Colby Company Engineering

Maine State Park Pass Distribution

set — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:05:48 +0000

For the second year, Colby Co. distributed Maine State Park Passes to each of its employees. The vehicle passes allow access to state parks throughout the state for 2012. According to Maine.gov, Maine State Parks generate $100 million annually for the Maine economy. The 32 parks cover a wide variety of landscapes including mountains, ocean beaches, and lakes. Twelve of the state parks offer campgrounds.

Colby Co. employees made great use of the park passes and visited over fifteen of the parks in their spare time including:

• Baxter
• Bradbury Mountain
• Camden Hills
• Cobscook Bay
• Crescent Beach
• Ferry Beach
• Lily Bay
• Penobscot Narrows Observatory
• Popham Beach State Park
• Range Pond
• Reid State Park
• Scarborough Beach
• Sebago Lake State Park
• Two Lights
• Wolfe’s Neck

HRSG Structural Design

set — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 20:00:47 +0000

Colby Co. has recently provided complete analysis and design of two Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG) power plant projects. The gas temperature within the HRSG’s range from 1200 deg to 2100 deg. The first HRSG is 120′-0″ long, 12′-0″ wide, 60′-0″ tall with outputs of 125 MegaWatts of power and the second HRSG is 90′-0″ long, 15′-0″ wide, 60′-0″ tall with outputs of 450,000 pounds of steam per hour.

Our structural engineers provided footprints and load calculations, main frame structural design, connection design and detailing as well as pipe support analysis per ASME B31.1. Colby Co. also provided all of the shop and shipping erection calculations and designs. Additionally Colby Co. provided consultation for material selection to withstand the intense temperatures within the HRSG’s.

Colby Co.’s engineers performed shop inspections of weldments and assemblies. Our engineers also provided on-site erection assistance and construction administration services.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Awards A/E IDIQ Contract to Colby Co. Engineering

set — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 19:59:54 +0000

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) New England District recently awarded an Architecture and Engineering Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity Contract worth up to $3.5 million to Colby Co. Engineering. The contract is for general engineering and architectural services throughout the North Atlantic Division with work primarily in the New England District. The geographic region includes Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Colby Co. has worked on numerous projects prior to the award of this contract which included $8M of electrical and mechanical renovations to hospital space; a levee inspection program; a parking garage design; and multi-discipline building renovations.

Colby Co. is a Small Business engineering firm under the NAICS Code 541330. We have Federal Design Experience at 20+ Federal installations through the United States.

Liberty Mutual Building Construction

set — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 19:39:12 +0000

Colby Co.’s structural engineers performed all of the structural steel connection design for the new $300 million Liberty Mutual Office Building is in the final stages of construction. The 22-story, 590,000 square-foot building will serve as new office space for Liberty Mutual who estimates that the expansion will create 600 new full-time positions. The building was designed to meet LEED Silver certification.

Colby Co.’s structural engineers also performed all of the structural connection design for an 83′-0″ span Pedestrian Bridge that is 22′-0″ above the ground connecting the new Liberty Mutual Office expansion and an adjacent office building in Boston, MA. The bridge components included custom designed arched box girders and architecturally exposed suspension cables. We evaluated the dynamic affects of heavy pedestrian traffic as well as the consideration of wind tunnel affects between the buildings.

Building Energy Conference 2012

set — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 06:04:46 +0000

Sonia Barrantes, mechanical engineer at Colby Co., recently attended the Building Energy 2012 Conference in Boston, MA. According to nesea.org, BuildingEnergy is the most established and most cross-disciplinary renewable energy and high performance building conference in the region. Organized by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, it brings together architects, engineers, builders, policymakers, developers and building managers for three days of networking, accredited educational sessions and a high-level trade show.

Sonia attended numerous information and interesting sessions that included:

Commercial and Institutional Net Zero: Methods and Case Studies
High Performance Hybrid Wall Systems
What To Do With Steam (Retrofits to old steam systems and when to convert to hydronic heating)
Health Care Ventilation and Radiant/Induction Cooling
Green Mill Renovation

The tradeshow featured over 170 vendors that showcased state-of-the-art technology and practical applications in the renewable energy and sustainable building industries. Tradeshow standouts included improved flat plate solar hot water collectors, industrial biomass boilers, new solar panel models, and examples of net-zero and wind projects.

FIRST Robotics Competition

set — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 19:56:50 +0000

The Bonney Eagle Robotics Team “BERT 133” recently competed at the FIRST Robotics Competition at the Verizon Wireless arena in Manchester, New Hampshire. The competition required high school students to design and build a robot over a six-week period using a parts kit and standard set of rules that is provided to all teams. The focus of the game changes every year and this year’s game, Rebound RumbleSM, incorporated basketball elements.

The BERT 133 team and robot performed well at the competition. The BERT 133 team also won the “Gracious Professionalism Award” by Johnson & Johnson. They were praised for their sportsmanship as demonstrated by assisting other teams, loaning tools, materials, and exhibiting a courteous attitude which was noticed by the other teams and the judges.

Colby Co. was one of the sponsors of the BERT 133 team and we are proud of the team. Colby Co. is also very supportive of the event’s mission which is to encourage student’s participation in the math and science fields.

Colby Co. Adds Three New Hires

set — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:06:51 +0000

Colby Co. recently welcomed three new employees, Sonia Barrantes, Geoff Chartier and Jeff Read.

Sonia Barrantes is a mechanical engineer with a Masters in Engineering in Mechanical Engineering – Energy and the Environment Core from the University of Maryland College Park. Sonia recently spent 12 years in the U.S. Navy as a Naval Flight Officer and flight instructor. She is currently involved with the Passive House Institute United States (PHIUS) and is a Certified Passive House Consultant.

Geoff Chartier is a CADD Designer in the electrical, instrumentation, mechanical, and structural disciplines. He is a Licensed Journeyman Electrician as well with practical field experience. Geoff is also a talented bassist and has been a member of the Bob Charest band for 13 years.

Jeff Read, PE is a registered Professional Engineer with a Bachelor’s of Science in Civil Engineering from Tufts University. Jeff brings 21 years of experience in the civil engineering, geotechnical engineering and construction management fields. He is very knowledgeable about the preparation of Federal, State and local permitting applications. In his spare time, Jeff plays hockey with a local recreational league.

United States Postal Service Awards $2.5 Million Contract to Colby Co. Engineering

set — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:25:42 +0000

The United States Postal Services recently awarded a $2.5 million contract to Colby Co. Engineering. The contract is for general engineering and architectural services at USPS facilities throughout Maine. The USPS has over 400 branches in Maine. Colby Co.’s mechanical, electrical, structural and civil engineers will draw on their extensive facilities renovation experience to provide design services to the USPS. Our facility renovation experience includes conducting life safety code studies, interior space planning and design studies, facility planning, office renovations, training facility renovations, industrial maintenance facility renovations, building construction, addition of special projects, and construction administration.

VAMC Hospital Renovation

set — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 21:21:41 +0000

Construction is nearing completion for the installation of a new HVAC system in an existing hospital building at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Providence, Rhode Island. Colby Co. provided the mechanical and electrical design for this $2M construction project. The new system will provide mechanical ventilation and cooling to patient wards and isolation rooms with 90-ton air cooled chillers, rooftop makeup air units, and pipe fan coil units. Our renovation design included an exhaust airflow dispersion analysis to prevent entrainment of contaminated air into the new makeup air units. A new negative pressure ventilation system was designed for a tuberculosis isolation room. Colby Co.’s electrical engineers evaluated the existing system’s capacity to support the HVAC equipment.

Mount Desert Island Half Marathon

set — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 07:00:04 +0000

Laura Clough, Sarah Emily Teaford and Calen Colby, all of Colby Co., ran in the Mount Desert Island Half Marathon in September. The MDI YMCA’s USATF Certified Half Marathon is the only race of its kind held in a National Park. Nine miles of the course wind through Acadia’s carriage road system which is a unique national treasure that is considered the best example of broken stone roads in America. The proceeds from the race fund the YMCA’s scholarship fund. Approximately 400 people participated in this year’s race.
(credit: http://www.mdiymca.org/index.php?page=half-marathon-5k)