Atlanta Business Chronicle From the February 28, 2005 print edition

From the February 28, 2005 print edition

Lee Hall - Contributing Writer
Beltline Boom - Engineering Atlanta's Emerald Necklace could power the profession for years to come
As momentum builds in support of the proposed Atlanta Beltline project, the city's engineering community prepares for what could be a long period of strong demand for its services. The Beltline, a 23-mile loop of parks, transit and residential development encircling downtown, would provide plenty of challenges for engineers, architects and contractors as work on the project accelerates over the next decade.
"Engineers are always doing new stuff, and this is truly new stuff," said Thomas Leslie, executive director of the American Council of Engineering Companies of Georgia.
Indeed, the Beltline would present a different development scenario for professionals used to designing and building things across Atlanta's ever-expanding wide open spaces. Much of the work will be squeezed within an already densely populated corridor.
"There is a lot more design work involved with doing higher-density development," Leslie said. Initial costs are likely to be higher, he said, but long-term operating costs would be less. Most of the land lies alongside a series of abandoned rail lines, making the Beltline at its essence a transportation project to convert the old rail beds into a streetcar system with parallel bike and walking trails. Developers envision neighborhood renovation and new construction within walking distance of the corridor along with a ring of new parks to preserve green space, but it's the mobility angle that perhaps holds the greatest appeal.
"This city has been built on transportation and it will continue to grow as it develops appropriate transportation, and this is certainly appropriate transportation," said former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young. Dan Grogan, a senior project manager with MACTEC Engineering and Consulting Inc., one of the city's biggest engineering firms, says the Beltline would provide plenty of job security in a wide range of disciplines for years to come. "You're going to have land planners, civil engineers, environmental engineers, transportation specialists, pretty much all across the board. Just about every kind of expert will be needed to overcome some of the challenges," he said.
As if working in such a tightly confined space were not obstacle enough, Grogan said engineers must deal with numerous grade changes and physical barriers, as well as the prospect of brownfields -- land whose development is complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant. Then there's the sheer difficulty of piecing together all the disparate parts of the land puzzle. Some of the rail corridors don't connect with one another.

"You have different ownership of different pieces of the rail lines and the circle is not quite complete yet. You will have to connect all of those little parts to make a continuous loop," Grogan said.