GENERAL CAPABILITIES
Dufresne & Associates, P.C. (D&A) provides engineering and consulting services for municipal clients and large industrial and commercial facilities. The firm provides specialized expertise in water and wastewater treatment systems and related infrastructure planning and design. The staff has extensive experience in groundwater exploration and development and providing funding and regulatory guidance for the municipal sector. D&A staff can assist clients with local ordinances, rate studies, planning reports, construction arbitration, preparation of requests for proposals (RFP's), and operational assistance to water and wastewater system operators.
PLANNING STUDIES AND EVALUATIONS
Successful projects begin with comprehensive preliminary studies and evaluation reports. The preliminary phase investigation should access the current systems and define any inadequacies or substandard components. Once the inadequacies are defined, D&A staff can compare alternative solutions to fulfill the project objectives. Knowledge and experience with alternative systems is crucial for a meaningful comparison to be made. Comparisons by engineers without experience in the type of processes or systems being compared can be of limited us. Familiarity with funding sources and regulations is also crucial for the overall success of the project. Finally D&A staff specialize in presenting complex technical issues at public informational meetings using understandable terms and audiovisual techniques.
DESIGN OF WATER TREATMENT SYSTEMS
The staff at D&A has decades of experience in the process and civil design of both large and small scale surface water treatment systems in New England. D&A staff have managed the design phase of water treatment facilities utilizing the latest in process innovation including numerous types of package facilities. D&A staff have experience in process residual freeze drying systems and solids handling systems.
DESIGN AND EVALUATION OF WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITIES
D&A specializes in the evaluation and application of emerging and new technologies for municipal wastewater applications. D&A can assist with the design and engineering services during construction with treated wastewater recycle systems to reduce on site disposal area requirements. The staff at D&A has taken the lead in the evaluation and application of membrane systems to produce a tertiary quality wastewater effluent at a significant capital cost savings. By combining the process expertise of recent innovations in wastewater treatment with the staff's experience in advanced water treatment systems, water re-use alternatives can be accomplished to minimize indirect discharge land requirements.
VALUE ENGINEERING
Complex projects require the services of many technically competent engineers specializing in many different disciplines. Experienced teams many times can evaluate alternatives and select the best system or component during the final design process. Unfortunately many times such "value" is not designed into the project. How can a project owner insure the project incorporates the best value given the specific situation? Many times a second look or Value Engineering approach is beneficial. It is customary to save 5 to 10 percent of the ultimate project cost. However, D&A staff have experience on value engineering teams of obtaining project savings of 30 to 50% of the project cost. Experience and relationships of team members are crucial for the success of a Value Engineering approach to be successful. D&A staff can assemble experienced dynamic teams and provide the management and facilitate the process to build value into a complex project.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND OVERVIEW
Public works projects of today require seemingly endless permits and funding applications both during and prior to the design stage. Inadvertently leaving out a single permit application can delay the construction project for several months. D&A staff have been in the consulting business for decades and are familiar with the complex permitting issues faced by local officials. D&A summarizes the permits necessary and makes early and regular contact with regulators to insure permit requirements are addressed as part of overall project schedule management.
ENGINEERING SERVICES DURING CONSTRUCTION
Engineering services during construction is provided to insure the quality specified in the design plans and specifications is actually delivered into the constructed project. The resident engineer on the project provides quality assurance during the construction period. D&A staff have the experience necessary to communicate with the contractor and affected adjoining landowners to minimize problems during the construction phase of the project.
OPERATIONAL EXPERTISE AND TRAINING
D&A staff can provide operational training and plant evaluation and certification studies for both water and wastewater treatment facilities. All members of D&A staff have provided operational training as part of operator certification programs in New England. The operational viewpoint provides the best vantage see the optimum solution during the design phase. D&A staff can provide municipal operational staff with a useable Operation and Maintenance manual that can minimize unanticipated process interruptions.
WATER SYSTEM COMPUTER MODELING
The staff at D&A has extensive experience in analysis of water systems utilizing computer programs to simulate system hydraulics. D&A have thorough knowledge of the steps necessary in successful water modeling, including computer model development, model calibration/refinement methods, analysis, presentation of results and graphical interfacing with AutoCad and GIS base maps.
GIS APPLICATIONS
D&A utilizes GIS software programs to develop project maps to include such features as topography, soils, wetlands, property data, surface water, flood plains and utilities. The base maps are integrated with databases to assist in data storage and organization, permitting, planning, design, operation and maintenance applications.
SUBDIVISION DESIGN AND PERMITTING
Lot layout and roadway design utilizing AutoCad 2004, Land Desktop, Civil and Survey design software |
