Larson and Trillium CNG Receive Award for Public-Private Partnership in Pennsylvania

The Engineers’ Society of Western Pennsylvania has awarded Larson Design Group the “Innovative Project of the Year Award” for the CNG Transit Fueling Public-Private Partnership program in partnership with Trillium CNG on behalf of PennDOT.

The award was presented at ESWP’s 135th Annual Engineering Awards Banquet in Pittsburgh. LDG teamed with Trillium CNG to design, build, finance, operate and maintain a program of CNG fueling stations in Pennsylvania. The stations will supply locally sourced CNG to more than 1,600 public transit buses at 29 agencies across the Commonwealth to save fuel and operational costs at a net zero development cost to taxpayers.

LDG provided multi-discipline engineering and construction phase services for all fueling stations and garages and coordinated permitting with a complex network of more than 20 agencies and authorities throughout the state.

LDG and Trillium CNG created prototypes to expedite the design and review process, and developed innovative permitting tracking software as a critical tool. The team met tight deadlines and worked through multiple reviews from PennDOT and other approving agencies, resulting in a successful program of design and construction implementation.

It is estimated that after 10 years the project will pay for itself with an estimated $100 million in overall savings.

“The LDG, Trillium CNG and PennDOT team was committed to create a program that not only saved the taxpayers money using locally sourced fuel, but had zero net investment cost and was cleaner for the environment,” said David Martin, LDG’s chief operating officer. “We’re proud to accept this award that demonstrates our team’s creativity and value-added strategy.”

CNG stations have already opened at the following seven sites: Cambria County Transportation Authority, Johnstown Facility; Mid Mon Valley Transportation Authority; Central Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, York; Cambria County Transportation Authority, Ebensburg; Westmoreland County Transportation Authority; Centre Area Transportation Authority; and Beaver County Transit Agency.