Atwater Village

About

GTA provided geotechnical and environmental consulting, and construction observation and testing (COT) services for this 147-acre mixed-use development consisting of 549 single, twins, and townhomes, nine apartment buildings, a daycare facility, and four commercial pad sites in East Whiteland Township.

The parcel for development included an 18-acre residual lime waste landfill, 30 to 50+ feet thick. GTA’s Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) approved landfill closure plan saved the client from processing approximately 750,000 cubic yards of soil, at an estimated cost of over $2,000,000 compared to the closure plan previously prepared by the site owner’s consultant. The prior firm’s environmental report did not identify contaminants in the waste. GTA’s review of the reports found that arsenic exceeded residential standards. GTA developed a PADEP approved plan to manage arsenic during construction and dewaste the landfill to permit removal of the landfill designation from the development. GTA documented dewasting of the landfill during construction and obtained successful removal of the landfill designation through PADEP.

GTA’s services also included geotechnical evaluations that considered the potential for sinkholes and redesign of a 70-foot-tall slope that supported the apartment buildings. GTA collaborated with a wall design firm to develop a combined slope and Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) wall system that kept the planned buildings in their proposed locations with minor adjustments.