ECI – Engineers Construction

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.

Winter is a good time to get caught up with our safety training requirements.  Over the coming months ECI will be holding several training sessions, including:

Confined Space Training Entry Training  (29 CFR 1910.146)

Purpose:  To train a worker that enters a confined space.

Credit Hrs:  4 Hours

Content:  Definition of a Confined Space, Air Monitoring, Retrieval Systems, etc.

Confined Space Entry Supervisor Training  (29 CFR 1910.146)

Purpose:  To train a supervisor prepare a permit, inform the workers, and ensure a safe entry

Credit Hrs:  4 Hours;  Must attend the Confined Space Entry Worker Training

Content:  Confined Space Basics, Hazard Evaluation,  Monitoring Instruments, Permit Preparation, etc.

Hazardous Waste Operations & Emergency Response Refresher (29 CFR 1910.120)

Purpose:  HAZWOPER covers activities on contaminated sites and emergency releases

Credit Hrs:  8-hour; required every year; 40 hr course a prerequisite

Content:  PPE Levels, Monitoring Instruments, Exposure Paths, etc.

CPR/AED/First Aid

Purpose:  To provide CPR, AED, and basic first aid ability

Credit Hours:  4 hours

Content:  CPR Certification, AED demonstration, general first aid

Rigging/Signal Person (ECI Specific)

Purpose:  Qualify ECI workers to select, inspect, use rigging, and signals for a lift

Credit Hours:  4 Hours

Content:  Chains, wire rope, shackles, hooks, etc.

A couple of points to consider when attending these training sessions:

• An OSHA Officer might very well ask a worker about what training was given to the worker
• Some of these courses involve tests.  Don’t be nervous.  The test are to verify that you comprehend the content.  If you don’t understand, our trainer will work with you personally until you are competent in the content and able to practice the standards.

Welcome:

Welcome to ECI’s new website.  Our previous website was mostly as a marketing tool to show the world who we are and what we can do.  The new website is more interactive with blogs so we can reach out to our employees, customers, vendors, and friends.  The blogs may contain announcements of ECI’s achievements and project news.

New Features:

There are several features that we would like to point out:

1. The site has been totally revised.
2. We now are in complete control of content, unlike the previous site.  This means we can make changes anytime and anywhere, without hiring a website designer.
3. We have an Employee Portal and a Vendor Portal.
4. The Employee Portal has documents for downloading, news, the safety manual, calendar, and personal photos on the Employee Wall.
5. The Vendor Portal will have similar documents, safety & quality standards, and a calendar.

We hope everyone takes advantages of these features.

Ken & Scott Pidgeon