Construction and Engineering Inspection

Big Creek Inspection

ABES Engineering is a key team member for Shelby County’s Natural Disaster Resiliency Grant Project, also known as Big Creek. The project is a $40 million grant-funded flood mitigation project between Big Creek and SR 385 from Highway 51 to Sledge Road. The project will provide flood protection for nearby neighborhoods and the U.S. Naval Support Command Center in Millington through the creation of a new floodplain which will also provide local recreational benefits.

The project is multiphase with resiliency strategies that include scour repair, bank stabilization and armoring, stormwater pump station construction, and flood wall construction. The densely wooded area will be cleared, and the level of the ground lowered 2 to 4 feet to keep floodwaters from Big Creek in this new floodplain and out of homes and businesses. The backbone of the grant application was the Greenprint plan. Therefore, $7.5 million is allocated for trails and other recreation in the 1,255-acre area.

Big Creek Inspection
SR 193 over Branch Fayette County Bridge Inspection

SR 193 over Branch Fayette County Bridge Inspection

The Tennessee Department of Transportation replaced the bridge at SR 193 over Branch Fayette County in 2022. Buchart Horn was the prime consultant for the project and ABES Engineering was a subconsultant to Buchart Horn, providing a full-time inspector for the project. ABES completed successfully the inspection of the project. The following tasks were completed:

  • Ensured rebar used for bridge construction conformed to size and placement constraints indicated in the construction plans.

  • Tested freshly mixed concrete air content, slump and temperature used for bridge substructure and superstructure.

  • Tested Asphalt Hot Mix and transported Asphalt cores to TDOT for aggregate and Binder Testing.

  • Supervised construction site traffic control signs and set up, documented, and sent weekly report to TDOT.

  • Attended TDOT monthly project meeting.

  • Filled twice monthly report of project employee’s experience, qualification, and payment standards.

  • Documented contractor daily project work and items used (rebars, excavation quantity, machines used, concrete, asphalt, sod quantities) using TDOT DWR.

  • Daily weather reporting.

Sewer Line Rapid Assessment Tool

ABES was contracted by SARP-10 to provide the assessment of sewer lines using the Sewer Line Rapid Assessment Tool (SL-RAT). SL-RAT is a highly portable on-site assessment tool for quickly detecting blockage conditions in gravity-fed sewers. SL-RAT efficiency can lead to an operating cost 1/10th to 1/20th that of CCTV. In addition, it allows wastewater utility operators to economically use a Condition-Based Maintenance strategy to improve SSO performance while using fewer resources.

ABES was responsible for preparing and setting up temporary traffic control, field assessments of the pipes using SL-RAT, reviewing collected data, and uploading them to SL-DOG for SARP-10 use.