PDCA ENGINEERING AFFILIATE MEMBER
RACE Coastal Engineering – a geotechnical and structural
engineering firm based in Stratford, Conn. –
attributes its success over the past two decades to
three main components: teamwork, focus and passion.
Formed in 2000 by John Roberge, the company has 16 employees
(including 10 licensed professional engineers) and offers
a full range of professional services that include coastal engineering,
shoreline restoration and protection, inspections
and rehabilitation of existing structures, design and planning
of new marine structures, environmental permitting, hydrographic
surveys, dredge planning and design and marine
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construction administration.
“We pride ourselves on being a technically competent and
cohesive team,” said RACE president Devin Santa. “We have
expertise in several disciplines including coastal, structural, geotechnical,
dredging and navigation engineering.”
Staying true to its focused area of working on the water, the
projects undertaken by the RACE team are specialized with
respect to regulatory, design and construction challenges not
found in more conventional land-based construction work.
“We are passionate in making the waterfront better on each
of our projects,” said Santa. “This might mean improved access
to the general public at a town fishing pier facility, inspections
to ensure safe operation of an oil terminal berth, reconfiguration
design of a local marina or even a pier to launch a kayak
for a residential community. In all these cases, it is about how to
best utilize the incredible asset of the waterfront that we care so
deeply for.”
Impressive project list
With a commitment to work on projects located near water, the
RACE team stabilizes properties from eroding at the water’s edge.
“This is a dynamic area where we may be trying to stabilize a
property from eroding into the ocean, or transition from land to
a pile-supported pier structure,” said Santa.
“We recognize that there are challenges at the interface of
land and water. In this location, we can best blend our core disciplines
of engineering (coastal, structural, geotechnical, navigation
and dredging) to provide solutions for our clients.”
Two projects that stand out include the Steelpointe Harbor in
Bridgeport, Conn., and the Hale Pier in New Haven, Conn.
The Steelpointe Harbor Waterfront Improvement Project
has transformed the waterfront of Bridgeport and provided
the foundation for all future development along the 52-acre
Steelpointe property.
“The project developer, Bridgeport Landing Development,
wanted to create a showpiece waterfront for the city and has
done so with a curvilinear, smooth-faced seawall that has incorporated
several innovative aspects to allow it to be constructed
in a timely and economical manner,” said Santa.
The structural improvements to Steelpointe
Harbor’s waterfront sparked Bridgeport
Harbor’s revitalization
Photo courtesy of RACE Coastal Engineering
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