May 2004--Passero Associates was recently honored to receive a “Platinum Award” from the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York (ACEC New York) for excellence in engineering, recognizing the firm’s work on the Monroe County Fleet Center Public Works Facility (Fleet Center). The award was in the Special Projects category and is the second highest award for excellence at the state level. Passero Associates received the highest honor awarded in the Rochester region and was the only Rochester firm to receive a Platinum award. John F. Caruso, P.E. and Wayne F. Wegman, P.E. of Passero Associates and John E. Graham, P.E., Director of Monroe County’s Department of Environmental Services, accepted this prestigious award on behalf of Passero Associates and Monroe County at the Council’s annual gala dinner dance in New York City.

Gary Loesch, president of ACEC New York, in addressing the celebrants said, “Engineers are natural born problem solvers. It’s what we like, and it’s what we do. And the results, as witnessed by the complexity and variety of the projects we honor here this evening, translate into a safer, healthier, and more visually pleasing environment in which to live, work and play. Each year, the projects keep raising the bar for excellence, and each year our members reach or exceed the goal.”

The Fleet Center (constructed at a cost of $8.4 million) consolidates elements of six county departments and almost 100 employees into one facility on county-owned land. This generates significant savings for the county by eliminating use of leased space and reducing material costs, all while enabling more efficient operations. The Fleet Center is located at 145 Paul Road, on the site of the decommissioned Gates-Chili-Ogden (GCO) Sewage Treatment Plant. After four years of inventive thought, design, and construction, the site has been transformed from a source of pollution and waste into a state-of-the-art, multi-agency public works facility.

The county’s goal was to provide highly efficient public works services and operations in a modernized facility. With the help of Passero Associates, that goal has been achieved. The Fleet Center is both functional and aesthetically pleasing, in keeping with the businesses and high-profile corporations located near the facility and the nearby Greater Rochester International Airport.

County departments having staff housed at the Fleet Center include DES, Public Safety (Weights & Measures), Parks, Transportation (DOT); Sheriff’s Office; and Greater Rochester International Airport (GRIA) Vehicle Storage.

Bringing County Departments Together
Each department’s specific needs were addressed in the facility’s design and integrated efficiency was worked into every detail for higher productivity, less waste and smoother operations. The Sheriff’s Office vehicle maintenance group was brought under the same roof as DES’s newly combined light and heavy fleet maintenance sections. This grouping allows for one centralized parts distribution room and pools resources and staff for effective inventory control. A centralized vehicle fluid distribution system includes four 1,000-gallon holding tanks for oil, transmission fluid, antifreeze and hydraulic fluid—allowing the county to purchase these fluids in greater bulk. The area also features a 5-ton bridge crane engine, a 5-ton vehicle elevator, a vehicle body shop and a high-pressure wash bay.

The main facility also houses the DOT sign shop, a large bay for the DOT paint striping vehicle; the Parks Department’s carpentry, small engine repair and equipment storage areas; and, for GRIA, a large runway maintenance equipment storage area with secure access to the airfield.

Other buildings on the site house Sheriff’s Office specialty vehicles, Public Safety’s Weights and Measures, and the Parks Department’s “Monroe County in Bloom” program—with new greenhouses constructed over former sewage sludge drying beds.
Interagency sharing of resources such as dump trucks, trailers, backhoes, mowers, weed trimmers, tools, lifts and cranes as well as materials like mulch, soil, and gravel, light poles, signs and maintenance supplies is another cost-effective benefit of the Fleet Center.

Site-Specific Design Challenges
The project’s architectural and engineering challenges were extensive throughout the design and development stages. Typical issues included a tight schedule, meeting the needs of all involved agencies, keeping within budget, and conquering obstacles within the existing site foundation.

The poor condition of the soils at the site made the cost of pouring new foundations prohibitive. Using existing sewage treatment plant structures reduced costs considerably. For example, the Fleet Center building sits on a four-foot-thick concrete foundation directly over the former plant’s clarifying tanks. The tanks were packed with ground glass (obtained from the county’s Recycling Center) to provide a solid base. Old wastewater aeration tanks were used both as underground storage and a foundation. The building now features a beautiful reception area, several small conference rooms, administration space for public use, an employee conference room, a high-tech training facility, cubicles for managers and supervisors and a large lunchroom area.

Protecting the new buildings and their occupants was a priority in the design. The site’s location in a flood plain required a design that would minimize damage in the event of rising waters. To accomplish this, the fleet maintenance side of the building is seven feet above grade, and four feet above the flood plain while the GRIA side utilizes a wet flood proofing system to equalize hydrostatic pressure by using collapsible overhead doors.
The redevelopment of the GCO plant into the county Fleet Center proved to be an exciting opportunity. Overcoming the project’s obstacles challenged the design team to think in revolutionary ways to reduce costs and re-use existing materials. The final design represents the epitome of efficiency, land reclamation and reuse.