ECI – Engineers Construction

From our Press Release on March 26, 2025

Williston, VT – Engineers Construction, Inc. (ECI), one of Vermont’s leading heavy civil contractors, is pleased to announce Kenneth Pidgeon’s selection as the 2025 Vermont Engineer of the Year at the Engineers Week Banquet held recently in South Burlington.

The National Engineers Week Foundation is a formal coalition of more than 70 professional societies, major corporations, and government agencies. Engineers Week is dedicated to raising public understanding, recognition, and appreciation of engineers’ contributions to society. Founded in 1951 by the National Society of Professional Engineers and celebrating its 85^th year in 2025, Engineers Week is among the oldest of America’s professional outreach efforts.

Mr. Pidgeon was nominated by the Vermont Society of Engineers and selected for the honor by the Vermont Society of Professional Engineers. Ken joins the list of distinguished Vermont registered professional engineers, spanning back to when the honor was established in 1961. As part of his acceptance speech, Ken expressed gratitude to his family, the ECI community, and his past mentors and mentees throughout his career.

Ken: “I am honored and humbled to be your Vermont 2025 Engineer of the Year (. …) As I look around the room, and at the list of previous Engineers of the Year, I see [those] that have inspired me to be a better engineer, and a better person.”

Ken graduated from UVM with a BS in Civil Engineering in 1984 before obtaining his MS in Civil Engineering from UNH, with a concentration in geotechnical engineering. Ken became a registered professional engineer in 1991 after gaining his professional engineering experience with GEI Consultants in Winchester, MA. In 1998, Ken returned to Vermont and joined his father Alan and younger brother Scott in the family business, Engineers Construction, Inc. (ECI).

Ken and Scott purchased ECI from Alan in 2004, with Ken becoming President and CEO. They continued to grow the company and build the culture of a modern construction company. ECI had always been known for its ingenuity, integrity, and ability to perform under challenging conditions. Under Ken’s leadership, ECI further expanded its capabilities and recognition through multiple successful high-profile projects. He was considered the “Lead Specialist” at ECI and provided guidance and council for the senior engineers and mentoring for the younger engineers.

On November 1^st of 2024, ECI became 100% Employee-Owned through an ESOP. With that transition, Ken now serves as ECI’s Chairman of the board of directors and continues a limited management role of engineering assignments. Ken is a member of several local and national engineering associations, the author of multiple technical publications, and a recent past president of the Vermont Association of General Contractors.

Pictured below are the Pidgeon family and a group of ECI team members celebrating with Ken.

ECI was the recipient of the 2024 AGC-VT Best Builder Award for Specialty Innovation – Civil Highway

ECI contracted with VTrans to replace NECR (New England Central Railroad) Bridge 35.01 over Route 14 in Royalton, VT. The existing 26’ clear span bridge was only 12’-1” above the roadway and choked traffic down to a single lane with no signals and a blind approach from each direction. In the past it had been hit hard enough to mangle the outside beams and knock the tracks off alignment, and ECI routinely saw it hit while on site. The new 127’ steel girder bridge has improved vertical clearance of 14’-6” and allowed for Route 14 to be realigned so it is now 30’ wide from shoulder to shoulder with clear visibility and a traveling speed of 35mph.

The contractor provided for two full construction seasons with four relatively short railroad closures. The bridge is supported by two precast concrete cap beams which each sit on two drilled shaft foundations. The drilled shafts allowed for accelerated construction since the shafts were able to be in-stalled during normal rail traffic. Once everything was completed outside of the travel lanes and with two short railroad closures to install the new abutments there was a 21-day highway closure and a 134-hour railroad closure.

During the railroad closure crews worked around the clock to excavate between the previously installed abutments, remove the temporary bridge, set precast wingwalls, backwalls and approach slabs.

We then set the new bridge with a Self-Propelled Modular Transporter and restore the tracks. Once the railroad was open we continued work on the road realignment and had it open to the public 8 days ahead of schedule.

We are proud to announce that our employees have collectively donated $19,672 which was divided between the following local charities:

• American Cancer Society https://www.cancer.org/about-us/local/vermont.html
• Vermont Make-A-Wish https://vermont.wish.org/
• Vermont National Guard Charitable Foundation  https://www.facebook.com/Vermont-National-Guard-Charitable-Foundation-185255287247/
• Mike Loyer Foundation https://www.theclassicmikeloyer.org/about-us/

ECI employees have a history of making charitable contributions during the holiday season and this is the largest contribution by its employees to date – exceeding last years contribution of $17,340.

Much of our work involves being outside and requires us to be diligent about protecting ourselves from the harmful affects of the suns rays – particularly this time of year.  For the most part it’s all common sense:

• Work in shade whenever possible.  Sometimes it makes sense to use a sun umbrella or a fold-up canopy.
• Wear a hat.  Those of us that have less hair on the tops of our heads are far more susceptible to over-exposure.
• Wear UV protective clothing when possible.
• Apply sunscreen regularly throughout the day.
• Wear UV protective sunglasses.

More information is provided on the CDC website:

https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/skin/basic_info/sun-safety.htm

Selection of high-visibility clothing is project specific and should be considered prior to the start of the project and re-evaluated as the nature of the work changes.  Type II (daytime) or Type III (day or night) is required when working on or adjacent to a roadway.   Certain projects will have specific requirements from the Owner or our Client.  

ECI typically issues each employee a Type III vest, depending upon their assignment.  In general, high-visibility clothing (but not necessarily reflective Type II or III) should be incorporated into our daily tailboard on all sitework projects involving moving equipment and trucks – even if not specifically required by regulation.

Check out this weeks safety presentation prepared by our new Safety Director, Matt Orszulak:

HI-VIZ Protective Clothing [Read-Only] 1

Hard hats are an essential part of personal protective equipment when working under overhead hazards which occurs in most our jobsites.

OSHA addresses the requirements for hard hat use and manufacturing standards in 1910.135(a)1:

https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=9785

The standard requires “that each affected employee wears a protective helmet when working in areas where there is a potential for injury to the head from falling objects”.  OSHA also requires that the hard hat meet ANSI 89.1-1993, -2003, or – 2009 standards.

Hard hats should be inspected occasionally for cracks and proper fit.  Damaged hard hats should be replaced.  In general, a hard hat should last from 3 to 5 years.  Hard hat suspensions should be replaced yearly.

Most of us that have been in the construction industry for the past several decades have suffered some amount of hearing loss.  Some of the loss probably occurred from recreational activities outside of the workplace, such as shooting, loud music, wood cutting, etc.  Fortunately, we have the ability to stop any further loss (and for our younger workers to prevent any loss) just by recognizing the hazards and providing appropriate hearing protection for those exposure situations.

A good rule of thumb is that you need hearing protection when ever the noise is loud enough so that you need to raise your voice level to communicate with a person next to you.   Hearing protection is always required when working in these conditions.  Also, look for the hearing protection requirement symbol:

Our Safety Manual address hearing protection:  Safety Manual – Hearing Protection

Hearing protection (foam earplugs or muffs) are available from Stu/Matt, the ECI Tool Crib, and your foreman.  If you frequently work in conditions requiring hearing protection, you should consider the use of ear muffs.  Severe noise should be addressed with both.

As mentioned in our previous blog, Fall Protection is one of the OSHA Focus Four, which means it is one of the four most common causes of workplace fatalities.  It is also a major concern to OSHA inspectors.

The general process for mitigating jobsite hazards (including fall hazards)  includes:

1. Training to identify the hazard
2. Training to use and maintain the protective systems
3. Planning the work to include measures to protect ourselves from the hazard
4. Executing the plan

Simply executing the safety plan might provide a safe work site but falls  short (pun intended) of providing a truly safe jobsite.   This particular blog focuses on item 2, the training in the use of a PFAS.  As indicated by OSHA:    

Before using personal fall arrest equipment, each affected employee shall be trained to understand the application limits of the equipment and proper hook-up, anchoring, and tie-off techniques. Affected employees shall also be trained so that they can demonstrate the proper use, inspection, and storage of their equipment.

OSHA has a webpage devoted to the PFAS:

https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/construction/falls/fallarrest.html

Healthy employees = Happy, Productive, Safer Workplace

Unfortunately, we can’t all be so lucky to be in good health.  But we can choose a lifestyle of Healthy Living which can significantly improve health regardless of our situations.

We hope that all of our employees, their families, and our friends strive to improve their health by wellness living practices:

• Minimize consumption of alcohol.
• Refrain from illicit drug use
• Refrain from smoking and all tobacco products.
• Annual medical checkup (more than a DOT physical).
• Regular dental care and checkups.
• Exercise regularly
• Eat healthy proportions and balanced meals.
• Minimize stress
• Be social and be happy

Personally, I think the best thing for myself is to be outdoors when on personal time.  That assures some level of physical exercise and fresh air, reduces stress, keeps me away from the refrigerator, and puts me in a happier mood.

Working around railroads has some serious safety concerns for our workers, train passengers, train crews, and pedestrians/motor vehicles at grade crossings.  A train incident could also create an environmental hazard if a train derails.

Special safety considerations are necessary while working on a railroad right-of-way, at grade crossings, or whenever there is a possibility of equipment swinging into the track area.  In any of these situations on an active railroad, a railroad flagman is required to coordinate our operations with the railroad and provide authorization for us to occupy our work area.  The railroad flagman will provide a job briefing explaining the protection he is providing.  When assigned to such a job, everyone should clearly understand the name of the employee-in-charge (EIC, or typically the flagman), how to stay in contact with the EIC, type of protection, the track limits under that protection, and any special requirements.  The flagman has the authority to direct us to stop our work and prepare for a train to pass.

There are also special PPE requirements set by the railroad.  Typically, all workers should wear safety glasses, steel-toe boots,  hi-vis reflective vests, and hardhat in addition to the other job-specific PPE.

Pre-planning is important since each railroad and situation might be subject to special requirements.  Therefore, anyone working on or adjacent to any railroad should consult with the safety department prior to starting work.