Tighe & Bond Receives Three ACEC/MA Engineering Excellence Awards
Tighe & Bond, Inc. has been honored by the American Council of Engineering Companies of Massachusetts (ACEC/MA) with multiple Engineering Excellence Awards. ACEC/MA celebrated 2020 and 2021 award winners in a joint virtual ceremony at their annual Engineering Excellence Awards Gala on September 30th.
Tighe & Bond, along with their clients and project partners, were recognized for three projects in the Bay State:
2020 Finalist (Gold Award) – Transformation of Mt. Tom – Holyoke MA
Tighe & Bond, in conjunction with a team of subconsultants and property owner ENGIE North America (ENGIE), transformed the site of the Mt. Tom coal-fired power plant.
In 2014, the coal-fired power plant in Holyoke, Massachusetts stopped operations, and ENGIE began the task of decommissioning and closing the site. The Tighe & Bond environmental team developed the remedial design for the power plant and the associated coal ash management on the property. The successful coal ash closure approach resulted in preserving and protecting nearby waterways, over 50 acres of vegetated forest, and associated rare and endangered species habitat.
A portion of the site was also used for renewable energy generation and energy storage. A 5.7-megawatt (MW) AC solar project was developed and is the largest community solar project in Massachusetts. In addition, the 3 MW/6 MWh AC battery storage project became the largest utility-scale energy storage installation in the Commonwealth. This energy storage system provides the City of Holyoke an even greater benefit by storing the energy to be used during peak times to satisfy demand, offsetting utility cost increases for customers, and reducing the burden on the electrical distribution system.
The success of this project has enabled ENGIE to position the balance of the Mt. Tom properties for continued clean industrial, commercial, and energy redevelopment.
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- The solar facility is the largest community solar project in the state, generating enough hours of solar energy production to power approximately 1,800 homes in the area for an entire year.
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- The energy storage component of the project is now the largest utility-scale energy storage installation in Massachusetts.
2020 Bronze Award – East Main Street Water Treatment Plant – Middleborough, MA
The East Main Street Water Treatment Plant is a sustainable and economic project that reduces the levels of iron contaminants in the Town of Middleborough’s drinking water supply. Tighe & Bond’s innovative design and application of biological filtration for the water treatment plant is helping set a new industry standard to address drinking water treatment. With the completion of this project, Tighe & Bond has now designed three out of the four operating biological water treatment plants in New England. The continued use of biological treatment will help fulfill a need in the waterworks industry to provide more sustainable alternative solutions for water treatment.
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- Completed biological filtration treatment system for the East Main Street Water Treatment Plant.
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- Completed East Main Street Water Treatment Plant in Middleborough, MA with a solar panel array that follows the sun by rotating and tilting, ensuring optimal energy production for the plant.
2021 Silver Award – Memorial Beach Water Treatment Plant – Webster, MA
The Town of Webster’s Memorial Beach Water Treatment Plant uses an economic and sustainable filtration system to mitigate elevated levels of iron and manganese in the groundwater and provide clean, safe drinking water. Tighe & Bond’s design used GreensandPlus™ filtration with the unique addition of a water recycling system and repurposing an existing pump station facility to provide a cost-effective, long-term solution to water quality issues. With the plant located between Webster Lake and a walking track, the facility was designed to be aesthetically pleasing and constructed with minimal impacts to the town’s largest recreational area.
“Thank you to ACEC/MA for recognizing our work on these innovative projects. We are proud of the dedication of our employees and clients to ensure that communities have safe drinking water and sustainable energy infrastructure,” says Tighe & Bond President & CEO Bob Belitz.
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- The finished iron and manganese filtration system inside the Memorial Beach Water Treatment Plant.
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- An aerial view of the finished Memorial Beach Water Treatment Plant located in between the popular walking track and parking lot for Webster Lake recreational area.