Award-winning solutions

The Solomon Creek Bridge project in Wilkes-Barre, PA designed by Borton-Lawson was selected as the winner in the New Short Span Bridge Category for this year's Association for Bridge Construction and Design (ABCD) Susquehanna Chapter Award Competition.

The ABCD is a group of interested educators, engineers, constructors and material suppliers that work together to improve safety, provide a forum for those in the industry, and provide assistance to public and private agencies. Each year, they hold an annual bridge competition where local design and construction firms submit their best bridge projects. Borton-Lawson gave a presentation on the project at their dinner meeting after the award presentation.

Borton-Lawson worked with the City of Wilkes-Barre and PennDOT to design a solution to the frequent flooding along Solomon Creek. Borton-Lawson’s design solution included widening the channel, replacing the bridges, and installing emergency floodgates. The residents of that community have seen a significant improvement since the construction has been completed.

As a result of our presentation at this award dinner, this project was nominated for a national environmental award by a representative of the Federal
Highway Administration, which is to be awarded later this year.

Working on Playing

With a growing movement for people to participate in outdoor recreation, the demand for open space, greenways, and parks has increased. The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources welcomes people to Pennsylvania and tells them to get outdoors and engage in physical activity.

Borton-Lawson has been designing these outdoor spaces for people to do just that, “Get Out”. Our growing staff of landscape architects and designers have designed parks, trails, greenways, open space, and the neighborhood playground for many communities.

Our team’s pursuit of understanding each site helps drive the design, while taking into account the community that surrounds and supports the project. The team looks to the community to provide input and insighte into the needs of the area.

Our planning team can assist local municipalities in complying with the Pennsylvania code requirements related to recreation facilities and/or open space areas in conjunction with subdivision and land development activities. Our experience includes park, recreation, and open space plans, master site plans, feasibility studies, grant applications, design and permitting, and bidding and construction administration.

We've got the whole package

You may not realize it, but Northeastern Pennsylvania plays a key role in today’s global manufacturing environment with some of the world’s most successful companies having facilities in our backyard. With headlines of companies moving their operations out of the US for cheaper labor, it is encouraging to see local, national, and international manufacturers expanding their operations to our region creating jobs and economic benefit.

The Borton-Lawson team is structured to assist manufacturers meet their goals by establishing new facilities and expanding existing ones. Global players such as Archer Daniel’s Midland, Amcor PET, Caremark, Certainteed, sanofi pasteur, and Sealy have all relied upon the expertise of Borton-Lawson to handle their architecture and engineering needs as they expanded to our region’s industrial parks. We have found that trusted relationships with our clients have been our key to success.

Whether it be a structural engineer, wastewater treatment designer, or process automation specialist, each individual makes it a point to work with the client to thoroughly learn the intricacies of their organization and become familiar with its unique processes. Our support allows the manufactuerer to concentrate on their core business while we handle their facility design needs.

“the vital link between production and prosperity” ~Manufacturing Works

Our mission is to make our client’s vision a reality, and we have seen that happen before our eyes with many of the projects we have completed. Watching our design efforts result in prosperity and growth for our clients and the region is a true measure of success and a great reward.

Company Recognition

Several of our employees have been on the move this summer season participating in all kind of athletic and community activities. Events included the 46th Annual Kiwanis Downriver Canoe/Kayak Race, the Winola Wiggle 5K Race, Wilkes-Barre Triathalon, and the Borton-Lawson company softball team.

Secretary Kathleen McGinty, Department of Environmental Protection, stopped into Northeastern Pennsylvania to award Earth Conservancy with the 2007 Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence for the reclaimation of this mine-scarred land in Luzerne County. Borton-Lawson was recognized for their engineering work on the site.

Water and Wastewater -critical to your community

Water covers 71% of the Earth’s surface and affects almost everything in our daily lives. Whether it be enjoying our morning coffee, taking a hot shower, or packing an umbrella for a trip to the lake, we only notice this necessity when it is not there.

Communities, businesses, schools, and homes all depend on high quality water to get through each day. Borton-Lawson’s team of water and wastewater professionals make it their mission to stay current on evolving water and wastewater issues that face communities. From clean drinking water, to proper storm water management, to a reliable wastewater treatment system, having a trusted and trained expert on your side to find solutions is crucial. Because of Pennsylvania’s numerous streams, lakes and rivers, there are many considerations related to impacting water systems that municipalities and industries must evaluate when planning their projects.

New Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) regulations will soon take affect that place limits on the amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus (nutrients) a wastewater treatment plant can directly discharge into the Susquehanna River Basin, which includes the Susquehanna River and all its tributaries. These new regulations are driven by an EPA mandate to clean up the Chesapeake Bay of which the Susquehanna River is a major tributary. Higher concentrations of these nutrients in rivers, lakes, and streams cause increased growth of algae, which decreases dissolved oxygen and subsequently causes depletion of fish populations and aquatic plant life. Evaluation of upgrades to existing municipal sewage treatment systems and industrial wastewater plants that discharge into the Susquehanna, or one of its tributaries, is a must to ensure meeting these new regulations. Early sewage planning for developers is also a must as these new regulations will impact the feasibility of implementation of their projects.
Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) are still commonplace today in many municipalities in Pennsylvania. CSOs are storm sewers that accept overflow from sewage lines under high flow conditions, typically during a heavy rain event. The use of CSOs results in raw sewage directly entering streams and rivers. For valid reasons, the EPA and PA DEP are pushing municipal governments to separate sewage lines from CSO overflows to ensure raw sewage is properly treated before discharging to Pennsylvania’s waters. The cost for separation of these systems is very expensive and municipalities typically don’t have funding to support these projects. However, the cost for investigation and elimination of sources of Inflow & Infiltration (I/I) into sewage lines is usually much less, and can dramatically minimize the frequency of sewage overflow events in a combined sewer system. Minimizing I/I can be a cost effective and environmentally responsible method for municipalities to maintain a CSO system until funding becomes available for separation of these sewers.

It is particularly important for municipal and sanitary authorities, industrial sites, and developers to stay current on water and wastewater standards and take responsibility for the effects their activities can have on a community. Government regulations help to protect communities, and a qualified water/ wastewater consultant can help a group to be environmentally responsible and avoid issues down the road.

Borton-Lawson is the consultant of choice for numerous municipal & sanitary authorities, private developers, and industrial clients. Our firm is experienced in storm water collection conveyance & management, water supply treatment and distribution design, as well as sewage collection, conveyance & treatment design. We help our broad range of clients make the best use out of one of nature’s most critical resources.

Meet our new management staff

Meet Samantha Albert, PE, Project Manager Civil Division. Samantha’s experience is in the management of design and construction of water and wastewater treatment facilities and associated distribution and collection systems. She will be managing water and wastewater projects for Borton-Lawson as well as reach into new markets that can benefit from these services.

Meet Jonathan Loiselle, RA, Senior Architect. His responsibilities include programming, site design, space planning, building design and graphic presentations. Mr. Loiselle has been in the architecture field for the past 18 years. Locally, he was Project Designer for the new Scranton High School and has recently completed Schematic Design for the new Whittier and West Scranton Elementary schools.
Meet Christine Himler, RLA. In her capacity as Director of Land Development Lehigh Valley, Ms. Himler is responsible for the management of the Land Development staff, business development, and project management. Her 15 years as a Landscape Architect has allowed her plenty of experience with Project Management, zoning issues, and subdivision planning.

Meet Kenneth M. McClain, Transportation Division Manager Lehigh Valley. Ken is responsible for the managment of transportation projects out of the Lehigh Valley Office. Mr. McClain has 14 years experience with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation District 5-0 where he served as a Senior Project Manager, Design Services Manager, Planning Programming Engineer, District Grade Crossing Engineer, and Local Bridge Coordinator.

First annual golf tournament

On July 16, 2007, Borton-Lawson hosted its first Client/Employee Appreciation Golf Tournament at Fox Hill Country Club in Exeter, PA. Blue skies set the stage for a very successful event that involved 85 golfers. Our clients were able to golf with Borton-Lawson employees giving them a chance to get to know our team members. Chris Borton along with some brave employees were sporting traditional knickers at the outing.

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