Gay Head Lighthouse
Boston – The American Council of Engineering Companies of Massachusetts (ACEC/MA) has named GEI Consultants, Inc. a winner of its 2017 Silver Engineering Excellence Award for work on the Gay Head Lighthouse Relocation project in Aquinnah.
The 2017 Awards were announced at the recent ACEC/MA Engineering Excellence and Awards Gala with emcees Carol Gladstone, commissioner of the division of capital asset management; and maintenance and commissioner Leo Roy of the Department of Conservation and Recreation.
GEI Consultants, Inc., headquartered in Boston, was engaged by the town of Aquinnah to assist in providing geotechnical engineering services in relocating the Gay Head Lighthouse on Martha’s Vineyard, as it stood on the edge of eroding bluffs less than 50 feet from its demise.
With the surrounding community rallying together to raise $3.4 million through fundraising and charity events, an engineering team was assembled to move the lighthouse to safety. While working feverishly against time and an impending hurricane season, they discovered endangered plant life, historical artifacts, and the geology of the bluff.
This project shows the dedication of not only the community but also the engineering team, who applied innovative methods to save this historical structure.
