FORTE AND TABLADA, since 1961, has undertaken projects for hundreds of public and private clients including local, state and federal governments, airports, architectural and construction firms and industrial clients.

FORTE AND TABLADA offers a broad range of professional engineering and land surveying services including preliminary investigations, reports, studies, and preparation of design drawings and specifications in the fields of Civil, Environmental, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering. We also provide existing facility investigation services. Members of the firm hold professional licensure in several states.

Infrastructure Improvements for Jackson Barracks
New Orleans, LA

Jackson Barracks, New Orleans LA was completely inundated as a result of hurricane Katrina flooding. Starting with no information, since all as-builts and records were destroyed, we were tasked by the Louisiana Army National Guard to design and deliver plans and specifications in 70 days to rebuild the Jackson Barracks infrastructure.

Forte and Tablada’s plans and specifications were to be the basis for the selection of a Design/Build contractor to reconstruct the destroyed infrastructure. The scope of the 30 million dollar infrastructure reconstruction effort included sanitary sewer, water, gas, roadways, drainage, electrical and communications. Forte and Tablada, Inc. (F&T - prime) quickly assembled a design team of civil, geotechnical, electrical and mechanical engineers and designers from four different firms while working with National Guard master planners and historical preservationists to complete this challenging project on time.

Before any design work could begin, a complete topographic survey of the entire 150 acre site needed to be accomplished. The survey needed to identify boundaries, buildings, roadways, existing utilities, drainage structures, ground elevations and even significant trees ( for example live oaks) that needed to be preserved in an effort to maintain the historic nature and feel of the facility. The F&T design team completed this comprehensive survey using high resolution aerial photographs which were used to produce .5’ contours with planimetric detail of all features that could be identified from the aerial photographs. Extensive field work was also used to identify all underground utilities and to verify the data collected from the aerial photographs. All survey data was tied to the State Plane Coordinate System. The survey was used by the master planners and several other Architect/Engineer firms tasked with building design. The completion of this comprehensive survey alone in the allotted time was a significant accomplishment.

The F&T design team also delivered plans and specifications for the required infrastructure reconstruction. The design effort consisted of the following:

• An underground primary power and communication loop around the entire facility that included over 65 miles of conduit and cable, transformers and termination points.
• Perimeter and street lighting that included over 450 fixtures.
• A new water distribution system that included 4.5 miles of water distribution piping, fire hydrants, a 200,000 gallon ground storage tank and a 1,500 gpm booster pump station.
• A sanitary sewer collection system that included over 11,000 linear feet of sanitary sewer pipe, 60 manholes and three 100 gallon per minute lift stations.
• A drainage system that included over 4,500 linear feet of drainage pipe and 40 drainage structures.
• Drives consisting of 3,330 linear feet of curb and gutter roadways and 1,700 tons of asphalt overlay.

 

Jackson Barracks area flooded from Katrina

All members of the F&T design team are extremely proud of the timely completion of this challenging fast tracked project.

Estimated Construction Cost $ 30,000,000

The scope of this project includes Engineering, Land Surveying and Construction Management for the development of construction plans and specifications for a new loading dock facility along the Mississippi River. Project includes site work, topographic and boundary surveys, electrical design for power and lighting and Structural Engineering for the off loading system. F&T is also handling all permitting issues for the project. The project is located on the west bank of the Mississippi Rover directly north of the Highway 190 bridge. Lanier and Associates from New Orleans is our main subconsultant on this project.

The project includes design and construction management for a new off loading facility. The major components consist of a self-sufficient spud barge equipped with an excavator, hoppers, ramps, control house and generator. Other components consist of a conveyor system and staging area. This project is approximately 40% complete.

Estimated Construction Cost of $8,000,000

Teaming with Slack Alost Architecture and BBC Engineering in Shreveport, Forte and Tablada, Inc. received official Notice to Proceed on the Phase 1 infrastructure at the LA ARNG Regional Training Institute (RTI) located at Camp Minden.  The first phase of the RTI includes approximately $16 Million worth of infrastructure.  The entire project consists of a 40 acre site development, entrance road, drives, sewer, pump station, sewer force main, potable water, fire water/booster pump, primary electrical system of conduits for utility use, Central Plant electrical design, emergency generator system/distribution, communication system/distribution, fencing, retention pond and military vehicle parking (MVP) area including lighting.  Frank Titus, P.E. is the Project Engineer for the project, with Michael Travis, P.E. and John Hobbs handling the electrical and communication design.  Surveying services will be headed up by Carl Jeansonne, PLS.

Planning for this project is well underway, with meetings being held to finalize the scope of services required to accomplish the desired milestones, which have been set to complete the project on time and on budget.  Kick-off for the project began with a charette held at the site on January 28-30, 2009.  Through the collaborative effort of all parties, discussions and ideas were brought out to address all aspects of planning and design of the project.

The electrical and communication design are particularly challenging for this project, based on the fact this portion of the infrastructure must be designed and installed prior to any building construction beginning.  This task requires close coordination with the client to insure all their needs are met while providing a design which meets the current and expected future needs of the LA ARNG.

The design of the emergency distribution system of the project is underway and includes parallel 500KW diesel generators along with the associated paralleling system, 5,000 gallon diesel fuel storage tank and automatic transfer switch. 

Present communication design provides approximately 15,000 feet of 144 single mode fiber cables and over 6,000 feet of 600 pair copper telephone cables, both installed in a system of conduit and manholes for easy access.  Over 2,100 single mode fiber terminations and over 1,100 telephone pairs will be terminated before the project infrastructure is complete.

Due to the allocation and timing of Federal funding, the design schedule has been accelerated and the 35% design package is due to the Client on March 20, 2009 with the anticipated advertisement of the construction package to be June 1, 2009.  This is a challenging project and design schedule, however, Forte and Tablada, Inc. is excited to be part of the team and is up to the task.