GeoEngineers Inc. has launched a new national Construction Design Group to better serve contractors working in heavy civil infrastructure. The team is anchored by two experienced and well-respected additions to GeoEngineers, Franklin Grynkewicz and Steve Spencer, and will offer a comprehensive suite of design consulting services to contractors across the country.
The new team is the result of a carefully coordinated group of strategic hires and an acquisition. GeoEngineers Inc. acquired Mr. Grynkewicz’s Boston-based engineering firm, FGG Consulting, and brought him on as a senior principal geotechnical engineer. Senior Engineers Yelena Bronshvayg, Mark Champagne and Dimitrios Palantzas have long histories working with Mr. Grynkewicz at another East Coast firm, and GeoEngineers hired them to join this new team. They are experienced in both structural and geotechnical design and accustomed to managing work in fast-paced environments. This group, along with veteran GeoEngineers Senior Engineer Heidi Cashman, will serve clients from a new office in Boston, Massachusetts.
Mr. Grynkewicz worked as both a consultant and a contractor before founding FGG in 2006. He specializes in designing temporary structural support systems for major construction projects, and his experience ranges from subway tunnel support design to braced cofferdams and even industrial siting for offshore wind farms. In recent years, he has developed a reputation for efficient and creative contributions to large infrastructure projects. Highlights include multimillion-dollar projects like the Boston Central Artery, an extension of Metro’s Green Line in Washington D.C., adding parallel crossings to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and a project to deepen New York Harbor.
To complement the Construction Design Group’s expertise and expand its geographic reach, GeoEngineers has hired Steve Spencer as a principal geo-structural engineer. Over the past three decades, Mr. Spencer has served as lead engineer for more than 75 marine, underground and deep foundation-design projects for heavy civil contractors, including Pacific Pile & Marine, where he served as chief engineer and vice president for ten years. Mr. Spencer’s work has focused on designing earth and structural-support systems—especially for marine projects, deep excavations and heavy civil infrastructure. Now, Mr. Spencer is anchoring the western half of GeoEngineers’ national Construction Design Group from our Redmond, Washington office. Mr. Spencer’s leadership and planning skills combined with a deep knowledge of contractors and the design-build project delivery process have made him an effective manager for marine and heavy civil foundation projects across the Pacific Northwest, Alaska and British Columbia.
With these moves, GeoEngineers brings together a range of design services—including geotechnical investigation and design, temporary excavation support, soil-structure interaction, seismic modeling and dewatering—all under one roof. This approach will give contractors a single point of contact and more predictable pricing for complex infrastructure projects across the United States and abroad.
“Our team is equipped to deliver just about anything a contractor might need during the pre-construction phase,” says Mr. Grynkewicz. “Our structural design expertise really expands what GeoEngineers can do for contractors. We’re looking forward to packaging these services together for contractors across the country.”
The team is excited to apply its unique blend of construction-support services to projects in Boston and across the country. Visit the Construction Design Group’s web page to meet the whole team and learn more.
