Transportation

Chester Engineers was requested to prepare a detailed report of findings reflecting environmental and/or land use issues that could impact a future sale or subdivision of a CSX property located along Fort Smallwood Road in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. The CSX Port Parcel property was a wholly undeveloped site save for an unpaved interior access road (a “paper street” extension of Marley Neck Boulevard across the property), specific roadway perimeter improvements along Fort Smallwood Road for drainage and slope stability, an existing rail corridor at the eastern boundary and the site is covered with a light to moderate tree cover.

Chester Engineers was a member of a multi–discipline, multi–firm consortium of planners, engineers, government agencies, and transportation consultants to assist in the preparation of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a proposed 50-mile long linear inductance magnetic levitation high–speed rail system linking the Pittsburgh International Airport to the downtown Pittsburgh area and on to two additional cities in Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties.  The EIS phase was to identify and evaluate the various alternative alignment and preliminary engineering design options and their impacts on the affected communities through which the rail link would pass. This was the final stage in a multi–city selection process by the Federal Railway Administration to select the best city in which to construct this multi–billion dollar national magnetic levitation test center.

Chester Engineers was contracted by the Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT) to perform a study to address major concerns and opportunities related to the management of dredging resources, methods of dredge removal, management (capacity and structural) of current and potentially new spoil sites and the optimal use of such materials to the benefit of JAXPORT. All these activities were addressed, on a long-term basis, while maintaining a high degree of ecological interest and focus for the river as well as the adjoining environment. The primary focus of this study was to evaluate this activity for the long term with input from key stakeholders (City of Jacksonville, Port Terminal Operators and the Army Corps of Engineers).