Project Specifics

The 68th Street Dump is a USEPA Superfund Site in a mixed-use area in and abutting Baltimore, Maryland. The 239-acre site includes seven historical landfills as well as streams, ponds, and wetlands. The remedy selected in the Record of Decision included soil cover systems on four disposal areas, two leachate-collection trenches, light nonaqueous-phase liquid (LNAPL) recovery, enhanced wetlands, stream bank stabilization, soil and sediment excavation, deep-rooted vegetation, a biowall, surface-debris removal, passive landfill-gas venting, access barriers, and several additional natural-resource damage-restoration projects.

Geosyntec and our natural-resource-design partner, Straughn Environmental, Inc., prepared the Remedial Design between 2018 and 2022. Since 2023, Geosyntec has served as the Supervising Contractor and Resident Engineer, providing construction monitoring, construction quality assurance, and construction-phase engineering services during remedial action (RA) construction.

Geosyntec Scope of Services

During RA construction, Geosyntec incorporated a variety of technical support and analytics to monitor progress and create a common operating picture between the field and office. To monitor overall changes to the site, sUAS (drone) aerial imagery was captured each month. Using photogrammetry, we developed orthorectified images tied to the project’s survey-control-point network. Derived data products included topographic evaluation, spatial calculations, feature identification, and vegetation-clearing progress.

The project team chose to combine data from GIS and AutoCAD Civil 3D to simultaneously analyze and display site conditions and project design. As an example, by incorporating custom scripting to process site and design data comparing the current site surface with design topography, we were able to generate updated figures in minutes.

To document and track construction progress, the team used a GIS web services solution to collect field data and navigate CAD designs in relation to their locations at the site. This application allowed users to input field observations, including photo attachments, for discussion with other team members in the field and in the office.

Notable Accomplishments

Incorporating aerial imagery into the project workflow added value by giving stakeholders a comprehensive view of construction progress over time. Cost savings were achieved by developing and using scripting automations for routine tasks. Importing data from multiple technologies into a centralized platform allowed team members to access data efficiently.

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