Services:

DRPE is staffed with experienced personnel, which provide the following professional services:

Surveying – Boundary surveying, subdivision surveying, ALTA surveying, control surveying, topographic surveying, GPS surveying, mine surveying (underground and surface), construction stake out, volumetric surveying, quantity surveying, highway surveying, railway surveying, core hole surveying, gas well surveying, pipeline surveying, site planning.
 
Civil Engineering – Water system design and permitting, sewer system design and permitting, storm sewer design and permitting, site planning, road design, bridge design, structural design, building design, gas well permitting, construction inspection.

Environmental Engineering – Erosion and sediment control plans, water protection plans, wetland determination and delineation, mitigation assessments, NPDES permits, surface mining reclamation plans, air pollution control plans.

Mining Engineering – Mine design, mine planning, mine permitting, mine surveying and mapping, reclamation permits, environmental monitoring, structural analysis of canopies and automated temporary roof supports for underground mine equipment.   

Personnel:

DRPE presently has a staff of thirty-two full time employees.  Job classification – headcount of our staff is as follows:

• Registered Professional Engineers – 2
• Registered Land Surveyors – 4
• Engineers – 2
• CADD Operators – 6
• Field Surveying Technicians – 15
• Construction Inspector – 1
• Office/Clerical - 2

The above staff includes five individuals with four year engineering degrees, two individuals with four year non-engineering degrees and five individuals with two year engineering/technical degrees. 

Equipment:

Surveying – Electronic total stations with data collection, four-wheel drive vehicles equipped with two-way radios and cellular telephones, Leica SR9500 Dual Frequency GPS receivers and controllers, metal detectors, pipeline locators.

Office – Our office is completely computer automated.  We utilize AutoCAD Release 2007 Software, Eagle Point Engineering and Surveying Software, Haestad WaterCAD Software, high-speed internet and large-scale color ink-jet drawing plotters. 

Client List:

A list of our clients includes:  Consolidation Coal Corp., Consol Energy, Inc., CONOCO Inc., CNX GAS Company, LLC, Dickenson-Russell Coal Co., Paramont Coal Corp., Jewell Smokeless Coal Corp., Harold Keen Coal Co., Wellmore Energy Co., LLC, Thompson + Litton, Anderson & Associates, Russell County PSA, Buchanan County PSA, Town of Cleveland, VA, County of Tazewell, VA, County of Russell, VA, Town of Lebanon, VA, CLECO Corp., W + L Construction & Paving, Inc., Bizzack, Inc., Bush & Burchett, Inc., Southern Heart, Vecillio & Grogan Construction Co., Patrick Construction Co., J & J Construction Co., P & J Contracting, LLC, Vencill Corporation, C. L. Dale Construction Services, LLC, Elk Knob, Inc., Norfolk Southern Corporation, Virginia Department of Corrections, Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy and Virginia Department of Transportation.

General List of Project Experience:

Coalbed Methane Gas Project – Since 1989 DRPE has been involved in the development of the Oakwood Coalbed Methane Gas Field in Buchanan, Tazewell and Russell Counties, Virginia and McDowell County, WV.  We have performed services for our clients in land surveying, control surveying, gas well site location, site surveying, well plat preparation, site plan preparation, road design, drainage design, as built surveying, property mapping, pipeline surveying.  Our firm has performed the above service relative to several hundred coalbed methane gas well to date.

Highway Construction Projects – Over the past several years DRPE has performed construction surveying services on a number of highway construction projects in southwest Virginia.  Among these projects were two projects in Russell County on US Route 19 which involved the widening of the highway from two lanes to four lanes.  We also did the same type of work in Lee County on four large projects involving the widening of US Route 58.  A large number of smaller highway construction projects have also been completed in Russell, Buchanan, Tazewell, Washington, Smyth, Wise, Lee, Dickenson, Bland and Scott Counties, Virginia.  In addition to highway construction stakeout we have also performed construction stakeout for a large number of highway bridges in the same general area.

Coal Mine Surveying – In 1992 our firm added the service of underground coal mine surveying services to our portfolio.  Currently we are providing underground coal mine surveying services for four major coal producers in southwest Virginia and southern West Virginia, servicing approximately 25 coal producing sections.  In some instances we provide the field surveying services and our client’s in-house engineering staff does the mapping.  In other instances we provide both surveying and mapping.

Surface Mining & Reclamation Permitting and Maintenance – Throughout our history DRPE has been intimately involved in preparing, obtaining and maintaining surface mine reclamation permits for our clients.  We have prepared, obtained and maintained permits for underground mines, surface mines, processing plants, refuse disposal areas, haul roads and associated facilities.  Examples of our projects include:

• Permitting of several ventilation shaft sites for underground coal mines
• Permitting of several large surface coal mine
• Permitting of a new coal preparation plant
• Permitting of several drift type underground coal mines
• Construction Inspection and As-built certification of two large coal refuse impoundments
• Permitting of several non-coal surface mines (quarries)

We have a good working knowledge of the surface mining regulations and a good working relationship with the regulatory agencies.

Mine Engineering – For several years our firm has been performing all the mining engineering for several small coal mines.  This work includes mine design, surveying and mapping, mine permitting, roof control plans, training plans, ventilation plans and mine license preparation.  From time to time our larger clients call on us for special mining engineering projects such as shaft design, foundation design, structural design and surveying and mapping.

Subdivision Design, Permitting and Stakeout – DRPE has designed, surveyed and permitted several subdivisions during its history.  Projects include:

• Gardenside Village Subdivision in Lebanon, VA.  This project consists of 25 multi-family buildings and 30 single family residences.  Our work on this project consisted of project site planning, roadway design, water system design, storm drainage design, wetland delineation, wetland mitigation, joint permit preparation and construction stakeout.  Work began on this project in mid 2006 and is ongoing.
• Hungry Mother Estates in Marion, VA containing 102 residential lots, a 24 resident gated community, 4 commercial lots and 4 medical arts lots.  This project included subdivision design, VDOT road design, water system design, storm drainage design and sanitary sewer design.  The project design was completed in 2002 but only a portion of the project has been constructed.
• Indian Hills Subdivision in Russell County, VA containing 22    lots completed in 2000.
• Clark Valley Estates in Russell County, VA containing 41 residential lots, completed in 1997.
• Russell Hills Subdivision in Russell County, VA containing 62   lots with VDOT road design completed in 1994.
• The Oaks Subdivision in Russell County, VA – Phase II containing 60 lots completed in 1990, Phase III containing 37 lots completed in 1991, Phase IV containing 89 lots completed in 1993.  Work completed included subdivision design, surveying and VDOT road design

Structural Engineering – DRPE has performed structural design work throughout its history.  Our firm has two engineers on staff trained and experienced in structural engineering.  Projects completed include:

• Design of several vehicle bridges.
• Design of several commercial buildings.
• Design of several elevated conveyor systems including truss work, supports and transfer buildings.
• Structural analysis and certification of numerous protective canopies for underground coal mining machinery.
• Structural analysis and certification of numerous automated temporary roof support systems (ATRS) for underground coal mine roof bolters.