The project consisted of the planning, design and construction engineering required for the construction of approximately 1.25 miles of roadway to serve as the front and Northwest entrances to the Alcorn State University Campus in Claiborne County.  The project roads, both located off of Highway 552, included four lanes divided median boulevard design, combination curb and gutter design and open ditch roadway design. The project also incorporated irrigation system design, landscaping design and lighting design. Services provided by WGK included, preparation of a preliminary engineering report and complete environmental assessment, preliminary design of the extended roadway improvements and entrances, design, contract and construction review administration. This project had a construction value of $1,410,000.

The project consisted of placing 5,545 tons of rocks approximately 400 feet along Bayou Pierre adjacent to Bald Bill Road in Claiborne County. WGK was selected to design improvements. Services also provided by WGK included,erosion control, installation of a 900 foot 5 strand barb wire fence. The project had a construction value of approximately $217,000.

The project consists of the planning, design and construction engineering required for the reconstruction of approximately 2.0 miles of two lane roadway on the Bald Hill Road in Claiborne County. The Bald Hill Road serves as a feeder road for the Claiborne County Port as well as an access road for the back entrances for the Grand Gulf Nuclear Power Plant. The construction cost of the project is approximately $800,000. The project was completed in 2006. Services also provided by WGK included, design engineering, construction engineering, daily construction inspection & quality control testing.

As County Engineer, WGK, Inc., conducts the bi-annual bridge inspections on more than 90 bridges throughout the Claiborne County, Mississippi area. All of the bridges are over rivers, creeks and streams except for one bridge that crosses a dry railway bed. The inspections are conducted in strict compliance with the National Bridge Inspection Specifications. Inspection results are documented by drawings, comprehensive reports, and photographs as needed. The Bridge Inspector evaluates the condition of each Bridge based on an established criteria and rating system. WGK also performs underwater Bridge Inspections on four County bridges, typically in the warmer spring and summer months. Due to the age and types of bridges, WGK works closely with Claiborne County to maintain a successful Bridge Management program. Currently the County has pre-Stressed reinforced concrete bridges, older timber bridges and cast concrete bridges. Bridges are inspected every two years with report information incorporated into a database to track minor and major bridge improvements.

This multipurpose asphalt walking track was funded by a grant through the Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks program. The project consisted of the construction of 1/2 mile long 10 foot wide asphalt walking track with covered benches, skateboard rails and drainage improvements. The track is designed for any non motorized use and will offer everyone from joggers to skateboarders a place to get some exercise. Services provided by WGK include, preliminary concept and engineering design, assistance with bidding process and coordination with City officials, construction inspection of county work crews. The total material cost of the project was $120,000.

WGK provided monitoring services for the debris removal and disposal from roads located within Claiborne County, Mississippi. The project consisted of the debris removal and disposal from rights-of-way caused by Hurricane Katrina. An observation tower was setup at the landfill to monitor trucks to ensure they were loaded and measured properly. WGK monitored the loads brought in and took soil samples before and after to ensure the site had not been contaminated. Local people were hired to put money back into the community to help record daily loads. WGK inspected the roads with the assistance of FEMA to check out daily operation and to inspect the stock pile before getting approval from the county to burn the debris. Services also provided by WGK included, field monitoring, pit monitoring, load ticket writing, traffic control inspection, daily site inspections, track quantities for documentation and reporting to FEMA & FHWA. The project had a value of $102,575.00.

The Splash Park Project was funded by a recreation grant through the MDA-CDBG grant program for the town of Hermanville, Mississippi. This was the first one funded using State grants. The cooling aspects of a water park to a small neighborhood or community park, low liability to the owner, a low danger level to the public, there is no standing water (which lowers the chance of drowning accidents), the park doesn’t require the owner to have to pay for supervision, and the motion detection to start and stop water action by water measure is required. The Park is basically an all aluminum and high density plastic construction, requiring some maintenance and upkeep to clean out the drain. The benefits certainly outweigh the drawbacks and it creates a positive enhancement for the community, the officials and owners involved with the Project.

The Hermanville Water Association needed an evaluation of the water system and recommendations for expansion of the system and improvement of customer service. WGK evaluated the existing system, made recommendation for upgrading the existing service and extending the service area, and providing reserve capacity for anticipated growth. Recommended improvements include the installation of a new 200 GPM water supply well, the installation of a new 150,000 gallon elevated water storage tank and the installation of approximately 72,000 LF of new water mains ranging in size from 4-8 feet. Services provided by WGK include, preparation of a preliminary engineering report and an environmental assessment for a grant application, preliminary design of the water system improvements, assistance in property acquisition and easements, design, and construction review services.

An existing county swimming pool facility was expanded and improved with the addition of a spray park funded by a grant through the Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks program. The project consisted of the construction of a 2,000 s.f. concrete splash pad, replacement of all coping stone on the existing pool, repair of sidewalks and installation of a new slide structure. WGK innovatively designed the new spray park to use the water contained and chemically treated in the existing pool to prevent the duplication of treatment and storage that is typically required for spray park projects. This design also reduced the overall cost of the project and allowed Claiborne County to complete this project before Memorial Day 2006. Services provided by WGK include,preliminary concept and engineering design,assistance with bidding process and coordination with City officials,construction inspection of county and private construction crews. The total cost of the project was $215,000.

A severe rain pattern passed through Claiborne County dropping 15.3 inches of rain during a 72 hour period, causing erosion damage along many ditches in the Claiborne County area. An EWP team identified damage to 5 areas of Claiborne County. Erosion along the banks of a drainage ditch was endangering a lagoon, and several other sites ranging in size from 3 to 20 acres that had experienced erosion and endangered main access to several roadways. Work at the sites included installation of drainage inlets and concrete pipes installed on a grade to drain to the bottom of roadway slope. Trees were removed from slope sides, and the road stabilized using an erosion control blanket and the area re-seeded and fertilized. Concrete curb was poured along a 300 foot section of one roadway. Repair to an earthen berm and 40’ paved concrete V-ditch was designed to carry drainage from a road side into a 18” Pipe (CMP) to a corrected bank slope. Installation of storm inlets, roll-back curb, riprap, and road grading, were erosion control efforts used at the sites. The project has a construction value of approximately $400,000.

WGK was project manager and engineer for the planning, preliminary and final design and the construction administration of improvements to Orange Streetin Port Gibson, Mississippi. The project was under the TEA-21 program administered by the MDOT.The street leads directly to the historic Old Claiborne County Courthouse and the improvements provided for street widening, provision of new sidewalks and construction of a new City Park.

WGK worked with Pickering, Inc., to complete the Environmental Assessment for a new Port Connector Road. The environmental assessment included overall mapping of the study area, the selection of alternate routes to be considered and close coordination with MDOT and FHWA. Each alternate route was then evaluated to determine the potential impacts pursuant to the NEPA process. WGK also participated in the public involvement phase. The NEPA Environmental Assessment was approved by the Federal Highway Administration and the design is underway on the selected route.

The City of Port Gibson experienced an instantaneous shutdown of the water supply to the water treatment plant. WGK prepared a detailed evaluation and discovered the water treatment aerator trays had deteriorated to a point the wooden aerator baffles and splash trays had caved in and actually plugged the water treatment plant aerator, prohibiting water from entering into the city’s clear well and water supply. All of the city’s wells had to be turned off. The aerator has been in service for approximately twelve to thirteen years. Once the wooden trays and debris were removed from the side and bottom of the aerator, the water treatment plant was again placed back into service with only a portion of the trays in place. This arrangement allowed the water treatment plant to be placed back into service and the city’s water supply restored. This only lasted approximately seven to ten days before the additional wooden baffle trays in the aerator also collapsed and caused the system to shut down once again. WGK had to repair the broken aerator through the complete removal of the redwood baffle trays and install a proper header system to distribute the raw water on the topside of the aerator. Then a stainless steel screen was put in the bottom of the aerator with new PVC plastic filter media to accomplish the breakdown of the water and achieve the proper aeration for carbon dioxide removal and pH adjustment.

The project consisted of sanitary sewer evaluation and rehabilitation of a Wastewater Facility in city of Port Gibson, Mississippi. Particulars on the project included, visual inspection of manholes, including smoke testing, and flow monitoring, extensive mapping of the sewer network and evaluation of active and inactive sewers. Design, Contract and Construction Review Administration. Rehabilitation of the sewer lines using Cured In Place Pipe methods and technology. The project had a construction value of $230,000.

WGK had to design a plan and specifications that would lower a new existing elevated tank that a Contractor had constructed too high to function properly within the existing water system. New support footings with adjustable plates were designed and constructed between the tank leg supports; then the 4 tank support legs and center were partially cut. The legs were cut to remove excess at the ends and the center riser was cut to remove excess from the middle above the removable access plate. Two hydraulic cranes were required to support the weight of the tank while the cuts on the legs and center riser were completed and the excess lengths discarded. Then the cranes lowered and rotated the tank until the shortened legs rested on the new support plates. The legs were welded to the support plates and the center riser was welded together, and the cranes removed when the welding was completed.After painting and disinfecting, the new modified elevated water tank was put in service and is functioning properly.

The purpose of the project was to enhance the Main Street District for all visitors and citizens of the City of Port Gibson. WGK identified the downtown areas that required long-term improvements based on need as well as consideration of the available budget. The project included the installation of 1135 LF of sidewalk along Market Street and Fair Street and included a decorative brick inlay, one brick wide, at the connection between the existing curb and the sidewalk. Additional improvements included installation of typical bench seating, raised planter beds and decorative lighting. The project has a construction value of approximately $63,000 with a total project time of 60 calendar days.

The project involved the completion of scour analyses at various bridge sites throughout the State of Mississippi. These services were performed under a subsonsultant agreement with Parsons Transportation Group (previously known as Deleuw, Cather & Company) for the Office of State-Aid Roadway Construction under the MS Department of Transportation. Funding for the project was provided under the National Bridge Inspection System (NBIS), and all the services have been performed in accordance with MDOT/FHWA standards and regulations. The subconsultant services performed by WGK included research of existing files at MDOT and State-Aid to collect information on the existing bridge sites, completion of detailed topographic surveys of each bridge site, photographs of each bridge site, preparation of site drawings and valley sections for each bridge site, collection of soil samples at each site, determination of the soil types predominant at each site and determination of the D50 grain size for the scour critical soil at each site.

In August 2000, WGK, Inc., in association with Collins Engineers, Inc., of South Carolina, conducts the underwater bridge inspection on two large bridges in Claiborne County,Mississippi. The Old Mill Road Bridge is an 18 span structure with a concrete deck and steel and concrete girder spans over Bayou Pierre. The maximum water depth during the inspection was 20 feet; with zero visibility. The inspection detected heavy timber debris, some minor spalling and significant channel migration. The second bridge, known as the Carlisle Road Bridge, also crosses Bayou Pierre. It is a 21 span structure with a concrete deck and steel plate girder span. The Bridge is supported by two end bents and twelve intermediate bents. Two bents are comprised of a reinforced concrete hammerhead supported by an 8 foot diameter, concrete column. The maximum water depth was 7 foot with zero visibility. The inspection revealed light scaling and marine growth with a deep scour pocket observed around the pier.

The project consisted of the planning, design, construction engineering and inspection required for the replacement of a two span pre-cast bridge in Claiborne County. The existing structure was replaced with a 58 foot; three span pre-cast structure. Limestone rip-rap has been placed along the creek for additional erosion control and concrete culverts side and cross drains were installed. Services also provided by WGK include complete hydraulic analysis,daily construction inspection, preliminary design of the bridge, design, contract and construction and review administration. The project construction value was $300,000.

The project consisted of the environmental assessment, planning, design, construction engineering and inspection required for the construction of a 496m 1,627 foot main bridge and a 280 foot relief bridge over Bayou Pierre in Claiborne County, Mississippi. WGK provided the design phase services and prepared complete construction plans for the bridge and approach roadways to meet the design criteria of the MDOT and Federal Highway Administration. Services also provided by WGK include, project was completed one year ahead of schedule, project environmental assessment and alternative bridge location analysis, complete hydraulic analysis, preliminary design of the bridge, final design and construction plan preparation, design, contract and construction review administration and daily construction inspection. The project had a construction value of $3.5 million.