict piers or
working port
areas with no recreational access.
Today, this area is experiencing
high-level growth and green-space
development. However, the
communities with a population of
145,000 are served by a combined
sewer system that is over 150 years
old that overflows to the Hudson
River at several outfalls during wet
weather.
The Authority is employing
traditional methods and innovative
technologies to implement CSO
controls required by the State of
New Jersey. The Authority's permit
includes a requirement to eliminate
discharges of solids and floatables
greater than a half inch in diameter
to
New Jersey's water resources. The
Authority was challenged to develop
and implement controls on CSO
discharges beneath new open spaces,
tree-lined esplanades, and luxury
developments along New Jersey's Gold
Coast.
The Authority has overcome a number
of unique design, permitting,
funding, and construction challenges. The designs feature an innovative
CSO screening technology developed
by CH2M HILL. It is a patented
solids and floatables control
technology that can be applied over
a wide
performance range that has minimal
aesthetic impacts on the community.
It is ideal for deployment where
overflows are infrequent yet still
require a
minimum level of treatment to
protect aesthetics.
The Authority started construction
work on its $40,000,000
CSO capital program in spring 2002,
which includes seven screening
facilities of unique design, one
proprietary pressurized vortex
separation
facility, two CSO outfall
consolidations, and other related
work. CH2M
HILL performed planning, design,
construction management, and other
oversight of the work, which is
being accomplished through 11
separate
construction projects. The
Authority has constructed and is now
operating
CH2M HILL's patented technology at
several of its CSOs, successfully
integrated with the community's
social, economic, and recreational
goals.