Thomas Ramsey, PE (Maryland) will present "Ethics and Engineering" at an American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES) Webinar Starting at 12:00 p.m. EDT on April 14, 2021.
Geosyntec's professionals have evaluated and designed numerous solid waste transfer stations for our clients. This work has required us to evaluate sites, provide layouts, perform environmental assessment studies, prepare permit applications, and construction documents. Geosyntec projects have included: (i) retrofit design for an existing 3,000 ton/day transfer station in Annapolis Junction, Maryland to incorporate automated material recovery equipment and design; and (ii) permitting, including county and Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) permits for a citizen's drop off facility in King ....
Geosyntec assists its clients in developing their operations to meet cost, waste reduction, and long-term community goals. For many clients, we have provided analysis and guidance in planning and designing the administrative structure for the effective management of solid waste systems.
Geosyntec is a recognized leader in waste containment facility permitting and design. From concept to implementation, we assist our clients in achieving efficient, safe, and secure containment of their regulated wastes that require land disposal. Our practitioners assist our clients in increasing commercial viability, achieving and maintaining compliance, and ensuring that short- and long-term needs are met for new and existing sites and projects. We are experienced in the permitting, design, and construction of expansions and closures of: Municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills Hazardous waste landfills Coal combustion residual landfills Construction and demolition waste landfills Radiological and mixed waste landfills Tailings impoundments Mine waste rock piles and dumps Our waste containment practice specializes in addressing the most complex and challenging projects through our innovative technologies and designs. Our practitioners assist clients with permitting greenfield sites and existing site expansions, maximizing disposal capacity, and solving complex site challenges. Our practitioners also provide investigation, design, permitting, and construction oversight for on-site disposal facilities for cost-effective, safe on-site disposal of soils, sludges, and miscellaneous debris with a broad range of contaminants, including mercury, PCBs, and volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds.
Clients turn to Geosyntec's nationally recognized geotechnical and geological engineers to develop projects and services that efficiently use geotechnically challenging sites. We apply advanced technologies and leverage our proven practice leadership to provide clients with dependable, cost-effective solutions and customized services while meeting aggressive construction schedules.
When site conditions such as soft and compressible soils, steep slopes, or seismic activity appear to limit site uses, Geosyntec's geotechnical engineering professionals create foundations and other geostructural solutions that optimize site development potential.
Environmental Liability Valuation (ELV) focuses on evaluating the financial relevance of environmental liabilities and opportunities by applying fundamental engineering and scientific analysis within a specific financial, legal and risk management framework. The technical analysis, consulting support and expert testimony of our practitioners provide a better understanding of cost certainty and liability valuations, potentially reducing both the size and share of cost allocations related to insurance transactions, risk transfer, financial report, and portfolio management. Building upon our renowned expertise in environmental remediation, geotechnical, water resources, and infrastructure risk engineering, Geosyntec provides public and private sector clients with defensible valuation of environmental liability to support business decisions, such as those pertaining to insurance transactions, risk transfer, financial reporting, and portfolio management. When ELV matters to the bottom line, corporate management and legal counsel seek out Geosyntec to provide technical analysis, consulting support, and expert testimony. They know that Geosyntec offers a unique set of qualifications to apply fundamental environmental engineering and scientific analyses within a financial, legal, and risk management framework inherent to key business decisions, negotiations, and disputes. This provides our clients greater cost certainty and more usable valuations. For example, Geosyntec: Focuses on complex environmental liability portfolios. We provided concurrent evaluation of environmental liabilities at more than 1,000 sites in 48 states and international locations with alleged environmental liabilities in the billions of dollars. Focuses on environmental risk management. We provided the technical basis for a greater than $30 million insurance recovery to a clients' bottom line in less than 18 months from project inception. Offers unique environmental costing tools. We have developed and employed costing techniques and models specific to the intricacies of environmental valuations. Provides expert support. Our experts have consulted and opined on approaches, magnitudes, and appropriateness of environmental costs for more than 10,000 sites worldwide, representing billions of dollars of alleged environmental liabilities.
Geosyntec engineers and scientists offer decades of experience in the design, construction, and long-term maintenance of waste containment and processing facilities, including central operations where commingled or source-separated recyclables are processed mechanically or manually to meet market specifications for sale. We consult with solid waste planners and engineers as they establish technical specifications, conduct material analysis, and seek to improve manual and mechanical materials separation and recovery approaches at their recycling facilities handling thousands of tons of waste each day throughout the world. Geosyntec engineers provide advanced designs for new and established facilities as well as technical services for waste characterization, mass balance, and technology selection, including recommendations for fixed and rolling equipment to enhance operations. We also analyze human factors related to waste recovery and separating and consult on best management practices for raw material and product storage. In just one example, Geosyntec aided the Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County, Florida in the innovative installation of a disc screen system for commercial fiber. County officials sought to increase the overall efficiency of their existing recycling facility and, if possible, to mechanize the operation while increasing the quality of the finished product, thereby improving its marketability and revenue potential. Geosyntec met or exceeded each of these goals. Efficiency increased from approximately nine tons of product recovered each hour to an average rate of about 17 tons per hour, ramping up to as much as 20 tons per hour when needed. The amount of manual labor used in the processing operation was also substantially reduced, and the overall quality and marketability of the finished products were improved using a combination of a pre-sort station, the disc screen, and an improved ability to perform quality control inspections.
A significant component of Geosyntec's landfill engineering practice is the management of landfill gas and compliance with air quality standards. Our expertise with landfill gas management services is built upon our legacy of being a recognized leader in helping our clients achieve safe, secure containment of regulated wastes since our founding in 1983.
Geosyntec provides nationally recognized expertise and specialized geotechnical and geological engineering (geoengineering) services to evaluate and improve the design and construction engineering properties of soil and rock foundations. Our geoengineering specialists form one of the leading practices in the world. They are recognized for their ability to develop practical guidance, and efficient designs conducive to aggressive construction schedules commonly imposed by project economics. Our geoengineering practice focuses on difficult and challenging sites where the development of dependable, cost-effective foundations, and other geostructural solutions are critical to the success of the project. Our practitioners accomplish this by establishing a thorough understanding of the project site, developing a technical framework for the project, and incorporating the critical, non-engineering drivers such as schedule and project economics into the early stages of our planning. Our geoengineering professionals have responded to the challenges of increasingly unfavorable site conditions by developing and applying sophisticated approaches to investigate and characterize sites; analyzing foundation behavior; altering the engineering characteristics of the soil and rock at a specific site through soil and rock improvement; and environmentally remediating sites. We implement these approaches so foundations and other subsurface structures can be constructed safely, adequately support the built environment, and withstand potential geohazards. Our geotechnical practitioners are fully familiar and experienced with the practical application of these tools. For example, when a client needed to develop a critical structure near Wilmington Harbor in Delaware, the client turned to Geosyntec to geotechnically engineer a practical, cost-effective solution. Our team developed an innovative foundation design and construction methodology for very soft and compressible foundation materials that included wick drains, embankment pre-loading, and mechanically stabilized earthen walls. Our design saved the client nearly $100 million when compared to more traditional approaches proposed by others. Our geoengineering practitioners distinguish themselves by rapid development of an appropriate understanding of the geologic and environmental history of a site, and using this knowledge to screen potential ground improvement and foundation technologies (wick drains, deep soil mixing, deep dynamic compaction, vibro-replacement, and surcharging) to identify the more dependable and cost-effective approaches. These screening-level studies become a basis for gathering optimized geotechnical information based on carefully considered analyses tempered with practical, hands-on experience sufficient to not only characterize the site, but also design dependable foundations. These attributes have been particularly beneficial to our petroleum and chemical industry clients who are currently undertaking large-scale capital projects in undeveloped areas. For example, Geosyntec is working with oil and gas interests on foundation design, offshore reclamation, and underwater slope stability issues related to the development of a liquefied natural gas trans-shipment facility on the coast of southwestern Africa. Our senior practitioners have authored technical design and construction manuals for the Federal Highway Administration focusing on foundation support systems, earth retaining systems, and earthquake engineering. Geosyntec provides lead, geotechnical training instructors for the National Highway Institute and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). We also provide training to state departments of transportation, contractors, and consultants for state-of-the-practice design applications. Our staff members are active contributors and developers of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Load and Resistance Factor Design Specifications for bridge substructures including foundations and retaining wall systems. Several of our practitioners have received ASCE's highest awards for advancing the state of the practice in geoengineering.
© 2026 Geosyntec Consultants, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
