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Archive for February 2017
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TFMoran’s president, Robert Duval in panel discussion at the Northern New England Office & Industrial Summit

New England Real Estate Journal hosted the 2017 Northern New England Office & Industrial Summit on Thursday, February 23rd at The Event Center in Nashua, New Hampshire.  Approximately 90 people attended the half day event consisting of a breakfast buffet, panel discussions and networking with the speakers. TFMoran’s president Robert Duval was invited to be on the panel discussing “Opportunities and Challenges in Industrial Market”, which followed the earlier discussion “Evaluation at the Office Market and what Tenants require Today”. Both discussions sparked conversations of real estate professionals in attendance with the panel speakers, creating an engaging networking session.

Thanks to Rick Kaplan and New England Real Estate Journal for organizing and hosting such a valued event.

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New Hampshire Union Leader features TFMoran Projects in “Engineers Week 2017”

On Monday, February 20, 2017 in the New Hampshire Union Leader’s “Monday’s Business” section, is a special section “Engineers Week 2017” which features an article by TFMoran’s president Robert Duval, PE.  The article entitled ‘Market and Main’ shows new trend in commercial land development appears on Page C6. ‘Market and Main’ is the large mixed-use development that will be constructed at the former Macy’s site on South River Road (US Route 3) in Bedford, NH.  To view the article click New_Hampshire_Union_Leader_02-20-2017_PgC6  or read text below.

‘Market and Main’ shows new trend in commercial land development

Over the past few years, TFMoran has been tasked to design several large development projects with major retail and other commercial components based on the “mixed-use development” (MUD) model, rather than the more traditional “shopping center” or “office park” formats. The difference is significant. Mixed-use developments feature a blend of distinct functions, often including — besides office or retail — residential, institutional, cultural, and industrial components, that are physically and functionally integrated, along with effective pedestrian connections.

The key concept here is the combination of multiple functions that complement each other and are linked with effective pedestrian connections. From an engineering perspective, if the various functions are truly complementary and have effective pedestrian connections, you can expect to see substantial benefits for a MUD over conventional developments.

For example, traffic volumes developed by shopping centers or office parks are fairly well understood, and can be easily determined by calculations based on the total square footage of floor space. On the other hand, calculating traffi c for mixed-use centers involves a second step that considers interaction between pairs of related uses — for example restaurants and cinemas, cinemas and apartments, apartments and offices, offices and restaurants, and so on, based on the concept that one vehicle trip may have multiple purposes, and these trips are shared among the various uses, rather than totaled up.

These multi-purpose trips can often reduce total trip generation by a third or more, thus significantly reducing offsite traffic impacts and costs of mitigation. Similar analyses of parking demand will also show reductions in parking demand, often in the range of 5% to 10%. These parking reductions can reduce costs and increase efficiency beyond just the pavement savings; as impervious surface area decreases, so too does the cost and extent of stormwater infrastructure to capture, detain, and treat all that unnecessary pavement.

Also, by integrating multiple uses into a single property or adjacent properties, sites can be masterplanned in a way that can ignore lot lines, thus greater land use density by avoiding internal lot line setbacks, inefficient parking layouts, as well as unnecessary driveways and utility connections.

At the former Macy’s site in Bedford, TFMoran has designed a large mixed-use development that is preparing to start construction of a 350,000sf mixed-use retail, office and entertainment development named “Market and Main.” Market and Main is designed to be a walkable, pedestrian-friendly place with a village green and pocket parks throughout. Proposed plans include a 600-seat deluxe cinema, an office building, a hotel, a premium entertainment venue, a variety of higherend restaurants and retail, and a 3-story parking garage.

The Market and Main development is located just south of the new Goffe Mill Plaza (former Wayfarer hotel), which contains a 40,000 sf Whole Foods Market, two restaurants, a bank, and is planning to develop additional retail space and up 150 apartment units. The proximity of these two sites enabled TFMoran to design a more dense and efficient layout for both sites by taking advantage of the traffic, parking, and drainage benefits of mixed-use developments, providing safe pedestrian connections between the major uses.

Although in some communities, mixed-use developments may be prohibited by conventional, exclusionary zoning ordinances, the reception of mixed-use projects from planners and regulators is generally positive, as mixed-use development can provide increased tax revenue and employment opportunities with few negative impacts, and more efficient use of existing infrastructure.

As a result, many communities already allow for this type of development in their zoning codes, and others are working on it. As a result, we can expect mixed-use developments to become an important part of the revitalization of cities and towns throughout New Hampshire.

Robert E. Duval, PE, LEED AP, is president and chief engineer at TFMoran, Inc. in Bedford. Founded in 1968, TFMoran is a regionally recognized survey, civil, structural, traffic and landscape architecture firm serving private and public clients inside and outside of New Hampshire.

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TFM’s Portsmouth division, MSC, is providing SWPPP inspections for NHDOT projects in the seacoast region.

MSC, a division of TFMoran, is providing Stormwater Inspection services for several high-profile NHDOT construction projects, including the Little Bay Bridge in Dover/Newington for R.S. Audley, Inc. and the highway work on Route 4 and Route 16 for Severino Trucking Co. in the same area.

SWPPP Monitors duties include daily weather forecast monitoring and recording, pre-storm, post-storm and weekly SWPPP inspections, weekly erosion control meeting attendance including preparation and distribution of meeting minutes. In addition to these services, MSC is also providing turbidity monitoring of construction stormwater discharges during rain events, as well as the design and monitoring of flocculation treatment systems used to reduce turbidity in accumulated stormwater to ensure construction site stormwater discharges are within NHDES compliance limits.

Working closely with the NHDOT, NHDES and contractors in the interest of stormwater pollution prevention and erosion control, MSC’s monitors reports are issued within 24 hours of the time of inspection and include pictures of findings, comments, new action items and resolved action items.

NHDOT Specifications require SWPPP Inspectors for their projects to be certified by a third-party organization (Envirocert International) as Certified Erosion, Sediment and Stormwater Inspectors  (CESSWI) or Certified Professionals in Erosion & Sediment Control (CPESC). The inspection and monitoring duties are being performed by three MSC engineers; Jack McTigue, P.E. CPESC, Jessica Winston, CESSWI and Chris Gagnon, CESSWI.

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TFMoran Named 2017 “Best of Business” in Engineering Category

TFMoran, Inc. has been selected for the fifth straight year as “Best Engineering Firm” in New Hampshire Business Review’s BOB Awards reader’s survey, which honors the best of business in New Hampshire in more than 75 categories. TFMoran was established in 1968 and is involved in major engineering projects throughout New Hampshire and the northeast.

“It is gratifying to see this recognition of the hard work and dedication our staff shows to our client each and every day” says Robert Duval, president of TFMoran. “Thanks to NHBR for providing this opportunity to highlight the ‘Best of Business’ in New Hampshire.”

TFMoran and the other winners will be honored on Thursday, March 2nd at the Grappone Conference Center in Concord. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Child and Family Services.

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TFMoran Project Featured in February’s High-Profile Focus: Restoration and Renovation

TFMoran’s Chief Structural Engineer, Paul Sbacchi, PE provided structural design for the restoration and renovation of the former Charlestown Battalion Armory, originally built in 1907. This very interesting project located on Bunker Hill Street is featured in this month’s issue of High-Profile in the section “Focus: Restoration and Renovation” page 23. Read the full story below, or link to a pdf of the article here: High-Profile February 2017 features The Armory    To view the entire February issue of High-Profile click here.

Neshamkin French Architects and TFMoran Complete The Armory

Charlestown, MA  –  Neshamkin French Architects and TFMoran Structural Engineers of Bedford, N.H., provided architectural and structural engineering services for the renovation of the former Armory building in Charlestown, Mass. into 42 luxury condominiums with underground parking.

Construction was completed by Eastridge Construction Management of North Reading, and the project was developed by Pat Keohane of C-Town Ventures LLC.

Previously underutilized, the Charlestown Battalion Armory has been revitalized through a sensitive program of historic restoration and innovative interior design. The architectural design, completed by Neshamkin French Architects Inc., preserved the exterior building envelope while the interior, including the structural system, was gutted and four new floors sensitively inserted to create 42 residential units.

The design provides a variety of unit types, including traditional one-, two-, and three-bedroom flats; live/work units; and duplex penthouses featuring tremendous downtown Boston and Mystic River views. A central, two-story, interior atrium allowed the design to take full advantage of the building’s depth and provides natural light to the building interior.

The original building, built in 1907, consisted of an A-frame style main structure surrounded on three sides by conventional two-story wood-framed structures supported on masonry walls. The steel truss structure in the main area provided large clear storage areas which were ideal for the original use of the building, but the depth and spacing of the trusses did not work with the proposed architectural layout.

The new design required infilling the space with four new residential levels and new inset exterior balconies. To maintain the structure and allow the new levels to be installed without replacing the roof, the new residential levels were designed to support the roof and when completed allowed the steel trusses to be cut out and removed. This method of integrated construction, shoring, and demolition required close coordination between the design team, contractor, and developer.