Green Valley Consulting Engineers project wins ACEC California Merit Award

 SANTA ROSA, CALIF. — Green Valley Consulting Engineers ends 2011 with another award to add to its growing list of accolades. The city of Sebastopol Laguna Force Main project won the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) California Engineering Excellence Merit Award. Earlier in the year, the Laguna Force Main project also received the 2011 Outstanding Sustainable Technology Project of the Year Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) San Francisco Section. The ACEC California engineering awards banquet will be held on Feb. 7, 2012 at the Hyatt Regency-Sacramento, Calif.

In 2007, Green Valley began work on the city of Sebastopol Laguna Force Main project, which commenced with extensive environmental studies due to its proximity to the Laguna de Santa Rosa watershed — a 254-square-mile watershed and the second largest freshwater wetland in Northern California. It is home to hundreds of species of wildlife and two federally listed threatened and endangered salmonid species.

The Project included the design and construction of over one mile of sewer main along State Highway 12. Construction for the project was completed in 2010.

The project was honored in part for the innovative and cutting edge implementation of a Vortex Flow Insert — sustainable and revolutionary technology designed to eliminate corrosive and odorous hydrogen sulphide emissions in sanitary sewer systems. Unique to standard pipeline projects, the equipment operates without an energy source — it is completely passive. The project was also recognized for its use of trenchless pipeline construction methods and use of fusible High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) pipe in an alternative pipe installation method.

Additional design features included the mitigation of seasonal wetlands via purchase of mitigation banks, a jack and bore crossing of State Highway 12, and working under the jurisdiction of at least six different municipalities and regulatory agencies, including the city of Sebastopol, the city of Santa Rosa, the county of Sonoma, the Sonoma County Water Agency, Caltrans, The Department of Fish and Game, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board.

Other awards bestowed to Green Valley in 2011 include: ASCE Sustainable Technology Project of the Year Award for Laguna Force Main, ASCE Special Project of the Year for Bodean Mark West Quarry, North Bay Business Journal’s 2011 Top Real Estate Project Awards for Bodean Mark West Quarry and Stony Point Plaza, Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce Leadership Award (Liz Ellis), and ZweigWhite Marketing Excellence Design Award for direct mail campaign.