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Congratulations Thierry Sarr and his Team for Winning the 2018 ACC Young Professionals Innovation Competition

BergCM is excited to share the good news that Thierry Sarr, who is currently working on our Los Angeles World Airports project, was a member of the winning team selected on February 21, 2019 by the Airport Consultants Council (ACC) as part of the Young Professionals Innovation Competition. Going up against the other shortlisted team, Thierry’s team won 1st place for their ‘Solar Powered & Intelligent Pavement’ solution. The proposal provides a solution for airports to use solar panels to generate clean, renewable energy by installing them on roadways and any other surface that can be walked or driven on. In addition to solar energy, the solution embeds LED lights to replace paint in lieu of pavement markings and signage, has an integrated heating component to prevent snow/ice accumulation, utilizes microprocessors, and integrates a stormwater capture system.

Thierry met his teammates at the 2018 ACC Airport Planning, Design and Construction Symposium last February, and though they live in different states and are scattered across different time zones, they formed a strong bond and organized weekly web-meetings to prepare their presentations. Initially, Thierry’s team developed and presented their first winning concept during the 2018 symposium for an app-based food delivery system to airline passenger’s seats, which received resounding acclaim by the ACC judges. (we all would like this idea to be implemented!) Thierry and his teammates then set their sights on the annual national Young Professionals Innovation Competition, and contacted Solar Roadways founders to brainstorm and develop their winning presentation.

Thierry’s team was notified in January 2019 that their team was one of the two teams shortlisted to present their proposal during 2019 ACC Airport Planning, Design and Construction Symposium. They worked diligently on the final presentation for weeks prior to the event, and meet in person the night before to rehearse. After each presentation was delivered, an intensive Q & A session took place during which judges asked tough questions.

The ACC recognized Thierry’s team’s innovation presentation as the most original and they took the prize home. Next steps for this successful concept will be pursuing opportunities to install these innovative and multi-functional panels on airport pavement (both airside and landside).

ACC Young Professionals Forum Information

Announcement of Innovation Competition Winner

Project Management and Construction Management Services, Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA)

Berg is currently providing Professional Services to support the capital improvement projects for various Airfield, Landside, Utility and Infrastructure projects at LAX and VNY airports. We are providing expert and specialized staffing resources for tasks including planning and sequencing efforts and life cycle analysis, project control services and construction logistics. Our team of experts is embedded in the Department of Operations and Emergency Management and are tasked with finding creative and innovative solutions to pressing problems in support of LAWA’s ten-year capital improvement program. Specifically, our team is planning and designing ways to relieve congestion in the inner corridor of the airport through construction of the people mover which will span the length of the u-shaped terminal access area. Our team is an integral part of the coordination with vendors, bus companies, car rental companies, Uber and Lyft, airlines, federal aviation, City of LA, County of LA as well as Engineering, Maintenance, and Planning and Construction departments within LAWA. The team, comprised of high-level managers, civil/traffic engineers, data analyst and program support, delivers reports directly to the Executive Director and Airport Commission, preparing graphic reports and analytics in support of their recommendations and design concepts. Berg staff works with Kieth Wilschetz and Michael Christensen, previous POLB Senior Executive Lead.

Western Council of Construction Consumers Innovative Industry Solutions Award for the Sidewalk Repair and Tree Replacement in Council District 8 Project

BergCM Awarded “Innovative Industry Solutions” award from Western Council of Construction Consumers for the Sidewalk Repair and Tree Replacement Project in Council District 8 Project

“Innovation is anything but business as usual.”

It’s hard to understand why a City of L.A.’s splendor has so many crappy sidewalks - 4,600 miles of them.

The problem is far more serious than a few cracks – we’re talking extreme safety hazards.  Residents find it difficult to safely leave their homes, suffer jacked up driveways, choked plumbing, expensive repairs, have to manually turn their City water on and off at the street in order to take a shower, or can’t get insurance because the dangerous conditions are a personal liability. 

While the $20 million budgeted sat unused and would be swept back into the Los Angeles' general fund, Councilman Bernard Parks of the City of Los Angeles’s 8th Council District, was determined to find a way to repair the worst sidewalks in his district and help residents who had appealed for assistance for many years.  He sought a strong collaborative partner that would get the job done, avoid the City’s pitfalls of red tape, and provide a frugal, swift and innovative solution.

Partnering with Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative (LANI) as Program Manager, who brought on Berg & Associates to assist in the project bidding and manage the construction, Parks used what media dubbed ‘a loophole’ to allocate an initial $350, 000 in discretionary funds. Competitive bids utilized local contractors, allowed adding 10 more locations.

Nearly 100 locations are now complete, with 300 more to be added by the time Councilman Parks retires on June 30, 205, at a total construction value of $1.5 million.

Using the latest in root barrier technology, destructive trees were replaced, in a ratio of 2 to 1, by sturdy, disease-resistant, drought-tolerant trees, with non-obtrusive root systems.  Uplifted sidewalks were removed and new sidewalks were constructed, transforming neighborhoods block by block.

As quoted to the L.A. Register, Parks said, “We found a way to create a system to fix these sidewalks at what we think is a fraction of the cost.  It creates an urgency and a timeline that we do not get from the City.”

By bypassing the broken City system, 400 residents will now be able to step safely onto the sidewalks in front of their homes.  Cost savings to the taxpayers is monumental, and the time saved is easily measured in years, not months.  A victory for all citizens of Los Angeles, this inventive model will hopefully serve as inspiration to other council districts to get creative for infrastructure repairs -- and get it done!

BergCM Union Station Project Featured in CMAA Advisor Magazine

Our CMAA Project of the Year, Union Station Platform 7, is highlighted in the CMAA Advisor January 2014 magazine.

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BergCM's Union Station Platform 7 Project is APWA Feature Article

With train ridership numbers steadily on the rise and more people getting out of their cars in favor of public transit, restoration of L.A. Union Station's orginal Platform 7 and corresponding Tracks 13, 14 & 15 became a necessity. Metrolink partnered with Berg & Associates Construction Management to oversee the building of this much needed addition to L.A.'s most important transporation hub which earned the CMAA Project of the Year Award 2013.

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BergCM Awarded CMAA Project of the Year for Union Station Platform 7

BergCM was proud to accept the CMAA’s Project of the Year 2013 award for the Union Station Platform 7 project on March 27, 2013 at the L.A. Live Marriott in Downtown Los Angeles. Project Manager Cass Hamvas was instrumental towards delivering a project worthy of this acclaim with her exceptional navigation through the challenge of the original contractor defaulting midway through construction. The partnership BergCM fostered between Metrolink, Metrolink’s legal counsel, the original contractor’s bonding company and the takeover contractor was a testament to what partnering is all about. We gratefully share this award with the many team members and stakeholders that contributed to the success of this project, most notably these project all-stars:

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City of Pomona's Lighting Retrofit project Wins APWA Award

BergCM is pleased to announce that APWA awarded the City of Pomona’s Retrofit Lighting Project with the distinguished ‘Project of the Year Award for 2012’ at the annual awards celebration on December 12, 2012.  BergCM’s Project Manager Dominic Costello was instrumental in making this award winning project an achievement in green innovation and maximizing budget effectiveness.  BergCM was brought on board during the concept phase when just the City's budget of $1.4 million existed along with a goal to improve the City’s street lighting.  Due to the recent departure of the City’s Lighting Engineer, a scope of work had not been formulated.  Mr. Costello set to work researching and creating the plans to retrofit over 4,000 existing street lights with energy efficient lights and performed 70% of inspection while serving as Project Manager.  The new lighting materials increased the current street light lifespan from 6 years to 25 while reducing the energy draw by over 50%.  Additionally, the City of Pomona received a $126,000 rebate from SCE which further increased the value of this project to the City.  The overall savings this project delivered to the City of Pomona totaled over $173,000 per year in energy costs.  The impressive results of this project is a true example of BergCM’s passion to deliver flexible, creative and beneficial CM services that meets the specific needs of our clients.

Read more about this project (PDF)

BergCM Celebrates Opening of Los Angeles Union Station’s Platform 7!

A well-attended grand opening ceremony on October 17, 2012 celebrated the completion of the Platform 7 project with the first train to use the new track breaking through the dedication banner. L.A. Union Station, the fifth busiest train hub in the nation, was expanded by restoration of original Tracks 13, 14 & 15 and their platforms which were removed from service in the 1960’s.

Serving as CM for Metrolink’s $8.5 million Platform 7 restoration project, BergCM was responsible for overseeing construction and proficiently supporting Metrolink through the initial Contractor default and subsequent Bonding Company takeover of the Project.  Construction work included reinforced concrete platforms, new bolted steel canopy, continuous welded rail, energy efficient lighting, message boards, train yard communication and electrical system improvements, plus new stairways and handicap accessible access ramps on the north and south sides that match the vintage aesthetics of Union Station. BergCM contracted with a digital high definition camera service to provide sunrise to sunset time lapse photography that captured the daily construction work which was an invaluable reference and security tool. With train ridership numbers steadily on the rise and more people getting out of their cars in favor of public transit, this project is of tremendous benefit to passengers by improving flow on and off the trains and providing an overall improved commute.

Grand Opening of Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area La Cienega Bridge Improvements

Baldwin Hills Conservancy heralded the grand opening of the Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area La Cienega Bridge Improvements project on October 26, 2012 to a large crowd of stakeholders, project team members, government officials and the general public.

The Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area is a heavily used green space and highly prized community asset. Rising twenty-five feet above the sunken roadway, the La Cienega overpass bridge serves as the primary vehicular entrance to the KHSRA and is visible from the Scenic Overlook. BergCM provided full CM services to the Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative from the earliest stages of planning through completion of the dazzling metal art sculpture and landmark that spans both sides of the La Cienega Bridge at the entrance to the Kenneth Hahn State Park in Baldwin Hills in addition to adjacent complementary landscape features.

The bridge artwork and landscape enhancements will engage transit riders and motorists on La Cienega Blvd. and will improve access, visibility and encourage pedestrian activity to and from the Kenneth Hahn State Park while creating a lasting visual impact that will serve as a strong identifying landmark for the Baldwin Hills Park Lands and surrounding communities.

View images of the project in our online gallery

WTS Employer of the Year Event

BergCM was honored to be chosen as Employer of the Year 2012 by WTS Los Angeles and was celebrated on November 8, 2012 in the Concourse Ballroom at Union Station.

Download full details of the award ceremony (PDF)

Metrolink - Union Station Platform 7 Project Completed!

Approximately $8.5 million in improvements to Platform 7, one of L.A. Union Station’s original boarding platforms, have been completed. The project entailed restoring Tracks 13, 14 and 15, which were removed from service more than 35 years ago. In addition, crews built new stairways and accessible ramps on the north and south sides, connecting to L.A. Union Station’s main passenger tunnel. Both of these improvements will allow Metrolink to better accommodate growing ridership by operating on more tracks and allowing for a smoother flow of passengers to and from the trains and tunnels. Other improvements included installing energy efficient lighting and new message boards and revamping the train yard communication and backup electric systems to facilitate improved emergency response in the event of a power outage.

View images of the project in our online gallery
Read more about the LA Union Station Platform 7 Project (PDF)