WS Atkins PLC : Atkins appointed to manage improvements on Alcatraz - 02 February 2012

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Atkins appointed to manage improvements on Alcatraz - 02 February 2012

The USA's National Park Service has appointed Atkins to provide construction management services for structural repairs to the famous federal penitentiary building on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, California.

The improvements to the notorious Building #68 cellhouse on Alcatraz Island are part of the ongoing Alcatraz Historic Structures Stabilization project. The work will involve repairs to failing beams in the citadel and shower room areas that support the cellblock structures, including replacing beams that support the cellhouse floor to stop and repair structural damage, restoring the cellhouse structural floor and associated non-structural patching, and repairing/restoring salvageable beams to protect them from further deterioration.

Atkins' services on the project will include on-site inspections, construction contract administration, office services and site visits.

"Atkins has had the great opportunity to work on many of America's National Historic Landmarks, including the Statue of Liberty, Hoover Dam, Faneuil Hall, and now Alcatraz," says Atkins' senior group manager Gary Self. "We look forward to addressing the unique challenges of this project, such as working on an island that is only accessible by boat, with no land lines for telephone or data services. Not to mention we're facing the cold, strong, hazardous currents of the San Francisco Bay and the penitentiary's chilling past."

Last year saw the National Park Service appoint Atkins as construction manager on the restoration of New York's Statue of Liberty. The programme will introduce a number of 'life safety' improvements, which will make the national monument safer and more accessible to visitors.  

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For more information: Carol Hobbs Communications Director, North America Becky Edwards Communications Assistant, Group [phone] [e-mail] [phone] [e-mail] Follow Atkins' news on Twitter

Notes to editors: Atkins (www.atkinsglobal.com) is one of the world's leading engineering and design consultancies*, employing some 17,700 people across the UK, North America, Middle East, Asia Pacific and Europe. It has the breadth and depth of expertise to plan, design and enable some of the world's most technically challenging and time critical infrastructure projects. * It is the largest engineering consultancy in the UK (New Civil Engineer Consultants File 2011) and the 13th largest global design firm (Engineering News-Record 2011). Recent projects include: Major infrastructure works, such as the design and programme management of the civil works for the Dubai Metro red and green lines in the UAE; Key rail projects - providing architectural and engineering design services on Crossrail, Europe's biggest civil engineering project in London, UK, and designing stations, tunnelling and track systems for Gautrain, South Africa's first high speed line; Renewable energy schemes - transformer platform design for the Thanet offshore wind park in the UK's North Sea; Multi-year architecture-engineering construction management services for the US National Park Service, including projects such as rehabilitation of the Furnace Creek Visitor Center and Administrative Complex at California's Death Valley to meet the US Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold certification standards; High profile transport planning and urban design - our innovative scheme to deliver a diagonal crossing at Oxford Circus in London, UK, has helped tackle the problem of pedestrian crowding; Water and environmental projects - critical programme management of storm protection works in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and Southern Louisiana in North America, providing expertise in coastal restoration, engineering, environmental and GIS support to rebuild defenses and protect habitats; Multidisciplinary building design - Northwood Primary School in Darlington, UK, is an exemplar project which raises standards for environmental design and community engagement. Atkins was named among The Sunday Times 25 Best Big Companies to Work For 2011, won Consultancy of the Year in the CIBSE Low Carbon Performance Awards 2010, received the first ever certification of the Carbon Trust Standard awarded to an engineering consultancy in the construction sector, and was included in The Times Top 50 Employers for Women 2011 and The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers 2010. Atkins was also construction and civil engineering sector winner for the fifth consecutive year in the Target National Graduate Recruitment Awards 2010 and was awarded a RoSPA Gold Award 2011 for excellence in control of health and safety in the workplace. Atkins is the official engineering design services provider for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.