Working closely with the utility’s maintenance, engineering, and permitting personnel, Fuss & O’Neill designed and provided permitting services for a bottomless concrete box culvert over a portion of Nurse Brook within the Eversource electrical transmission right-of-way (ROW).

The crossing was planned and designed to accommodate the travel of heavy vehicles, such as cranes and excavators, in the ROW to improve access to existing utility structures for future maintenance or emergency work. Because the work involved the discharge of fill material to an outstanding resource water, Fuss & O’Neill prepared a Major Fill/Excavation Project Certification pursuant to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Wetlands and Waterways Regulations (310 CMR 9.00) and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. Fuss & O’Neill also coordinated filings under the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act. We designed and permitted a culvert crossing of a stream within a reservoir watershed to meet transmission project standards.

This project involved detailed wetlands permitting, including a wetland replication plan for regulatory acceptance.