GPS III 2R to 2RM Space Vehicle
By Lockheed Martin, Space Systems

You may be surprised to learn that over 60 percent of the active spacecraft in the current GPS constellation of 30 satellites had its engineering, design and production right here in the Delaware Valley.  Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, this year’s Outstanding Engineering Achievement Award Winner, has a lot to do with this economy stimulating statistic.

Lockheed Martin has won this year’s distinguished honor as prime contractor for the design and construction of twenty- one (21) Global Positioning System satellites, a project that has spanned a 20-year timeframe, and has set the course for the next generation of GPS satellites to be once again designed and built in the Delaware Valley.

The Project:
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a United States-owned utility that provides users with positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services.  The most well-known applications for these services for the general public are the mapping receivers many of us have in our cars, and the time function we utilize on our cell phones. 

The GPS system consists of three segments: the space segment, the control segment, and the user segment.  The U.S. Air Force develops, maintains and operates all three segments through the Global Positioning System Wing located in Los Angeles, CA.  Lockheed Martin was awarded the contract to design and build twenty-one Block IIR (the next generation or replenishment) spacecraft in 1989. 
The design phase of the project was performed in East Windsor, NJ and the construction of the spacecraft took place in King of Prussia, PA.  ITT, Clifton NJ supplied the navigation payload for both the IIR and IIR-M spacecraft.

The GPS Block IIR satellites, which dramatically improved positional accuracy to world-wide users began replacing their predecessors, the GPS Block II/IIA satellites in 1997. 

The Challenge:
In August of 2000, Lockheed Martin received a contract modification to modernize eight of the remaining IIR spacecraft, which had not yet been launched, with additional navigation signal capability.  These eight satellites would become known as GPS Block IIR-M (for modernized), and their improvements would provide increased power to users on the ground, two new military signals with enhanced encryption and anti-jamming capabilities and a second civil signal frequency
The challenge, of course, would be for Lockheed Martin engineers to make the modifications necessary to an already existing structure, all while meeting the ultimate “cost, schedule and budget” requirements set forth in their contract.

As one engineer describes it, “imagine trying to fit 150lbs of grain into a sack that is meant to hold 100lbs.”

Accomplishing this task required a redesign of several of the existing spacecraft components. While the engineering innovations were difficult, the overall design still had to conform to weight, size and other restrictions imposed by the launch vehicle.  Additionally, reliability and useful spacecraft lifetime could not be compromised.

On August 17, 2009, the U.S. Air Force successfully launched GPS IIR-21 (M), the last in the series of the eight modernized GPS IIR satellites.  The satellite was carried aboard the Air Force procured Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, FL.

The Result:
Today, the GPS IIR / IIR-M spacecraft have amassed the equivalent of over 123 years of on-orbit operation with over 99.6% availability to worldwide users.

Building on its success in providing progressively advanced spacecraft for the GPS constellation, Lockheed Martin in 2008 was awarded the contract to develop the next-generation GPSIII spacecraft to improve position, navigation and timing services to users worldwide.  The first block of the new generation satellites, known as GPSIIIA, will deliver significant enhancements, including a new international L1C signal and increased anti-jam power for military users.

Once again an economic boon for the Delaware Valley, the engineering design and component -level manufacturing of the GPS Block III is planned to take place at Lockheed Martin’s facility in Newtown, PA.  ITT in Clifton NJ will once again develop and deliver the navigation payload. The satellites will be developed in three increments, with each increment to include more capabilities based on technical maturity.  The Lockheed Martin-led GPSIII team is progressing on schedule with the first GPS IIIA spacecraft projected to be available for launch in 2014.

Quarry Pumps Project By Maida Engineering
Client: Buzzi Unicem

The Buzzi Unicem USA Hercules Cement Plant located in Stockertown, PA, employs over 140 people and supplies construction materials to major project sites within a 150-mile radius.  The 150-mile radius encompasses the greater Delaware Valley, Northern New Jersey, and the New York City region.  Keeping the plant a cost competitive enterprise is not only important to the workers and their families, but also crucial to the companies that rely on them for raw materials throughout the region.

When it was discovered that an area of their quarry rich in raw materials for the cement making operation was covered by one of two existing main sump reservoirs, and that the current pumps that were being utilized to pump water out of the quarry were becoming cost prohibitive to operate, it became time to reconfigure the plant’s water relocation systems in order to keep the plant operations viable by expanding necessary limestone reserves.

The Problem: 
The Buzzi Unicem USA Hercules Cement Plant had been using a combination of older 350/400 HP electrical pumps, and several diesel powered pumps to pump water from two sumps in the quarry (an east and west sump) out to the Bushkill Creek.  Fuel costs for the diesel pumps had soared over the past few years and the cost to operate the diesel pumps was becoming prohibitive. 

In addition, the area occupied by the east sump was determined to be rich in raw materials for the cement making operation.  In order to mine these materials, the east sump would have to be drained.  Therefore the water from this sump would need to be channeled to the west sump area, from which new pumps could pump it to the Bushkill Creek.

The Solution: 
The Quarry Dewatering Project required the installation of four (4) 1500 HP pumps in the western part of the quarry.  The pumps operate at 4160 VAC and are controlled through a new programmable logic controller (PLC) based system.

The pumps were installed on a floating barge in a sump that was created in the quarry at an elevation of approximately 150 feet.  Water from the sump is pumped out of the quarry to a transfer conveyance box whose elevation is 380 feet.  The water – 56 million gallons each day – then flows via gravity through a 54-inch concrete pipe to an outfall area near Bushkill Creek. 

The site’s existing substation did not have the capacity to support the installation of the four new 1500 HP pumps.  Therefore the electrical power system was upgraded with the addition of a primary and a secondary substation.  The new programmable logic controller system included remote I/O drops at the two new substations and at a new diversion pump station.  The entire control system communicates through an extension of the plant’s fiber optic Ethernet system that is monitored from the plant’s main control room.

The installation of the new pumping system allowed the cement company to tap into valuable natural resources and save the company nearly $7,000 per day in diesel fuel costs, with no increase in cost for electric service.

 The completion of a project of this scope and magnitude required a diverse team of engineers, designers and operations people and contractors. 

Maida Engineering of Ft. Washington, PA completed the electrical power and control engineering and design for this project, including the upgrade of the power system, the new PLC system, the extension of the fiber optic system, the installation of the diversion pump station and the installation of the quarry pumps.

Associated civil and structural engineering and design was completed by Carroll Engineering Corporation (Warrington, PA) and Ballard-CLC Engineers (Alexandria, VA) as subcontractors to Maida.
Hercules Cement staff provided the mechanical engineering and design for the project.  Their quarry operations staff played an instrumental and invaluable role throughout the design and construction phases of this exciting project.

Solar Carports (Galloway Township, NJ)
First Solar Carports in the Northeastern United States.  Parking structure with charging stations for electric vehicles and solar modules on roof.  851 Megawatts and produces approximately 1,212,000 kwh/year.
Eastern Energy Services Inc. (Southampton, NJ)
ProtekPark, Inc. (Cincinnati, OH)
Client: Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

Roebling Bridge Rehabilitation Design/Build (Roebling, NJ)
An abandoned steel railroad bridge at the Roebling Steel Plant that crossed the Crafts Creek in Roebling, NJ was converted into a roadway bridge able to support construction vehicles up to 110,000 lbs.
W.J. Castle, P.E. & Associates, P.C. (Hainesport, NJ)
WRS Infrastructure & Environment, Inc. (Bristol, PA)
Hydro-Marine Construction Co., Inc. (Hainesport, NJ)
Client: Roebling Steel Plant

WPVI-TV Broadcast Center (Philadelphia)
Local ABC news affiliate built a new broadcast facility incorporating the latest technology for building management, high definition air and production needs, and upgraded the station from analog to digital.
INTECH Construction
Client: WPVI-TV/Disney