Acorn Engineering

Gearing up for the Storm—water Conference

Acorn is a proud sponsor of the 2024 Maine Stormwater Conference taking place this Thursday and Friday at the Holiday Inn By the Bay. Swing by our booth to say hello -- we look forward to good conversations and catching up with our friends and colleagues! More information can be found at the County Soil & Water Conservation District website: https://lnkd.in/eisbCWeh

It’s time to say…Bye, Bye, Bye 🎼

August has come and (is almost) gone and that can only mean it is time to say goodbye to our summer office intern – Chloe Blanchette, a rising senior at the University of Rhode Island. From her time with us, Chloe has taken away a deeper understanding of the “many, many, many steps that go into a project before it gets to the construction phase” and the (safe) fun to be had during site checks. Whether they were “construction inspections, 3PI inspections, or stormwater inspections, it was interesting to see sites develop and ensure that everything was in order.”

From assisting with proposals and prepping plans for delivery to site checks, Chloe has done it all and she has done it well. We hope you have a great senior year!

Let Acorn Show You the (Whitcomb’s) Way!

It hasn’t been a full year yet, but we recently checked on the Stream Smart culvert replacement on Whitcomb’s Way in the Town of Yarmouth and it looks like a win/win for all involved! The new 84-inch embedded culvert is allowing for safe passage of aquatic organisms and wildlife, and essential town operations to/from the wastewater treatment facility are back to normal. Thanks to the Town for choosing Acorn to design and permit this solution and to CPM Constructors for safely installing this large structure beneath critical infrastructure.

High Fives for Avesta!

Earlier this month, the Portland Planning Board approved Avesta Housing and Williston-Immanuel United Church’s plans for new affordable housing at 156 High Street in downtown Portland. The urban infill project proposes to renovate the Church’s Parish House and construct a new addition to add a total of 31 affordable apartments to the Peninsula while maintaining the historic church operations off High Street. Located in the middle of town, this project is easily accessed by public transportation with several bus stops in the immediate vicinity and is highly walkable to all points downtown. Acorn is providing civil engineering and permitting services for the project and is happy to be helping bring more affordable housing options to Portland!

Project partners:
Invivid Architecture – Architect
Owen Haskell, Inc. – Surveyor
Zade Associates, LLC – MEP Designer

And they say good things don’t happen after dark….

From sunrise to, in this case, sunset, Acorn is working on projects to ensure that Maine keeps moving all year long. This South Portland pavement mill and overlay project last week allows the to implement drainage and safety improvements and provide a fresh layer of surface pavement without the cost of a full roadway reconstruction. Here Construction Inspector Interns from Acorn and SLR Consulting are observing the contractor sealing cracks in the pavement under the direction of senior inspectors from WSP prior to the placement of the fresh surface pavement. This project was required to be completed at night to minimize disruptions in this high traffic area.

Martel School Apartments Get an A+!

On Monday, the Lewiston Planning Board approved phase 2 of the Martel School Apartments project on Lisbon Street. This Lewiston Housing project is in collaboration with the Lewiston-Auburn Area Housing Development Corporation (LAADHC) and, when complete, will provide low-income seniors a total of 88 affordable one-bedroom apartments within walking distance to public transportation, medical facilities, banks, and shopping including pharmacies and grocery stores. Acorn is pleased to be working on the civil engineering, permitting and landscape architecture which will include parking, shared patios, outdoor areas suited for active and passive recreation as well as native shrub and perennial garden areas and wildflower meadows. And, top marks for the project team for completing phase 2 approval in less than 3 months!

Project Team:
Platz Associates – Architect
Owen Haskell, Inc. – Surveyor
MaineHousing – Financing

Staying on track!

Last week Acorn assisted MaineDOT in providing construction inspection services for the nearly $5 million Thomas Brook Rail Bridge Replacement project in Oakfield, Maine. Over the course of a 96-hour track outage, the construction team lead by Sargent worked round the clock to complete the placement of a new 170’ long structure, precast off-site by Contech Engineered Solutions, at this critical rail switchyard which allows for the movement of wood chips, lumber, fuel, and other commodities by the Maine Northern Railway. The bridge, which carries six tracks, including the main line and a gravel access road, over the Thomas Brook operates six days a week with multiple trains per day. Thomas Brook is a critical habitat for the endangered Atlantic salmon and the new culvert/bridge alignment engineered by VHB was skewed to the tracks to provide favorable geometry for hydraulics, stream flow, and fish passage needed for local wildlife.

Westbrook Welcomes Watt Samaki!

On Tuesday, the Westbrook Planning Board approved plans for the Khmer Maine and Watt Samaki Buddhist Temple and community center. Acorn is honored to be leading the charge on the civil engineering, permitting and landscape architecture for this unique project that will become a hub for Maine’s Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. More information about the Watt Samaki project and their fundraising efforts can be found at https://www.wattsamaki.org.

Other project partners include:
Winton Scott Architects – Architect
Flycatcher, LLC – Natural Resources
Owen Haskell, Inc. – Surveyor
Tylin International – Traffic Consultant
Sebago Technics – Septic

Adding More Joy to Munjoy!!

Acorn is pleased to announce last week’s Portland Planning Board approval for 42 Atlantic Street. The 4-story building designed by Primary Projects in collaboration with Dan Black will include 30 affordable units restricted to 50-60% of Area Median Income, over half of which will be 2- & 3-bedroom apartments. The building is also anticipated to be the first straw-insulated multifamily project in Maine with help from Croft, representing a significantly lower environmental footprint than traditional methods. We look forward to the opportunities this project will bring in reestablishing workforce and family housing near downtown Portland!

Living the “Hy” Life at the Hyatt Studios!

Acorn is pleased to share the recent approval of Giri Hotel Management's Hyatt Studios at the Portland International Jetport-Maine. This to be constructed 119 room, 3-story hotel will offer upper mid-scale extended stays to help support Southern Maine’s growing business community and other Maine travelers. The project proposes a mix of native shrubs, flowering perennials, drought-tolerant ornamental grasses and seeded wildflower areas that will transform an asphalt parking lot into an evocative Maine landscape, welcoming visitors and residents to our great state. Additional site upgrades include ample parking for bicycles and vehicles for the hotel guests and staff, as well stormwater management and utility upgrades.

https://www.hyatt.com/development/ourbrands/hyattstudios

Acorn’s Got Game!!

We picked a great night for our annual Acorn Family Night at the Portland Sea Dogs! Great seats, great company, plentiful food – the cherry on the top was the Sea Dogs win!! Highly recommend the Gifford's Ice Cream Pavilion at Hadlock Field. It gave us a great view of the lighthouse during the Sea Dogs home run as well as delicious BBQ. Thank you, Team Acorn, for coming out and bringing your families!

COMBing the City for Affordable Housing?

Last week the Portland Housing Authority received final Planning Board approval for Phase 1 redevelopment of the COMB Block in East Bayside to include 55 new residential units, with at least 50 of the units being reserved for low and very-low income households. Ryan Senatore Architecture has designed the building to be built to Passive House standards with energy efficient building materials and systems. Working in tandem with Brayden Drypolcher, the site will create improved assessable shaded green open space, mid-block connectivity, along with new street trees and sidewalk improvements. Big thanks to Sarah Tatarczuk, Jay Waterman, PHA Commissioners, City of Portland, Maine Planning staff and the whole design to bring this bright revitalization to the East Bayside neighborhood and bring much needed affordable housing to the peninsula.



https://www.combblockmaine.com/home

Let's All SLOW DOWN and Thank Our Construction Inspectors!!

Construction Inspection work is at the core of what we do at Acorn and we want to thank all of our 2024 MaineDOT Inspectors. From Aroostook County to York County, their work is essential to ensuring that we all have safe roads in the future. We appreciate their dedication to the job and want to officially thank them for all that they do!

Throwback Thursday!

Here at Acorn, Construction Inspection has always been part of who we are. Our Principal, Savage, P.E., began his career doing construction inspection on the Maine Turnpike in 2002. In the years since, he’s provided inspection services for a plethora of projects for State, Municipal, and private clients from southern Maine to the islands and to our eastern border with Canada (Lambert Lake). These projects have included marine, rails, highways, intersections, and porous pavement projects. Anyone else remember when Pike’s safety vests looked like this circa 2002?

From Paving Roads to Running on Them!

Acorn’s Class I Inspector, MacKenna Homa, not only helps inspect and document all the MaineDOT work it takes to reconstruct nearly three miles of Route 202 in Lyman, Hollis, Buxton and Gorham but she takes to the roads in her free time as an avid runner. In fact, she ran alongside other Acorn team members earlier this month at the Old Port Half Marathon & 5K where she completed the half marathon!

Paving the Way for a Smooth Summer!

Acorn is pleased to have Justin Price back with us this season as a Class II Inspector. From dusk to dawn -- from S**o to Standish, we are thankful for his work on these pavement preservation projects that ensure smooth sailing on Maine roads in the future.

Improving the Main Streets of Maine’s Streets!

Acorn Chief Inspector Shane Will has been lucky enough to work in his hometown of Lisbon on the reconstruction of nearly a mile of Main St (Route 125). Not only did this project include reconstruction of the roadway, but it also included sidewalk and utility infrastructure improvements. Acorn is proud of the work we do assisting the MaineDOT in shoring up our state’s infrastructure to prepare Maine for the future. The first two photos are from 2022 when the project first began, the others are from this year.

There’s No Place Like Home 🏡

Acorn loves its affordable housing projects! Yesterday we were among the many attendees braving the heat for the official ribbon cutting at Jocelyn Place, an affordable senior living complex in Scarborough. Brooks More of South Portland Housing Authority and Dan Bacon of M&R Holdings were the visionaries behind this wonderful addition to the Oak Hill section of Scarborough. Named after the early Scarborough settler Henry Jocelyn, Jocelyn Place is now a vibrant 60-unti 55-plus community nestled at the end of Little Dolphin Drive just off Route 1 that provides multiple site amenities and pedestrian connection to the surrounding services in the area. In addition to the other great and informative speakers, one resident’s speech specifically hit close to home as they spoke about the comfort of finding their “tribe” and enjoying the bounty from the 4 raised bed vegetable gardens. This puts into perspective the direct positive impacts from good design and construction practice can have on the end users and creating a sense of place. Acorn is honored to be among the many hard-working professionals creating homes for more Mainers.

Ledgewood Construction
Aceto Landscape Architects
Bild Architecture
Credere Associates, LLC

Fired Up for Avesta 🔥

We were feeling the heat yesterday at the Avesta Housing Village Commons Open House celebration at Firehouse Village on Rte. 1 in Scarborough. This 31-unit, newly constructed, energy efficient, affordable senior housing is located at the site of the former Oak Hill public works complex. The historic red brick firehouse and police station were converted into retail spaces including local favorites Harbor Fish Market and Rosemont Market and Bakery, as well as a large Community Room for gatherings. It was heartwarming to hear from the daughter of a Village Commons resident on how local, affordable housing can change a life. Much gratitude to Jack Soley and Timothy Hebert of Firehouse Ventures LLC whose vision and values grew an ember of an idea into the Firehouse Village of today. Congrats to Avesta, its residence, and all the talented teams involved in making this happen!
Hebert Construction, LLC
Kaplan Thompson Architects
Mitchell Rasor
Town of Scarborough, Maine

Where Pets are Patients, and the Pavement is Porous! 🐶

Tuesday Night, we received final planning board approval for the development of Portland Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Care's new facility in Falmouth! Perched within the ledges in between I-295 and Route 1, this 24-hour facility will replace PVESC’s existing operations in Portland in response to the region’s growing demand for veterinary care. At over 40,000 square feet, this state-of-the-art building will by far represent Maine’s largest veterinary facility. Site features incorporated into the campus include healing gardens, walking trails, and a variety of stormwater management techniques such as porous pavement which is capable of detaining and treating a 100-year storm!

Renderings and architecture by SMRT Architects & Engineers
Hebert Construction, LLC
Portland Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Care

Goodness, Gracious, Great, Gravel Wetlands!

April showers, bring May flowers and new landscaping to the Long Creek Watershed Management District South Branch Gravel wetland project. The project is starting to put the finishing touches on the BMP and can already see the improvement in water quality flowing out of the system. This important project will help treat runoff from 48-acres of pavement to address a variety of water quality concerns including temperature, dissolved oxygen, nutrients, metals, and moderating runoff volume. Acorn is grateful for our Client Pete Carney, the Board and the Long Creek Watershed Management District Participants for their commitment to keeping Maine’s waters clean!

Wood(ford) You Like More Affordable Housing?

Congratulations to Community Housing of Maine for receiving final Portland Planning Board Approval for their 82-unit affordable housing project at the site of the Woodfords Congregational Church! A new 42-unit senior affordable housing building will be constructed where there is currently a parking lot, and the existing Parish House will be renovated into 40 senior affordable housing units, with new renovations to the existing community space. The land containing the Parish House and the new affordable housing building will be owned and maintained by CHOM and the Woodford Congregational Church will continue to function as a place of worship under its existing ownership.



Anthony Muench, RLA

On Wednesdays We Wear Muddy Boots
 
In honor of Women in Engineering Week, Acorn would like to shout out our female employees Aubrey Strause, Nancy O'Sullivan, Eleanor Roberts, Danielle McGowan and Alexis Del Vecchio. Whether we are wearing muddy boots from stormwater inspections (love the aesthetic Aubrey!) or Barbie pink, Acorn women get the job done.  
 

The Valentine Bandit Has Struck in Orono 💟!

Come visit Zach Jones and Nancy O'Sullivan today at the University of Maine at Orono job fair! Looking for construction inspectors to come join us this construction season! Seeking inspectors for Maine Department of Transportation projects from the northern most points in Maine to the south, and all the wonderful places in between.
mcec .careercenter .of.maine

YIMBY – Yes In My Backyard!

Closing out 2023, at the last Portland City Council meeting, the Council approved a Zoning Map change over the existing Woodfords Congregational Church property to address three different zoning boundaries tri-secting to the parcel into a single B2 – Community Business zone in support of the proposed COMMUNITY HOUSING OF MAINE INC affordable housing redevelopment project currently under review by the City of Portland, Maine Planning & Urban Development Department. The zone change not only cleans up the various zones over a single parcel, but also allows for increased opportunities to support much needed affordable housing located within the priority node at Woodford’s corner as identified in the City’s Comprehensive Plan. The existing Woodfords Congregational Church will remain, while proposing new affordable senior housing building within the existing parking lot, taking advantage of infill development and existing infrastructure and also proposes to redevelop portions of the existing Parish House with additional affordable housing units.

It was wonderful to see the community come out in support of this much needed infill affordable housing project. Yes, in my backyard!

Community Housing of Maine
Woodfords Congregational Church, Portland, Maine
CWS ARCHITECTS
City of Portland, Maine
MaineHousing

Broadway Bowl for the Holidays!

Thank you to our friends at the newly opened Broadway Bowl in South Portland for hosting Acorn’s Holiday Party earlier this month! Always a great time when you get a bunch of Acorns and friends in a room together, especially when there is an added sport competition involved! Our offices will be closed on December 25, as well as Dec, 29 and January 1 so that we can spend some much-needed down time with friends and family. Thank you to all our clients, employees and business partners – we couldn’t do it without you! We hope you all have a wonderful holidays season.

Getting in the Zone!

A portion of the former Dragon Cement plant property was successfully rezoned last week to allow for increased density and more flexible building typologies. As a result of the zone change, the project will not only contribute more housing stock to the City, but it will result in a smaller development footprint on the land by building up and not out, while preserving wildlife habitat and natural resources.

We appreciate the opportunity to be part of this exciting project and look forward to the next planning steps with the property.



City of Portland, Maine

Bringing Hope to the Housing Crisis

Acorn was proud to be a sponsor of yesterday’s Maine Affordable Housing Conference in Portland. From the very first speaker, Governor Janet Mills, to the last, Dr. Habib Dagher, P.E. of the University of Maine, the day was filled with creative solutions and lots of questions and answers on how to solve the region’s housing crisis. Not even the FEMA alert mid speech could detract from Ryan Fecteau's presentation on the implementation of LD 2003! The last picture shows a vial of the wood/corn resin pellets that the University of Maine used to print the first 3D house as shown in the slide with Dr Habib Dagher. It’s collaborations like this between MaineHousing and the UMaine Advanced Structures & Composites Center and creative solutions like printing houses that filled us with such hope for the future of housing in Maine!

"I like to use the analogy we are your Primary Care Physicians."

Tune into the latest MEREDA Matters podcast to hear that Will Savage quote and many more!

Nobody thought they could put Maine’s tallest building in the parking lot behind a Post Office! Listen to hear how Will Savage of Acorn Engineering and Ryan Senatore of Ryan Senatore Architecture are designing some of the most exciting housing developments in Portland.
NBT Bank Landry/French Construction

https://mereda.org/mereda-matters-podcast/

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

It was hard to say goodbye today to our office summer intern University of Maine rising sophomore Brooke Toole, but sweets from The Cookie Jar in Cape Elizabeth helped soften the loss. We know you know our PO Box number Brooke, so we can’t wait to see the postcards you will send from your semester abroad in Valencia, Spain! Thanks for being here to assist with EVERYTHING!