Collins Engineers

Collins Engineers, Inc. is an ENR Top 500 Design Firm^[1] and provides water resources, waterfront, program management and underwater engineering services to government agencies, contractors, and private sector clients. The firm was founded by Thomas J. Collins in April 1979. It is a privately held company with eighteen offices in the United States, United Kingdom,^[2] and Ireland.^[3] Collins Engineers, Inc. is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Collins Engineers, Inc. was an early advocate for the use of professional engineers as diving inspectors in the evaluation of underwater structures.^[4] The firm provides underwater engineering services performed by in-house engineer-divers around the world to clients including the United States Navy and state departments of transportation.^[5] Reference manuals were developed on the subject for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and National Highway Institute (NHI).^[6]

In 2006, Collins Engineers, Inc. acquired MacIntosh Engineering and Development Co. located in Auburn, California. In 2008, Collins Engineers, Inc. acquired Charles Keim & Associates, Inc. located in Boulder, Colorado.^[7]

Projects

Bridge Engineering

• Design Services for The Bloomingdale Trail/The 606, Chicago, Illinois^[8]
• Climbing and Rope Access Inspections of Structures for Network Rail, London, England^[9]
• SC 802 over the Beaufort River (Intracoastal Waterway), Beaufort, South Carolina^[10]
• Park Island Bridge Design and Management, Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina^[10]
• Reconstruction of Metra Bridge No. Z-70.5 over Lake Street, Hanover Park, Illinois^[11]
• Milwaukee River Parkway Bridges (North and South), Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• SC 49 Bridge over the Enoree River, Laurens County, South Carolina
• Virginia Avenue Bridge, Charleston, South Carolina
• Emergency Underwater Inspection Following Impact at Eggner Ferry Bridge, Trigg and Marshall Counties, Kentucky^[12]
• Bridge Management Database & 3-D Scanning for Waterways Ireland^[10]
• Emergency Response to Early Spring Flooding—Grand Forks, North Dakota, and East Grand Forks, Minnesota^[13]
• Rope Access and Climbing Inspections, Statewide, Montana
• Post-Flood Scour Inspections, Statewide, Rhode Island
• Post-Hurricane Irene Scour Inspections, New Jersey and Massachusetts

Construction

• Wells Street Bascule Bridge Reconstruction, Chicago, Illinois^[14]
• Rehabilitation of Juneau and Wisconsin Avenue Lift Bridges, Milwaukee, Wisconsin^[15]
• EJ&E Bridge Roll-In Design, Morris, Illinois^[11][16][17]
• Wacker Drive Rehabilitation Construction Engineering, Chicago, Illinois^[18]
• Millennium Park Construction Engineering, Chicago, Illinois
• I-94 Dan Ryan Expressway Reconstruction Construction Engineering, Chicago, Illinois
• Interstate 94 (I-94) North-South Freeway Project Construction Inspection, Southeast Wisconsin^[19]
• Marquette Interchange Construction Inspection, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Mitchell Interchange Construction Inspection, Milwaukee, Wisconsin^[20]
• I-94 Construction Inspection, Stearns Road to Wisconsin State Line, Gurnee, Illinois

Dams

• Reconstruction of Sinnissippi Dam, Rock Falls, Illinois^[11]
• Mohawk River Dam Safety Inspection, Rotterdam Junction, New York

Manual and Course Development

• Underwater Bridge Inspection (FHWA-NHI-10-027), Federal Highway Administration/National Highway Institute
• Underwater Bridge Repair, Rehabilitation, and Countermeasures (FHWA-NHI-10-029), reference manual and course, Federal Highway Administration/National Highway Institute
• Pontis Development & Implementation for Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development^[10]
• Bridge Inspection and Reporting Guidelines, U.S. Navy Bridge Inspection Program
• Guidelines for the Installation, Inspection, Maintenance and Repair of Structural Supports for Highway Signs, Luminaires, and Traffic Signals (FHWA NHI 05-036), Federal Highway Administration/National Highway Institute^[21]
• Underwater Investigations Standard Practice Manual, American Society of Civil Engineers
• Underwater Evaluation and Repair of Bridge Components (FHWA-DP-98-1), Federal Highway Administration^[22]
• Underwater Bridge Inspection (FHWA-DP-80-1), Federal Highway Administration^[22]
• Chicago Department of Transportation Rules and Regulations for Construction in the Public Way, 2014 and 2016

Program Management Oversight/Infrastructure Management

• Chicago Department of Transportation Project Coordination Office (2012 - current), Chicago, Illinois^[23]
• Chicago Department of Transportation, dotMaps (2012 - current), Chicago, Illinois^[24]

Seismic Engineering

• Charleston County School District Seismic Assessment, Charleston, South Carolina^[10][17][25]
• Union Pier Cruise Terminal, Charleston, South Carolina^[26]
• Parkside Avenue/Ocean Avenue Bridge Assessment, New York, New York
• Fort Vancouver National Historic Site Building Evaluation, Vancouver, Washington

Structural Engineering

• CITGO Lemont Refinery Coker Turnaround, Lemont, Illinois^[27]
• Pulaski Road's Single Point Urban Diamond Interchange over Interstate 55, Chicago, Illinois^[11]

Waterfront Facilities

• Union Pier Terminal Design, Charleston, South Carolina^[26]
• U.S. Coast Guard Facility Indian River Underwater Acoustic Imaging and Shoreline Stabilization, Rehoboth, Delaware^[28]
• , Chicago, Illinois^[11]
• Rehabilitation of the Fuel Pier at the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site Kwajalein Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands^[11]
• Vietnam Veterans' Memorial at Wabash Plaza, Chicago, Illinois^[11]
• Repairs to Waterfront Facilities at the U.S. Naval Academy^[11]
• Structural Inspection of the Frying Pan Shoals and Diamond Shoals Light Towers for the U.S. Coast Guard, Cape Fear and Cape Hatteras, North Carolina^[29]

References

1. Tulacz, Gary J. "The Top 500: Rising Above Economic Woes," ENR, April 23, 2012.
2. "Engineering Firm Creates 10 jobs at Science Park," Belfast Telegraph, February 7, 2011.
3. Collins, Thomas J. "Engineers Dive the World Over… and Under," Engineers Journal, October 2009.
4. Collins, Thomas J., and James J. Powers. "Underwater Bridge Inspector," Civil Engineering, March 1973.
5. Murphy, Cathy. "Excelling in Underwater Investigation," CE News, June 2002.
6. http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/engineering/hydraulics/library_arc.cfm>
7. "Welcome to nginx". Archived from the original on 2013-01-18. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
8. "Construction to Begin on Chicago's Elevated Bloomingdale Trail Next Summer". October 2012.
9. Dobson, Miranda. "CEI Collins Engineers open Salford office," B Daily, June 20, 2013.http://bdaily.co.uk/industrials/20-06-2013/cei-collins-engineers-open-salford-office/
10. "ACEC of South Carolina Engineering Excellence Awards," http://www.acecsc.org/excellence/
12. McCampbell, Candy. "Kentucky Bridge Piers OK Despite Collision," ENR, February 27, 2012.
13. Parsons, Jim. "Sonar Imaging of Bridges Gains Interest from States," ENR, September 2, 2009.
14. Jones, Jenny. "Bascule Bridge Reconstructed During Two Limited Closures," Civil Engineering, May 2013.http://www.asce.org/CEMagazine/Article.aspx?id=23622325898#.Ud3HQm3aLlX
15. "American Council of Engineering Companies of Wisconsin," Engineering Excellence Awards 2010-05-05 at the Wayback Machine
16. "Collins Engineers Receives Award for EJ&E Bridge Roll-In Design," Railway Track and Structures, http://www.rtands.com/newsflash/collins-engineers-receives-award-for-ej-e-bridge-roll-in-design-5025.html 2012-06-03 at the Wayback Machine.
17. "2012 EEA National Recognition Awards," Engineering Inc., May/June 2012, 16, 18.
18. Cho, Aileen. "Tight Focus, New Mix Puts Wacker Drive Back in the Loop," ENR, April 29, 2002.
19. "A Model Corridor".
20. . Archived from the original on 2014-04-01. Retrieved 2012-12-07.
21. http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/signinspection.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}
22. "Publications - Hydraulics - Bridges & Structures - Federal Highway Administration".
23. Hilkevitch, Jon. "CDOT tries coordination to ease road work headaches," Chicago Tribune, April 8, 2013.http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-04-08/classified/ct-met-getting-around-0408-20130408_1_water-project-addison-construction
24. . Archived from the original on 2017-04-04. Retrieved 2017-04-03.
25. "SC Biz News".
26. "Public provides input on new cruise terminal | TheDigitel Charleston". Archived from the original on 4 February 2013.
27. Gregerson, John. "Best Project Specialty Contracting: Citgo Lemont Refinery Coker Turnaround," ENR Midwest, November 26, 2012.http://midwest.construction.com/midwest_construction_projects/2012/1126-Best-Project-Specialty-Contractor-Citgo-Lemont-Refinery-Coker-Turnaround.asp
28. Martinez, J., Colleen Symansky, Lynn Stock, and Elizabeth Burkhart. "Underwater Acoustical Imaging," The Military Engineer, July/August 2010.
29. Tennant, Diane. "Perhaps a North Carolina Light Station Could Be Yours," The Virginian Pilot, August 15, 2012.

External links

• Official website