With nearly $8 billion already earmarked for roads, bridges and other vital infrastructure throughout Virginia and additional funding anticipated from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), STV’s recent growth of its already esteemed transportation and infrastructure practice in the commonwealth couldn’t be coming at a better time.
Over the past year, the firm has brought aboard several Virginia veterans with long-standing ties to many key clients and industry organizations to maintain STV’s strong position in rail and transit, expand its highway and bridge portfolio, and grow its entire team throughout the commonwealth.
The team is led by Scott Lovell, P.E., as vice president and business unit leader, and Fred Parkinson, S.E., P.E., DBIA, ENV SP, as vice president and senior project manager. Other new hires include Philip Lohr, P.E., PTOE, a senior roadway project manager in Virginia Beach with more than 25 years of industry experience; David Trimble, P.E., a senior structural engineer in Fairfax who has more than 15 years of experience; and Chris Gay a senior transportation planner in Fairfax with over 30 years of experience.
Together, alongside STV’s established group of design and construction management professionals in Fairfax, Richmond and Virginia Beach, the new leadership team in Virginia is leveraging its expertise to develop solutions that support the commonwealth’s goals to plan, deliver, operate and maintain a transportation system that is safe, enables easy movement of people and goods, enhances the economy and improves the quality of life for its users.
“In order to successfully expand throughout the region, we have to be flexible and adaptable to our clients’ particular standards and methodologies,” Lovell said. “We have the talent and the resources to assist transportation agencies throughout the Commonwealth in their efforts to improve mobility for our citizens.”
To that end, STV was recently awarded three projects from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT): a three-year limited services on-call contract supporting statewide highway structure and bridge projects; the design of three major structures over the Hampton River as part of the I-64 Hampton Roads Express Lanes Segment 4c design-build team; and, as a subconsultant, an East Region/Northwest Region traffic on-call contract.
“These are expected to be significant contracts for our firm within Virginia,” Lovell said. “It reaffirms STV as a significant VDOT partner during a period of high investment and growth.”
As part of the three-year limited services structural on-call contract, which is expected to include projects that are funded both by state appropriations and IIJA, STV will provide engineering design services for the delivery of bridge projects across all nine VDOT districts, including the design and development of plans for new structures as well as rehabilitation, widening, and replacement of existing structures. “This is a significant opportunity for STV to continue our long history as a preferred provider of bridge design services to VDOT,” Lovell said.
Along I-64 in Hampton Roads, STV’s team is designing three major bridge structures to support VDOT’s larger plan of providing faster travel times and mitigating traffic congestion with the development of the Hampton Roads Express Lanes (HREL). These bridges are the signature elements of one of the most complex segments of the broader HREL network, Segment 4C. When completed, these capacity improvements will provide improved access to residents and businesses on the south side of Hampton Roads.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, since 2011, commute times in Virginia have increased by 7.7% while each driver, on average, pays $517 per year in costs due to driving on roads in need of repair – all concerns the IIJA is anticipated to relieve both in the “Old Dominion” state and throughout the country.
These VDOT contracts build on a portfolio that also includes successful projects completed by STV such as the I-581/Valley View Interchange Design-Build in Roanoke, VA, which is one of the few roadways in the region to feature a diverging diamond interchange that enhances safety for turning vehicles; and the replacement of the I-95 Bridge over the Meherrin River in Emporia, which corrected functionally obsolete shoulders along this interstate bridge and its approaches.
In recent years, the firm has also played a key part in several major mass transit initiatives, including serving as the lead designer for the award-winning Pulse Bus Rapid Transit system in Richmond. STV is currently evaluating high-capacity, high-quality transit options to improve service to Naval Station Norfolk on behalf of Hampton Roads Transit.
Going forward, STV’s team in Virginia is expected to continue to stay plugged in on all of the key issues affecting the transportation sector in the Commonwealth. Lovell recently completed his term as chair of the Transportation Committee of the American Council of Engineering Companies Virginia Chapter (ACEC VA) and remains active in the group. Parkinson, who is focusing on pursuing design-build projects throughout the Commonwealth, is monitoring the changing landscape of alternative delivery methods, including the recent adoption of progressive design-build.
“Clients are looking for depth of experience, staff, and leadership that are well-versed in the intricacies of working on large, high-profile projects,” Parkinson said. “I think it’s very important to have active outreach efforts in the local community for a more collaborative experience with the public.”