The I-95 New Haven Harbor Crossing (NHHC) Corridor Improvement Program is among Connecticut’s largest multi-modal transportation improvement initiatives. The program, which includes operational, safety and capacity improvements to more than 7 mi. (11 km) of Interstate 95, features a new signature bridge over New Haven Harbor, new ramps to Route 34, I-91 and New Haven Interchange, all new construction of roads, off/on ramps and new sewers.
In addition to new and upgraded Shore Line East commuter rail stations, there are numerous Transit and Transportation System Management (TSM) components included as part of the program.
All together it will be about a 14-year project.
In New Haven, Conn., RED Technologies LLC is working in concert with all the major Contractors on this initiative by providing the management and oversight for all of the excess spoils and controlled materials for the Q-Bridge/I-95 reconstruction project. The management project itself is worth approximately $8.5 million. The project was awarded to RED Technologies late last year and it began mobilizing onsite in February 2011. On a daily basis RED will manage upwards to 5,000 cu. yds. of soil from all of the ongoing projects.
“The Connecticut Department of Transportation is very cognizant of the potential impact to air quality from all of the machines that are working in the New Haven area and they have been very proactive in requiring all machines, according to their respective class group, meet the current air quality control requirements established by the EPA. All of our equipment have the latest catalytic converters and meet the strict emission requirements,” said Adam B. Westhaver, vice president of RED Technologies.
RED Technologies is managing all of the materials from the Q-Bridge/I-95 project at its WSA yard (waste stockpiling area) at the Brewery Street site in New Haven, Conn. Any materials that are excavated from the Q-Bridge/I-95 projects are brought to the WSA and classified as either clean fill eligible for reuse or impacted materials slated for disposal at a proper receiving facility, according to Westhaver.
RED Technologies will manage all of the controlled materials from the I-95/Q-Bridge project and all associated projects through the I-95 corridor for the next three years.
“Any controlled material that comes off the project comes to the Waste Stock Area [WSA yard] to be tested for contamination,” said David Costanzo, RED Technologies sales and logistics manager and project manager of this job.
“[The contractors] know they are working in an area of environmental concern. The various contractors that are out there working like Walsh, O&G and Middlesex come and dump their materials into one of the bins. Once the material is in the bin, TRC Solutions, who is an oversight engineering firm that works for the state, is responsible for testing the materials. Then it is goes to an approved DOT facility. TRC Solutions and RED Technologies work hand in hand on this project. RED is responsible for making sure the materials go to the proper disposal location. This area is absolutely critical for production,” said Costanzo.
“The controlled materials have different levels of contamination, so you can have materials that are on the lower levels, which can which meet acceptance at landfill facilities as alternative daily cover material. The next step above that is called cold and hot batch recycling. A cold batch recycler makes an asphalt product and hot batch recyclers thermaly treat the material, which burns off the contaminants. The end product is clean and can be beneficially reused. Then, there are two other designations. There is ’special waste,’ which goes to a higher level landfill and then there is hazardous waste, which is brought to a subtitle C landfill,” said Westhaver.
The Brewery Street waste stock area site contains approximately 24 concrete block bins that house about 750 tons of controlled materials, according to Costanzo. These bins were built and designed by the state to hold this material.
“The material comes in off the projects and gets dumped in the bins. We push it up into a stockpile and cover it [then] the state tests that soil stockpile. Once it’s tested we designate it for disposal based upon the analytical data at one of the three areas mentioned above and bring it there on a dump truck,” said Costanzo.
Keeping It Clean
RED Technologies also is in charge of maintenance and operation of the central ground water treatment facility and sweeping the roadways in connection with the project.
The state wants everything meticulously clean — even the entrances around the jobs and on the streets, according to Costanzo.
“We are acting like a ’clearing house’ for different contractors who have production set on their jobs and they’re constantly bringing materials in and dumping it, pushing it and piling it up and it’s our job to get the materials out of here to keep the space open for them to keep moving materials in,” he said.
To meet the strict air emission standards, RED Technologies bought a Schwarze A7000 regenerative air sweeper from W.I. Clark.
“This sweeper contains the air so that there is no discharge or ’dirty’ air so it helps on the impact of the environment,” said Greg Hurlburt, sales representative of W.I. Clark.
“The material that is going in and out could be potentially classified as nuisance dust emissions, so you don’t want to discharge that ’dirty’ air back into the atmosphere. [The A7000] basically takes the air and regenerates it through the sweeper and helps to suck up the dirt particles up off the ground and helps contain all of the potential pollutants that could get in the air,” Hurlburt said.
“The operator is probably sweeping upwards about six hours a day and covers about a 10-mile radius around the WSA yard. The sweeper is extremely productive … it just sucks everything up,” said Costanzo.
The sweeper has an extra water tank so it can contain an extra 350 gal. (1,325 L) of water and has a bigger set of brooms on it so it can do the gutters. It includes a vacuum attachment for manholes and complies with emission standards.
“Over the next three years the state estimates they will go through about 82,000 tons of controlled materials,” said Costanzo.
Reusable Stockpile Area
RED Technologies also maintains and manages an RSA (reusable stockpile area).
Approximately five acres in size, RED manages it as a stockpile area — any materials going inbound or outbound is handled there.
“We have the capability of processing up to 5,000 cubic yards of material daily,” said Costanzo.
The material in the RSA can all be reused back onsite. RED Technologies utilizes a tracking system: each load that comes in has a ticket so the operators know what project and at what location the material eminated from and any material that leaves the RSA is tracked in the same fashion.
RED Technologies uses a John Deere 844J wheel loader, purchased from W.I. Clark, to load up any trucks at the RSA. The wheel loader is equipped with a load-right scale system that can measure exactly how much material is in the bucket, which enables them to load each truck legally to the maximum so they are getting the most material moved and it’s not overweight. They also can measure the amount of material that comes off each truckload.
“Everything has to be recorded,” Costanzo said. “The wheel loader is fuel efficient — saves upwards of $20,000 in fuel costs.”
The 844J also has special air emission standards to meet EPA protocols.
Working With W.I. Clark
While Westhaver thinks the sweeper is “great,” he’s also quite pleased with W.I. Clark.
“I can speak very highly of W.I. Clark and Greg [Hurlburt] and his predecessor, Ray Tripodina. Greg and W.I. Clark have done a great job in terms of renting equipment, leasing equipment and purchasing equipment. Any time that we’ve come to them with a problem or an issue or a concern or a type of piece of equipment that we need, Greg has always come up with a constructive way of obtaining that piece of equipment for us,” Westhaver said.
“Working with Greg at W.I. Clark allows us to create a competitive edge when bidding for a job. We’ll be bidding a job with certain specifications and we’ll provide Greg with the information and he’ll go out and locate all of the equipment and then we’ll look at all of the information he provides us with, which allows us, internally, to provide a competitive edge for our company when putting our bid together. Greg gives us the ability to create various options or packages.
“W.I. Clark is basically an extension of RED Technologies,” said Westhaver. “Greg had some big shoes to fill after Ray, and I loved his perseverance. He kept coming up with different ways and approaches, which works out for both him and us because as RED Technologies grows, W.I. Clark will grow.”
According to Hurlburt, the feeling is mutual.
“I am not their sales representative … I want to be part of their company. They are a young company and I want to grow with them so I’m going to look out for their best interest, not just the sale. I want to make sure the specs for all their machines are correct. I want to offer him what is going to be best for him in the long run.
“We [W.I. Clark] really look at the entire picture. When someone asks me to put a package together, we will look at every angle to see what the best possible position we can put the customer in because the bidding is so tight today. It is absolutely incredible how tight things are, so any bit of a competitive edge that you can have is vital. And I think the equipment we offer provides us with that. Because we have the people in place between the finance department and used equipment we can put things together for our customers.”
W.I. Clark was founded in 1925 by Winfred Ira Clark. It has represented Ingersoll Rand since 1925, John Deere since 1975, and started representing Wirtgen, Hamm, and Vogele in 2008. In addition, it also represents manufacturers of lasers, hydraulic breakers, skid steers, concrete pulverizers, pumps and more.
Founded in 2003, by Barbara and Adam Westhaver, RED Technologies is a remediation, engineering and development contractor that provides remediation, heavy highway and site construction services throughout New England and the tri-state area.
President and managing member Barbara oversees the day-to-day operations, hauling, permitting, and compliance issues while Adam serves as vice president/member/sales and marketing. Adam’s brother, Matthew Westhaver, is the CFO.
“We are a young company on the fast track to becoming a top tier construction company in the state. For environmental and construction, we are a full-service environmental construction company,” said Adam Westhaver.
In the past, Westhaver observed “that the construction guys wanted to do construction. That’s all they really cared about, building, digging, etc. Then you have the consultant side of it that deals with the regulations, guidelines and the standards that need to be set from an environmental standpoint, but they don’t understand construction.
“So, it was always in the back of our mind to form a company that can do the construction and also understand the environmental side of it. It’s a ’win-win’ situation all the way around and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
That’s where the remediation comes into play, he added, indicating the “R” in RED Technologies.
“Environmental and Engineering [the E in RED Technologies], dealing with all the different types of contaminants and constituents that come across and the engineering is working the construction side of it. The engineers put everything together and ’engineer’ the job. Then you have the development (the D in RED Technologies) — we’ve done some brownfields work, where they’ve done redevelopments on projects and sites,” he said.
“The company is very hands-on,” said Hurlburt. “I’ve been in their Portland yard before and I’ve seen both Adam and Mathew in the machines. Barbara even has her Class B CDL license and often taunts both Adam and Matt on their diving capabilities or lack thereof. They are very hands-on and I think that’s something that the guys that work here really appreciate. They do come out and talk and care about their guys. That’s one thing that I really noticed with them and it’s really nice to see in a young company, that they know their employees.”
The hands-on work ethic is something Westhaver learned early in life.
“My grandfather from the age of 13 drove us down to get our working papers, and told us that we were going to work and understand the value of a dollar. He instilled in us from an early age a work ethic and the way to treat people that includes the following values: you don’t treat anybody, and I mean anybody, other than the way you would want yourself to be treated. We’ll get out there, I’ll grab a shovel, I’ll start digging in the dirt if I have to dig in the dirt. I’ll do whatever I need to do to get the job done and when I go out to the job, I don’t go out as the owner of the company. Because when I cross that line onto the job site — like right now — Dave’s the project manager. I work for Dave. He’s going to tell me what to do. It’s his job and his responsibility,” Westhaver said.There are four divisions within the company.
• Asbestos Transportation and Disposal
• Heavy Highway Construction
• Remediation and Regulatory Compliance Services
• Contaminated and Hazardous Soil Transportation and Disposal
“RED helps the environment go green,” said Adam Westhaver.
The Schwarze model A7000 street sweeper is a heavy-duty, chassis-mounted, regenerative air sweeper with an 8.4 cu. yd. (6.4 cu m) hopper.
The A7000’s blower system generates a high velocity air column, which is propelled into the top of the sweeping head through a 14-in. (35.5 cm) blast tube. The air is first pressurized in the upper chamber of the sweeping head and then expelled into the head’s lower chamber through what is called a “blast orifice.” This is a slot in the sweeping head that forces the air against the pavement at an angle, creating a “peeling” or “knifing” effect. This high volume air blast loosens the debris from the pavement surface, then transports it across the width of the sweeping head and lifts it into the containment hopper via a 14-in. suction tube.
This highly efficient system ensures that even hard-to-reach particles hidden within pavement cracks and irregularities are removed, including the “PM-10 fines” known to contain a high percentage of heavy metals, phosphates and other pollutants. Double-belted curtains on the front and rear of the sweeping head contain the circulating air flow to assure debris transfer with minimal escape of fugitive dust, according to the manufacturer.
In contrast to mechanical broom sweepers, the A7000 sweeper collects the micron-sized contaminants that accumulate on roads and streets.
The particular Schwarze sweeper being used by RED Technologies has a GEO (gutter broom extension override) designed broom system, which cuts down on one extra broom.
“This saves the customer the expense of having a third broom — that’s all part of the regenerative air suction and allows it to come through and create more of a vacuum [without the 3rd broom],” said Hurlburt. “This will save the customer both money and time because there will be less maintenance for two brooms than three.”
The Schwarze sweeper is powered by a John Deere engine with a catalytic converter to meet the state emission requirements. CEG
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