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Project Manager Dan Valentine has worked on a wide range of dam, drinking water, and water resources projects during his 12-year career. The focus of some of his civil engineering experience spans dam repair evaluations, water supply, storage and distribution, underground utility design, hydrologic and hydraulic analyses, and roadway design.

Dan is working on projects such as the Nystrom Pond Dam Improvement Project. The existing dam was constructed in the 1920s, owned by the State of Connecticut, and was associated with a state park. Many years later, the ownership of the state park (along with the dam) was transferred to the Town of Thomaston, Connecticut. When the Town took over the dam it was in poor condition. Dan and his team performed an initial inspection of the dam, then developed recommendations and alternatives to address the deficiencies in the dam’s current condition. The existing dam did not meet current stability factors of safety, and during the design process, CTDEEP increased the hazard rating of the dam, therefore increasing the design storm that the dam is required to safely pass.

Dan and his colleagues faced several challenges including the need for more mass to be added to the dam to meet current stability factors of safety. Rather than add several feet of additional concrete on the downstream end of the dam, Dan and his team developed an innovative solution. They are adding concrete mass in the form of an upstream facing wall tied to the new spillway training walls that needed to be constructed. This will serve to cut off seepage through the dam, improve the dam’s stability, and avoid additional excavation at the downstream dam face.

Dan is also managing the replacement of a historical water storage tank in the Village of Tivoli, New York. The existing tank was a gift from Elenore Roosevelt in the 1930s and is so iconic that the Village has an image of the tank on its village seal. He supported public relations to garner support for the replacement of this landmark structure. Dan and his team prepared photo-realistic renderings of several different tank styles at two different locations, the existing location and a new location. They presented alternatives at several Village board meetings and compared the lifecycle cost of the various options presented. The Village community ultimately decided to move forward with a new tank designed to aesthetically match the old tank as closely as possible, while doubling its size and placing it at a new location.

Dan’s work on various projects in his career allows him to contemplate the impacts of a project from several perspectives and consider the various stakeholders that are normally affected by civil and environmental engineering projects. Designing, constructing, and maintaining infrastructure with stakeholders in mind is important to clients’ success.

“I love that I get to work on projects that improve the utility, sustainability, and resiliency of the world we all live in. We are lucky to have such dedicated and collaborative clients that make working on civil infrastructure projects all the more rewarding.” – Dan Valentine, PE

He continues to work alongside clients as he assists owners of dams and water utilities with maintenance and improvement to their critical infrastructure assets. This is not the first time that Dan has provided guidance on asset management. He has presented on Stormwater Asset Management Plans for the New York State Society of Professional Engineers (NYS NSPE) and CTDEEP Emergency Action Plans for Connecticut American Water Works Association’s Annual Technical Conference and Vendor Exposition (ATCAVE).