D&K has received a Grand Award for the Bethel Mountain Road Emergency Slope and Roadway Repair in Rochester, Vermont. The award was received in the Special Projects Category of the annual American Council of Engineering Companies of Vermont (ACEC/VT) Engineering Excellence Awards Program, a showcase of exemplary engineering projects completed around the state.
On April 15, 2019, a significant rainfall event melted snowpack on frozen ground above the Bethel Mountain Road, a vital mountain connector road that carries 1,400 vehicles per day between VT 100 and VT 12. The stormwater and sediment runoff overwhelmed inadequate drainage and scoured the unstable roadway embankments, leading to six roadway slope failures and rendering the road impassable.
D&K led the design and supported the project through the reconstruction of a half-mile section of road and repairs of steep embankments in a compressed six-month timeframe, meeting schedule requirements that resulted in the town receiving one hundred percent federal funding. Working with the Town of Rochester, the Vermont Agency of Transportation, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, the Federal Highway Administration, Sanborn Head (which provided geotechnical engineering), G. W. Tatro (contractor), and John Turner Consulting, D&K successfully led the stabilization of six failed slopes, developed new stormwater collection and erosion mitigation practices, and reconstructed 2,800 linear feet of roadway. Construction was completed and the road reopened for traffic on October 11, 2019.
