> Complex Facilities
> Industrial
> Institutional
> Water & Wastewater
> Utilities
> Water Resources/Stormwater
> Environmental
> NEPA
> Field Studies
> Permitting
PDC has been engineering systems serving facilities of nearly every description since 1975. Although many of the facilities we have designed are located at remote sites in the Arctic and Antarctic, we also have project experience in temperate and even tropical environments, such as Hawaii and Guam.
We provide multi-discipline engineering for the design of institutional, military, industrial, and energy facilities. In addition, we provide design services for water and wastewater systems and environmental services such as the NEPA process and permitting.
PDC has a long history of providing multi-disciplinary engineering design for sophisticated facilities such as hospitals and laboratories. We take pride in keeping current with the specific requirements for laboratory and hospital design including energy efficient systems conforming to LEED certification methodology.
A number of our complex facility projects have earned awards such as the 2008 & 2009 VISTA Award for work at the Fairbanks Memorial Hospital. Our work at the Amundsen Sea South Pole Station also received the 2005 ASHRAE Regional Technology Award.
Sample Projects:
- NOAA Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute
- UAF BIRD Laboratory
- DOT Food Safety Laboratory
- Annette Island Service Unit Clinic
- Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station
- Fairbanks Memorial Hospital Additions
Industrial projects require a specialized set of skills. It is necessary to be proficient in the planning and design of systems that perform unique functions. PDC has a great deal of expertise in design of the systems that are required for industrial projects, especially in the arctic environment.
Our experience covers the design of power plants, electrical generation, materials handling facilities, mine facilities, railroad terminals, compressors, maintenance shops, transportation facilities and pipeline facilities.
To best serve our clients, we have developed a project management structure that takes advantage of the technical skills of our staff and focuses us on scope, schedule, and budget. We work to provide high quality facilities that function to meet our clients’ needs.
Initial cost and long-term maintenance concerns are a high priority. PDC strives to provide options that offer reliability, flexibility, and redundancy.
Sample Projects
- Alyeska Pump Station #9, Pipe Vibration Mitigation
- Fort Wainwright Central Heating & Power Plant Baghouse
- Fairbanks Municipal Utilities System Coal Handling Facility
- McMurdo Station Power Plant, Antarctica
- University of Alaska Fairbanks Diesel Engine Generator
- Eielson AFB and Elmendorf AFB Hydrant Refueling Systems
- Great Western Chemical Co. Transloading and Bulk Storage Facility
- Deadhorse Airport Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting Facility
- Trans-Alaska Pipeline Pipe Stress Analysis and Design, Relief Event Systems
- Fort Wainwright Air Cooled Condenser Preliminary Design and Request for Proposals Document
- Fort Knox Gold Mine Shop/Warehouse/Office
- Usibelli Coal Mine Tipple Building Modifications
- Trans-Alaska Pipeline, Drag-Reducing Agent Module
- Fairbanks Memorial Hospital Emergency Generation Plant
- Eielson AFB Power Plant Switchgear Replacement
PDC brings an innovative and efficient team to our institutional design projects.
We work either as a multi-discipline team or as a single discipline group, depending on your requirements. The full team includes civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, and environmental engineers, as well as land surveyors, fire protection designers, and sustainable design experts.
Past experience includes work on:
- Urban schools
- Rural schools
- University facilities
- Visitor centers
- Police and fire stations
- City halls and other municipal facilities
- Museums
- Libraries
- Airport terminals
- Shopping malls
- Hospitals
- Laboratories
- Research Facilities
Water and wastewater utility projects in Alaska require a specialized blend of arctic engineering and hydraulics/treatment design. PDC is proficient in the planning, design, and construction administration of systems that are easy to maintain, reliable, and robust for all regions of Alaska.
Our experience covers water supply, treatment, and distribution facilities and wastewater collection and treatment facilities for:
- Large cities and municipalities
- Military bases
- Rural towns and villages
- University of Alaska campuses throughout the State
- Mine site facilities
- Scientific research complexes
- Maintenance shops
- Construction camps
Sample projects include:
- North Pole Water Treatment Plant
- North Pole Lagoon Expansion
- North Pole Water and Sewer Improvements (since 1980)
- Fort Wainwright Utilities Expansion
- Doyon Utilities Water and Wastewater Systems Characterization Studies for Forts Greely, Richardson, and Wainwright
- Elmendorf Air Force Base Water, Wastewater, and Storm Water Modeling
- Adak Naval Air Station Wastewater Treatment Assessment
- City of Galena Water System Expansion
- City of Galena Backup Well #2
- City of Fairbanks – Van Horn Sewer Sliplining
- Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica
- Department of Transportation – Rural Snow Removal Equipment Buildings (SREB’s)
- Drift River Flood Control Construction Camp and Safe Haven
PDC is skilled in the hydrology and hydraulics involved in the planning, design, and construction administration of highway drainage, fish passage culverts, bridges, overland and piped storm water collection systems, gravity separation treatment, deicing pads, glycol-contaminated snow storage, and meltwater pumping stations for all regions of Alaska.
Our experience covers facilities for:
- Large cities and municipalities
- Airports
- Military bases
- Rural towns and villages
- Highways
- University of Alaska
Sample projects include:
- Noble Street Upgrade
- South Cushman Street Improvements
- Fairbanks International Airport Drainage Mapping
- Fairbanks International Airport Storm Water Improvements
- Fairbanks International Airport Deicing Pads and Snow Storage Basins
- Adak Storm Water Master Plan
- Eielson Air Force Base Munitions Road Bridges
- Elmendorf Air Force Base Storm Water Modeling
- Fort Yukon Sucker River Bridge
- Holy Cross Erosion Control
- Erosion Control/Revetment Improvements on Tanana, Nenana, and Chatanika Rivers
- Fish Passage Culverts along Dalton, Parks, and Steese Highways
- Storm Drainage Improvements for University of Alaska Fairbanks
PDC understands the importance of balancing our client’s needs with each project’s impacts on humans and their natural environment. People need access to goods and services, and every project must ensure that any negative impacts on human health and well-being are nondiscriminatory and as minimal as possible. The health of our environment is also vitally important. Finding the balance between the needs of our client, the public, and our environment is one of PDC’s strengths.
PDC helps our clients provide needed public services in the most cost-efficient and environmentally friendly manner. Through environmentally-aware engineering and the public process, we identify issues early, so that avoidance and mitigation can be applied to keep the project moving forward.
NEPA
PDC coordinates the design and environmental needs while leading transportation and utilities projects through the NEPA process. Each federal agency has its own interpretation and procedures to comply with NEPA. Our environmental professionals have completed projects sponsored by many of these agencies, including EPA, FAA, FHWA, FTA, HUD, and USDA. We work with our clients to provide the lowest cost alternatives with the best likelihood of approval for funding.
Field Studies
It’s important to look at the ground level to assess a site. Field studies provide this essential first hand data. Two of the most common field studies needed for Alaska projects are for wetlands and hazardous materials.
It is estimated that more than half of the remaining wetlands in the U.S. are in Alaska, making up at least 45% of the State’s land area. Thus, almost every project we work on in Alaska involves wetlands. We work closely with regulatory agencies, engineers, and our clients to find the best measures possible to avoid, minimize, or mitigate impacts to these fragile resources.
In the past, people were not as careful to protect the environment as we are today. As a result, soil and water contamination, especially from petroleum products, is common in developed areas. When projects are located on or adjacent to previously occupied land, we conduct Environmental Site Assessments to determine whether hazardous materials are likely to be present and whether they can be avoided. When contaminated soil or water cannot be avoided, we work closely with regulatory agencies, engineers, and our clients to develop the best plan for remediation.
Permitting
The permitting process is a means for the state and federal governments to monitor and control the use of resources. PDC works with clients and engineers to ensure their facilities meet permit requirements. We provide the agencies with the information needed to determine a project’s eligibility for the requisite permits. Sometimes it takes getting the agencies, client, and engineers into one room to come up with a sound plan to make a project meet everyone’s needs; we do that too.
