The American Council of Engineering Companies of Pennsylvania (ACECPA) presented RETTEW with a Diamond Award Certificate for its Chesapeake Energy Corp. Roadway Restoration and Upgrade Program, part of its annual Diamond Awards for Engineering Excellence competition.

RETTEW, an engineering and consulting firm serving the transportation, energy, water/wastewater and government market sectors, partnered with Chesapeake, an exploration and production company with operations throughout the U.S. The companies received the award at a gala held Feb. 7 in Hershey, Pa. ACECPA’s annual competition recognizes engineering companies for projects demonstrating achievement, value and innovation. 

As natural-gas production activity increased in Pennsylvania, Chesapeake foresaw the potential for damage to rural roadways, many of which were not designed for more than light farm traffic. While PennDOT requires energy production companies to restore roads utilized back to their original pre-existing conditions, Chesapeake set the goal of upgrading and improving the roads to a much higher standard that would support heavy truck traffic and remain in good shape with minimal maintenance for years to come. The company’s proactive approach facilitated upgrading many area roadways prior to any utilization for natural gas operations. The project was completed without using any local, state or federal funding. Partnering with RETTEW, the two companies upgraded more than 400 miles of state and local roads throughout six counties in less than two years. 

RETTEW recommended using a technique known as full-depth reclamation, which recycles the roadway materials and combines them with cement to build a stronger, more durable roadway. The $260-million project cost 30 percent less than traditional road-reconstruction methods, and allowed construction to occur faster and keep community disruptions at a minimum. Full-depth reclamation also benefits the environment: by recycling material, landfill use is reduced by 100 percent; new material needs are reduced by 95 percent; and because of less frequent traffic to haul materials, diesel fuel consumption volume is reduced by up to 85 percent. The project overall recycled more than 1.5 million tons of pavement. 

Full-depth reclamation was not previously a standard use for PennDOT-owned roadways, and as a result of this project, the department added full-depth reclamation to its acceptable uses for roadway reconstruction. 

“Working with a valued client on a project that uses no public funding, yet results in durable, high-quality roadways for multiple communities perfectly fits in RETTEW’s goal of supporting the communities we live and work in,” said Mark Lauriello, president of RETTEW. “We are proud to have partnered with Chesapeake on such a strong recycling effort, and are pleased to be recognized by ACECPA for our efforts.” 

RETTEW, ranked 166 on Engineering News-Record’s 2012 list of top 500 design firms, began providing civil engineering and surveying services in 1969. Today RETTEW has more than 400 employees and 11 total offices located in Athens, Lancaster, Lehigh Valley, Mechanicsburg, Pittsburgh, Schuylkill Haven and Williamsport, Pa; Canton, Ohio; Delhi and Liberty, N.Y.; and Denver, Colo. For more information on any of RETTEW’s services, please call 1-800-RETTEW-5 (1-800-738-8395) or visit www.rettew.com.

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Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) is the second-largest producer of natural gas, a Top 15 producer of oil and natural gas liquids and the most active driller of new wells in the U.S. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, the company’s operations are focused on discovering and developing unconventional natural gas and oil fields onshore in the U.S. Chesapeake owns leading positions in the Eagle Ford, Utica, Granite Wash, Cleveland, Tonkawa, Mississippi Lime and Niobrara unconventional liquids plays and in the Marcellus, Haynesville/Bossier and Barnett unconventional natural gas shale plays. The company also owns substantial marketing and oilfield services businesses through its subsidiaries Chesapeake Energy Marketing, Inc. and Chesapeake Oilfield Operating, L.L.C. Further information is available at www.chk.com where Chesapeake routinely posts announcements, updates, events, investor information, presentations and news releases.