FPA Honored with Multiple Awards from NJ ACI
French & Parrello Associates (FPA) is proud to announce that three of our projects have been recognized by the New Jersey Chapter of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) for engineering excellence and innovation. The annual New Jersey Concrete Awards honor the most outstanding concrete projects across the state.
Grand Award: Pompton Valley Rail Trail in Morris County, NJ
The Pompton Valley Rail Trail, formerly known as the New York Susquehanna & Western (NYS&W) Shared Use Path, has received the prestigious Grand Award.
The project transformed approximately five miles of abandoned NYS&W railway track and bridge into a ten-foot-wide pervious shared-use trail, which begins at River Drive in Pequannock and extends to the Mountain View Train Station in Wayne. FPA performed construction management, construction inspection, and materials testing services for this $18.98 million federally funded construction project, which commenced in April 2022.
Key components of the project included a 2,000-foot long pile-supported elevated segment, a prefabricated 34-foot long truss bridge, and a repurposed 284-foot long abandoned railroad truss bridge. All elevated sections, including the pile-supported segment and both truss bridges, feature impact-resistant railing systems.
In addition to these structural features, the project included the installation of retaining walls and thousands of feet of guide rail, various fencing styles, traffic striping, and concrete barrier curb. Significant landscape plantings and numerous trail elements such as kiosks and benches were also added to enhance the user experience.
The trail is fully finished and open to the public following the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony hosted by Morris County on May 29th.
Congratulations to the members of the FPA team who contributed to the success of this award-winning project, including Matt Gizzi, Matthew Kearney, Kevin Morgan, and Alexandra Pitarresi, as well as NV5, Morris County, New Prince Construction, and Tanis Concrete. Their dedication and expertise played a key role in bringing this transformative community project to life.
Two additional projects, including the Improvements to Roosevelt Avenue in Carteret, NJ, and the Lakes Creek Bridge Replacement in Little Egg Harbor NJ, have earned Merit Awards from the NJ ACI.
Merit Award – Municipal: Replacement of Lakes Creek Bridge in Egg Harbor, NJ
The Lakes Creek Bridge (EH-29) in Egg Harbor Township, NJ, was fully replaced to improve safety, accessibility, and flood resilience along CR 559, a designated Secondary Coastal Evacuation Route.
The new bridge span was increased from 28 feet to 48 feet to accommodate the site hydraulics. The structure now measures 39.5 feet wide and features two 12-foot travel lanes with 6-foot shoulders, providing a total roadway width of 36 feet. To improve storm resilience, the bridge and roadway were elevated above the 100-year flood elevation. The under-clearance was also raised by five feet above Mean High Water, allowing easier access for small boats navigating Lakes Creek, a designated National Wild and Scenic River.
To address poor soil conditions at the project site, grout inclusion columns were implemented in the bridge approaches. Precast concrete retaining walls and steel sheet pile walls were installed to limit impacts to adjacent sensitive coastal wetlands. The design reflects thoughtful environmental planning, flood mitigation, and utility coordination to support the surrounding community and ecosystem.
FPA provided comprehensive engineering services for the project, including bridge design, roadway design, stormwater management, environmental permitting, H&H analysis, utility coordination, topographic survey, and full construction inspection and support services.
Congratulations to the FPA project team, general contractor South State, Inc., concrete contractor Penn Jersey Building Materials Co, and the Township of Egg Harbor for their critical contributions and seamless coordination that led to the successful completion of this project.
Merit Award – Decorative / Street Scape: Improvements to Roosevelt Avenue in Carteret, NJ
The Improvements to Roosevelt Ave project in Carteret included the full redesign of two closely spaced intersections located at the NJ Turnpike Interchange 12 Ramp at Peter J. Sica Industrial Highway, approximately 300 feet apart.
FPA provided a wide range of professional engineering services to support the upgrades, including traffic engineering, roadway design, utility coordination, construction inspection, LSRP services, and topographic survey.
Project improvements included the full replacement of both existing traffic signals, roadway resurfacing, new signing and striping, and the replacement of sidewalks and curb ramps for ADA compliance. The end of the existing concrete parapet leading to the NJ Turnpike Ramp was modified to accommodate new MASH-compliant guiderail. Decorative stamped concrete sidewalks were incorporated to match the Carteret Borough streetscape, recognizing the location as a key gateway to the community.
Additionally, the project featured a monument for a fallen NJ State Trooper, for which FPA provided design of the surrounding landscaping. Full-time construction inspection and administration services, as well as materials testing, were also provided by FPA to ensure quality and consistency throughout construction.
Due to the intersections’ proximity to each other and the NJ Turnpike ramps, a detailed traffic analysis was completed to develop coordinated traffic signal timing that would minimize delays along the corridor and at the ramp connections. NJ Turnpike Authority (NJTA) approval was required for both the proposed traffic analysis and the traffic control plans.
Congratulations to the project team, including FPA, Middlesex County, general contractor Lucas Brothers, Inc., and concrete contractor S. Batata Construction, whose combined expertise and dedication made this project a success.
