HNTB很快发现自己陷入了拆除历史桥梁，建立24小时渡轮服务并建立新的7000万美元结构的紧急紧急计划，并建立了纽约州Crown Point和Vt的Chimney Point的新$ 7,000亿美元的结构。当两个州的交通运输部都按计划运行并挖掘了扁铁结构作为承包商。新桥计划于今年秋天开放。

The effort burnished HNTB's credentials with NYSDOT, says Bob Dennison, chief engineer for the agency. “Their flexibility and ability to adjust to changing terms was, to say the least, a great help,” he says.

HNTB's Lake Champlain assignment is one of a growing list of projects for key clients in the region. In recent years, the firm—with corporate headquarters in Kansas City, Mo.— has carefully and steadily expanded its presence in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, earning selections on some of the area's highest-profile projects. The strategy helped HNTB more than double its revenue in five years, grow through the recession and establish itself among the top regional design firms. As such, ENRNew York has named HNTB its Design Firm of the Year.

“We have a strong plan that we're sticking to,” says Thomas Potts, vice president and New York office leader. “We've been growing somewhere between 15% and 20% almost on an annual basis, and we look for that to continue. Even in the downturn, there seem to be a lot of opportunities in the metropolitan New York area.”

HNTB's deliberate expansion draws from its focus on “foundation clients” in the region, says Bob Sutton, senior vice president for the Northeast. “We like to focus on large opportunities,” he says. “We don't chase all RFPs. We try to be strategic about the work that we're interested in.”

Those clients today include the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, New York state and city DOTs and the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, along with the state DOTs and major transit agencies in New Jersey and Connecticut. Potts says these relationships are fueling a roster of 120 projects that should drive another 16% increase in gross revenue this year. HNTB is also targeting such agencies as New York City's Economic Development Corp. and Dept. of Environmental Protection, Potts adds.

Part of that effort entails expanding its physical presence. In addition to expanding its main New York office, the firm opened an Albany office last year that is handling the Lake Champlain project as well as an environmental impact statement for NYSDOT's high-speed rail initiative.

HNTB opened a Newark, N.J., office a few years ago to serve nearby Port Authority and NJ Transit offices. Its impact is being noticed, says Joe Fiordaliso, president of the state's American Council of Engineering Companies chapter. “I've definitely seen HNTB's profile grow, and not only its physical footprint,” he says, noting that the firm now has three offices in the state.

公司的增长是明显的收入总额for the region, which have risen steadily to $74.8 million in 2010 from $33.5 million in 2006. Mirroring its revenue growth, HNTB has expanded its personnel to more than 300 people in offices across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

High-Profile Projects

The firm's portfolio showcases a broad mix. It heads engineering on the three-phase Atlantic Avenue Viaduct superstructure replacement in Brooklyn for the MTA's Long Island Rail Road, where Sutton says an innovative scheme crafted with Kiewit, the contractor, has helped them finish ahead of the design-build project's schedule. With the $93-million first phase done, the team is on the $77-million second phase.

HNTB是新泽西收费公路33英里的27亿美元扩大到12条车道的计划经理，在退出6到9之间增加了170台新车道，这也是Turnpike $ 2,9000万美元的Interchange的建筑经理和检查代理8搬迁，其中包括移动收费广场并更换或重建13个桥梁结构。

HNTB also serves as on-call engineer for design, planning and preparatory tasks, including an environmental impact study for the Empire Corridor high-speed rail project, which aims to bring 110-mph-and-faster trains into service across 463 miles from New York City through large upstate cities to Niagara Falls.

In Connecticut, the firm is resident engineer for the $52.2-million Moses Wheeler Bridge replacement along Interstate 95 crossing the Housatonic River. It is helping prepare designs for Connecticut DOT's rehabilitation of a rim-bearing swing bridge over the Norwalk River, a Northeast Corridor structure that carries 90 commuter and Amtrak trains daily.

Other key projects include a new $1-billion-plus central terminal building for LaGuardia Airport, where HNTB is a subconsultant to URS; a $2-million consulting contract to extend electronic tolls across the New York Thruway; assorted tasks on several Port Authority bridges, including design for a $100-million orthotropic deck repair on the George Washington Bridge and preliminary engineering on the $1-billion Goethals Bridge replacement; and various roles for the MTA's bridge arm, including designing a new bus ramp viaduct for the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and subconsulting on a Throgs Neck Bridge deck replacement feasibility study.

Spotlight on Innovation

HNTB has also made its mark through innovation. On a recent Newark roadway project, the New Jersey DOT initially looked at a $150-million replacement of a Route 21 viaduct. HNTB contributed structural analysis to a consultant team that ultimately recommended a $25-million rehabilitation that extended the section's useful life by 25 years. “Particularly these days when we're facing funding shortfalls for infrastructure, that willingness and desire to think outside of the box is much more important now,” say Fiordaliso, former chief of staff for NJDOT.

One of HNTB's leading innovators is Ted Zoli, technical director of its national bridge design practice. About half of his team's focus is in the region, including design, structural and civil engineering of the $3.9-million Squibb Park Bridge, which will connect to Brooklyn Bridge Park. The underslung suspension pedestrian bridge will marry timber with modern bridge design—including draped steel cable supports—when construction begins this year.

One twist is the use of black locust timber, a substitute for expensive and environmentally sensitive tropical hardwood, Zoli says. “[Black locust is] often used for fence posts in Appalachia, mostly because it's rot-resistant,” he adds. “There are fence posts that have lasted for 70 or 80 years in swampland.”

佐利（Zoli）是一个上州的本地人，在尚普兰湖桥（Lake Champlain Bridge）中扮演着关键角色。他说，这座桥的重点突然转变为独特的设计工作，使人们平静地寻找将历史性连续的桁架结构更新为“超快速轨道项目”的方法。最终的设计呼应了原始的设计，但结合了简化和加快构造的技术。今年晚些时候，该建筑将通过拱形跨度的“浮出水面”和“重型升降机”进行安装。佐利说：“观看应该很有趣，并且代表了您尽快建造桥梁的方式。”

His team is also designing the key Portal Bridge project in Secaucus, N.J., which will replace a series of aging structures in a $100-million effort for NJ Transit and Amtrak. HNTB is part of a consortium on the project, which will enable the route to handle high-speed trains and will feature a 3,500-ft viaduct with three 400-ft network tied arch spans over the Hackensack River.

佐利说：“我们不使用我们过去通常会使用的桁架，而是使用带有跨电缆的拱门，这些拱门的行为就像桁架一样，但我认为更安全，而且更具成本效益。”n