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Highlights From The EBC Connecticut Dam Management Program

June 3rd, 2019 by Thomas Battles

HRP recently attended the Environmental Business Council of New England’s program on Connecticut Dam Management, where we were hosted by Eversource Energy in Berlin, CT.

The event featured some of the most important sources in Connecticut, speaking to the ins and outs of dam safety and Emergency Action Plans (EAP) in the state of Connecticut.

As EBC members who conduct dam work in Connecticut, HRP interacts with CT DEEP Dam Safety on many design projects. These events are a great opportunity to meet new people in our field. HRP is always looking to put a face to a name. We value building relationships, getting the insight of other consultants, and knowing what obstacles they face. It’s essential to building more effective outcomes for our clients.

One example of such insight would be Yvonne Hall’s presentation on the CT DEEP’s Dam Safety Program. Yvonne is the new Supervising Civil Engineer of Dam Safety at CT DEEP. We were excited to learn that Yvonne is a professional engineer, whose experience with dam programs and wasterwater gives her good experience with consultants, and allows her to better understand the consultant’s perspective.

One of the more interesting speakers was Dan Galante, VP at T Ford Construction. He had served as a contractor working on a dam in Massachusetts where the cofferdam failed. The work had been conducted on replacing a spillway. When the cofferdam failed Dan had to improvise. Luckily, the thoroughness of the EAP allowed the team to find a solution, even outside of its usual setting. With the appropriate parties notified as outlined the in EAP, the team was able to successfully address the cofferdam failure.

For us at HRP, it’s a great example of the EAP’s importance and how attending events like these let us pool our collective knowledge and find better solutions for all of our clients.

Thomas R. Battles, P.E., Engineering Practice Leader & Tom Simmons, Corporate Marketing Administrative Assistant at HRP Associates, Inc.