Sargent Corp., an employee-owned general contractor based in Orono, was hailed as a national “best of the best” for its Thomas Brook Rail Bridge Replacement in Oakfield.
The project was selected by Engineering News-Record in its small project category.
Sargent previously received regional recognition for the project at Engineering News-Record’s New England best projects awards ceremony in the small project category. Members of the project team attended the ceremony on behalf of the crews and partners who planned and delivered the work.
$4.7M project
The Maine Department of Transportation awarded the $4.7 million contract to Sargent in June 2023, with a completion date of Oct. 11, 2024.
Sargent’s team advanced the work through months of pre-planning, coordination with the railroad and project partners, and a staged installation sequence designed around rail operations.
24/7 work
Addressing a structurally deficient crossing within the Maine Northern Railway’s Oakfield rail yard, the project replaced an aging structure with a 170-foot-long precast concrete arch culvert under six rail tracks, including the main line. The location is a critical switchyard supporting the movement of commodities through northern Maine and into Canada.
The installation required a short, scheduled window for a rail shutdown, during which all trains were halted. During that planned 96-hour shutdown, Sargent executed 24-hour operations using split day and night crews to keep production moving while maintaining handoffs, daily briefings, and around-the-clock coordination.
“In the end, we had 7,600 man-hours with no incidents. We were not going to put production in front of safety and the deadline,” said Keith Edgecomb, the project’s superintendent.
Concrete challenge
The core installation work was completed ahead of schedule within the shutdown window, reducing downtime for the rail yard and allowing the railroad to resume service sooner than planned.
A defining technical challenge was the concrete closure pours, tying the precast footers and arch system together. The closure pours had to reach strength quickly so crews could safely backfill and continue building upward, without the option of waiting on conventional cure times during the shutdown. The team used specialized quick-curing concrete and adapted its methods to mix and place the material reliably on site.
“The concrete had to cure within 12 hours maximum. The most technical challenge was the concrete,” said Brent Williams, the project executive.
The project required close coordination among the Maine Department of Transportation, Maine Northern Railway, project engineering and inspection partners, specialty suppliers and Sargent employee-owners across field operations, planning, safety and support roles.
Key personnel included project superintendent Keith Edgecomb, regional manager Tim LePage, project executive Brent Williams, project manager Travis Fernald, estimator Dave Preble, senior foremen Jon Nadeau (night), Spencer Whittemore (day), foreman Matt Chambers, project cost administrator Mathew Hewitt and field engineer Pete Williams, along with operators, laborers, mechanics and field support teams.
Sargent Corp. is a heavy civil construction company and a team of over 600 employee-owners who build infrastructure, including renewable energy projects, highways, commercial site work, landfill cells, airport runways and underground utilities in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region.
Engineering News-Record’s “best projects” program recognizes standout construction projects across the country through regional competitions. National honorees are selected from over 800 regional award entries.