(l-r) Left to Right: Emily Scerbo (Tighe & Bond), Jennie Moonan (Tighe & Bond), Dave Pinsky (Tighe & Bond), Dan Rukakoski (Tighe & Bond), Chris Bone (Tighe & Bond), Larry W. Bishop (NEFCO), Chris Stockwell (Tighe & Bond), Ryan Siegel (Tighe & Bond), and Rebecca Sherer (Tighe & Bond) Photo by frankmonkiewicz.com.
Westfield, MA – Tighe & Bond recently received a Gold Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Massachusetts (ACEC/MA) for its $143 million Great Lakes Water Authority Biosolids Dryer Facility project entry. The award was presented on March 15 at the ACEC/MA 2017 Engineering Excellence and Awards Gala.
Tighe & Bond won praise for its role as the process/building engineer for the complex fast-track design/build/operate/maintain project led by New England Fertilizer Company (NEFCO) of Quincy, Mass. The new biosolids dryer facility – the largest facility of its kind in North America – serves approximately three million people in the Detroit, Michigan metropolitan area.
Prior to this project, sludge in Detroit was incinerated, destroying a valuable resource and generating significant air pollution. Now, liquid wastewater sludge is thermally dried into a pelletized biosolids product, which is distributed to regional farms as a renewable substitute for chemical fertilizer, or as an alternative fuel with characteristics similar to coal.
The entire project, from concept to start-up, was completed in just 30 months. The facility, constructed on a former industrial site, has greatly improved neighborhood aesthetics and benefitted the local economy with the creation of jobs during construction and operations.
The annual ACEC/MA Engineering Excellence and Awards event recognizes recent engineering achievements that demonstrate the highest degree of merit, ingenuity, complexity, and client satisfaction.
