Commonwealth Engineers recently received the Kentucky Consultant of the Year Award at the APWA Conference. Joe Schepers from the Regional Water Resource Agency (RWRA) in Owensboro, KY, announced the award at the conference and provided a testimonial about what makes Commonwealth a worthy recipient.

PSMJ Resources, Inc., the world’s leading authority on architecture, engineering, and construction firm management, recently announced the members of the 2024 Circle of Excellence. Sixty-nine exceptional architecture and engineering firms made it onto the exclusive list this year, including Commonwealth Engineers, Inc.

Commonwealth Engineers, Inc. has been a Circle of Excellence Award Winner for seven consecutive years! 

PSMJ Resources, Inc. announced exceptional architecture and engineering (A/E) firms that are able to sustain this level of performance year after year represent a level of success that deserves special recognition. As such, the firms that achieved Circle of Excellence status for at least four of the past five years (including 2023) are recognized with PSMJ’s Platinum Award.

Commonwealth Engineers, Inc. has been a Circle of Excellence Award Winner for six consecutive years! 

PSMJ Resources, Inc., the world’s leading authority on architecture, engineering, and construction firm management, announces the members of the 2023 Circle of Excellence. Sixty-eight exceptional architecture and engineering firms made it onto the exclusive list this year, including Commonwealth Engineers, Inc.

Commonwealth has received the Indianapolis Star’s 2023 Top Workplaces award for the fifth consecutive year. We thank our employees for making Commonwealth a positive and enjoyable place to work.

Commonwealth received the PSMJ Circle of Excellence award for a fifth consecutive year! The Circle of Excellence recipients include 65 exceptional architecture and engineering firms who are successfully managed and demonstrate outstanding achievements in areas such as productivity, client satisfaction, and staff growth and turnover. 

Commonwealth is humbled to have received the Indianapolis Star’s 2022 Top Workplaces award for a fourth consecutive year. We thank our employees for making Commonwealth a positive and enjoyable place to work.

Commonwealth is proud to display the PSMJ’s Circle of Excellence award for a fourth consecutive year. The PSMJ Circle of Excellence highlights successfully managed firms that demonstrate outstanding achievements in areas such as productivity, client satisfaction, and staff growth and turnover. We were one of 66 firms throughout the United States and Canada to receive this award.

Commonwealth is humbled to have received the Indianapolis Star’s 2021 Top Workplaces award for a third consecutive year. We thank our employees for making Commonwealth a positive and enjoyable place to work.

Commonwealth Engineers is pleased to have earned the PSMJ’s Circle of Excellence Award for the third consecutive year. The PSMJ Circle of Excellence highlights successfully managed firms that demonstrate outstanding achievements in areas such as overhead management, productivity, client satisfaction, and staff growth and turnover.

Commonwealth is honored to have received the Indianapolis Star’s 2020 Top Workplaces award for a second consecutive year. This award is given based on results from an employee survey that asks questions regarding workplace culture, benefits and compensation, and overall satisfaction with the company.

Commonwealth is pleased to have received the 2019 PSMJ Circle of Excellence award for a second consecutive year. This award highlights successfully managed firms that demonstrate outstanding achievements in overhead management, productivity, client satisfaction, and staff growth and turnover. We were one of 72 firms nominated for the Circle of Excellence award.

The Indianapolis Star named Commonwealth Engineers as a top place in Indianapolis to work for the first time in June 2019. This award comes after an employee nomination followed by an employee survey that included questions regarding workplace culture, benefits and compensation, and overall satisfaction working at Commonwealth.

Commonwealth Engineers is pleased to have been listed as a member firm in the PSMJ Resources, Inc. – 2018 Circle of Excellence. The PSMJ Circle of Excellence highlights successfully managed firms that demonstrate outstanding achievements in areas such as overhead management, productivity, client satisfaction, staff growth, and turnover. We are proud to be the only Indiana firm recognized in PSMJ’s national publication.

White County Commissioners, Town of Wolcott – Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvements

A collaboration between White County and the town of Wolcott to construct a new wastewater treatment plant to support future population growth within the Town and economic development at the County’s Industrial Park. The project was funded by the White County Commissioners, the Economic Development Administration, and the United States Department of Agriculture.

Town of Leavenworth – Water Utility Improvements

Major leaks and deterioration of the Town’s 85-year-old elevated storage tank required immediate action and funding assistance to maintain service for 200 customers. The Town secured grants to install a reported, first-of-its-kind in the U.S., elevated glass-fused ground storage tank with a bolt-together steel support structure.

City of Nappanee – Division A Airport Water Tank Improvements

The project included preliminary engineering, design, and construction of a new 600,000-gallon elevated storage tank, including 680 feet of additional 12-inch water main, altitude valve, cathodic protection, controls and instrumentation, and mixing system to meet the current and future needs of the City’s water distribution system.

City of Monticello – RCA Neighborhood Phase 2 Project

The RCA Neighborhood within the City of Monticello contained water mains, valves, and hydrants that were installed in the early 1900s and provided insufficient fire flows and caused frequent water main breaks. The project included the replacement of existing 4-inch water mains with 4,100 feet of new 6-inch water mains, including valves, hydrants, and water services.

City of Crown Point – Water Utility Master Plan Improvements Project

The City of Crown Point’s Master Plan Improvements Project included two ground storage reservoirs, repair and rehabilitation to existing facilities, a new pumping station, controls, valves, and a bulk water fill station. In this project, the City qualified for over $4 million in “forgivable” funding from the SRF-IFA for Service Line Replacements.

Town of Newburgh – Lift Station No. 2 Sub Basin Recalibration Study

The Town of Newburgh’s proactive approach results in over $8.8 million in capital improvement project savings. The Lift Station 2 sub-basin recalibration study proves that proper planning and maintenance of facilities can lead to resounding effects that are good for the utility and the ratepayer.

City of Shelbyville – Meridian Park Detention Basin

With historical flooding, and complex constraints to resolve, the City of Shelbyville invested in detailed hydraulic and hydrologic analyses, calibrated to actual local storm events and flood elevations, to select and complete a project based on capital cost and flood reduction risk for low-income residential owners.

Town of Eaton – Emergency Water Line Relocations

Emergency water main repairs were necessary due to a wastewater project in the Town causing damage to the existing Asbestos Cement Water Pipe. These pipes were unable to be located by traditional methods and were highly sensitive to ground movement and excavations caused by the concurrent wastewater project

City of Crown Point – Water Utility Improvements Division C Phase I

The City’s elevated tanks and primary water storage reservoir required rehabilitation and removal from service. Only one tank could be out of service at a time, and the reservoir could not be taken offline. A 3-million-gallon redundant tank was constructed to allow this necessary work to be performed.

City of Richmond – NW 13th St. Interceptor Replacement Project

The North West 13th Street Interceptor Replacement Project involved upsizing 3.5 miles of aged gravity sanitary interceptor with new 24-36 inch diameter pipe using a combination of open-cut and trenchless construction. The project is an important component of the City’s goal to reduce overflows on the west side of Richmond, Indiana

City of Nappanee – Infrastructure Improvements Project, Division D – Main Street Water Service Improvements

This project was a component of a larger infrastructure improvements project that was intended to replace existing lead service lines within the water distribution system. Water service lines were replaced at no cost to the homeowners and paid for utilizing dollars that would have otherwise been paid towards interest on an Indiana Finance Authority (IFA) State Revolving Fund (SRF) loan. The replacement lines were installed using directional drilling, replacing the entire service line to the premise plumbing. The service lines were then flushed in accordance with AWWA standards and returned to service, providing great benefit to homeowners by removing the lead service line and avoiding potential significant future costs associated with service line breaks outside the R/W.

Golfview Sewer System & Effluent Disposal Facilities Improvements

This project was implemented to replace a failed wastewater collection and effluent disposal system as mandated by the Indiana State Department of Health.  The new collection system consists of a new low-pressure pumping system, new residential sewer laterals, and over 5,000 linear feet of pressure sewer main.  The new effluent disposal system includes a septic tank equipped with effluent filtration, secondary treatment aeration tanks, and effluent pumping facilities with automated controls to evenly distribute effluent into four (4) elevated sand mounds.  The collection system was permitted by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) and the new subsurface effluent disposal site was permitted by the Indiana State Department of Health. 

City of Indianapolis – Talbott Street Brick Reconstruction

Talbott Street, with its historic brick pavement, lies directly adjacent to the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site in Indianapolis. It was reconstructed with special care to preserve the historic nature of the brick pavement and adjacent site features. Most of the bricks were in good condition and were reused.

A 7-foot wide strip of new brick was installed along the west side of the 22-foot wide pavement to provide ADA walkability.  A double soldier-course row of brick divides the old and new types of brick. This division between old and new will show hundreds of students who visit the Harrison Presidential Site each year what this street looked like in the 1800s versus what we have today.

City of Madison – CSO/LTCP Phase 3B Wastewater Utility Improvements

Division A involved upgrading the combined sewer system to provide adequate transport and storage of wastewater during wet weather events. Two (2) concrete facilities with automatic flushing systems and three (3) lift stations were provided. A network of force mains and gravity relief sewers were installed in support of the collection system improvements.  A section of existing gravity sewer was replaced. SSO and CSO events contained by a new control system monitor real-time levels in the collection system to automatically divert wet weather flows to and release flows from equalization.

Division B provided the existing WWTP the ability to remove phosphorus to a level compliant to City’s NPDES permit.  A chemical building, chemical pumps, feed lines, chemical storage tank, and phosphorus analyzer system were installed. 

City of Crown Point – Long Term Control Plan Improvements

This was the last phase of the City’s Long Term Control Plan Improvements, which was implemented to limit combined sewage overflow (CSO) during design storm events. Over the last twenty (20) years the City has implemented seven (7) phased improvements projects designed to meet State and Federal mandates for CSO. Over this time, Crown Point has performed post-construction monitoring and modeling activities to quantify each individual project’s impact, then altered the subsequent project for sake of optimization.

City of Rensselaer – New Weather Treatment Facilities Project

This project is the first phase of a phased Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Long Term Control Plan (LTCP) improvements strategy that is scheduled to be completed by the year 2030. Work includes the design and construction of a new 23.5 MGD satellite wet weather treatment facility that provides primary equivalence treatment and disinfection of CSO flow prior to discharge to the Iroquois River. The Project is inclusive of an influent structure consisting of flow diversion, screening, and pump facilities, a new 36-foot diameter primary vortex separator, a new 20-foot secondary diameter vortex separator, and chemical feed building containing disinfection chemical storage and feed equipment and all electrical and control equipment for the new wet weather treatment facility. 

City of Crown Point – Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvements – Tertiary Treatment

Tertiary treatment was previously provided by an old pressure filter system that was no longer effective for consistently meeting total suspended solids (TSS) effluent and phosphorus NPDES permit requirements. The existing system utilized 50-horsepower influent pumps and 100-horsepower backwash pumps. Through the evaluation of old and newer technology that wasn’t available during previous expansions of the wastewater treatment facility, it was found that disc filters provided a benefit to the City with respect to their annual operation and maintenance costs.

It was estimated that the City would save approximately $16,000 in their operational/replacement fund requirements; however, they have realized approximately $40,000 annually in savings with electric usage. The City received a $29,000 rebate from the NIPSCO Incentive Program because of these savings.

Chief Financial Officer Ann Dryer received the top honor of Indianapolis Business Journal CFO of the Year in December 2022. She has worked for Commonwealth for over twenty (20) years, starting as an accounting assistant after graduating from Indiana University with her B.S. in Financial Management. During her tenure, Dryer has been promoted to Staff Accountant and HR Director, Comptroller, and then Chief Financial Officer. She became Commonwealth’s first female Partner and Stockholder in 2016 .

Mike Duckworth is a great example of dedication to Indiana communities, especially to the communities he serves as a Business Development Manager with Commonwealth. He received The Sagamore of the Wabash in December 2022. The Sagamore of the Wabash, which is the highest civilian honor that can be award to an Indiana resident, is given in recognition of an individual who has shown exceptional service to the State of Indiana or the governor.

Wayne Bailey was presented with the Governor’s Distinguished Hoosier Award in December 2021. Since joining Commonwealth as a Business Development Manager, Wayne has regularly gone above and beyond the requirements of his job description. He is dedicated and has a heart for service–making sure to always keep the best interest of each one of his clients for the health, safety, and longevity of their communities. 

Theresa Criss-Hartwig received the City of Monticello’s Beacon of Light award in May 2020 for “her support of the community during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” While this support was outside of Commonwealth’s typical realm of engineering services, we are committed to helping Indiana communities thrive and prosper, especially during this period of uncertainty.

Brian Desharnais, PhD, PE received the Career Achievement Award from his alma mater Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in May 2015. Recipients of the Career Achievement Award have graduated from the university twenty (20) years ago and are selected based on their achievements in their communities and professions. Desharnais obtained his graduate degree from Rose-Hulman in 1995.

Desharnais exemplifies engineering excellence | Kpcnews | kpcnews.com