Building Nevada - January 2004

Carter & Burgess

Designing Nevada North and South

by Robyn Campbell-Ouchida

Carter & Burgess was established in 1939 as a two-man partnership providing civil engineering and landscape architecture services. Today, the company is a full-service, multi-discipline consulting firm with more than 2,300 employees across the nation. It is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas and has two offices in Nevada, one in Las Vegas and the other in Carson City. There is also a related entity, C&B Nevada, Inc., which provides architecture services. Combined, the two Nevada offices have approximately 130 employees.

The company’s core competencies are in the areas of architecture, engineering, management, planning and technology. By being able to provide expertise in these areas, Carter & Burgess is uniquely qualified to work on a variety of projects. "Because Carter & Burgess offers the combined resources of a full-service firm rather than just one or two specialties, it sets the company apart from many other local engineering and architecture firms," said Dennis Waibel, P.E. Along with holding the titles of senior vice president, Carter & Burgess and president of C&B Nevada, Inc., Waibel sits on the national board of directors for Carter & Burgess, Inc. – the only board member located outside the state of Texas.

The Northern Nevada project office is currently working on an interesting task awarded to them by the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) – the 13-mile V&T Railroad Extension Project. The railway, which was used in the 1860s to carry gold ore out of Virginia City for processing, is being revamped for future use as a tourist attraction.

The extension, an approximate retracing of the original route, includes the construction of a fill across the Overman Gold Mining Pit access road, realignment of access roads to both the Catholic and Masonic Cemeteries, realignment of several access roads that currently use the V&T Railroad roadbed, and a parking area at the Masonic Cemetery. Necessary drainage facilities will also be designed and constructed. The design for the first segment of the project (from Gold Hill Depot to 1.3 miles south) is nearly complete. The V&T Railroad Commission is in the process of securing right-of-way and funding to complete this leg and design/construct future sections.

Among other projects in Northern Nevada, Carter & Burgess is also designing erosion control for Incline Village and designing a 16-acre bus transit facility for the city of South Lake Tahoe.

Carter & Burgess can also boast of some impressive ventures in Southern Nevada. The firm provided design services for the Las Vegas Monorail, a four-mile elevated dual-guideway automated transit system that transports tourists and conventioneers along the congested Las Vegas resort corridor. Carter & Burgess supplied design services for the construction of approximately three miles of new dual guideway, five new passenger stations, a new operations, maintenance and storage facility, as well as renovations to the existing monorail guideway and stations.

Another project spearheaded by Carter & Burgess was the construction of Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. From the initial field surveys to the fast-track civil design, the firm also brought its consulting experience to the design of the parking garage and a 45,000-square-foot central plant with chilled-water storage. Along with these services, Carter & Burgess prepared street lighting and traffic signal designs and on-site signage needs.

Carter & Burgess also worked on the 140,000-square-foot expansion of the Las Vegas Review-Journal headquarters, the Regional Transportation Commission’s Integrated Bus Maintenance Facility and a consolidated rental car facility at McCarran International Airport. In addition, the firm recently completed a Policies and Procedures Manual for Roadway Design for the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT).

The firm is also involved with the construction of the I-215 Beltway. Clark County has selected it to perform construction staking services on the three miles between Decatur Boulevard and Buffalo Drive. "The Beltway has really changed the face of transportation here in Southern Nevada," said Waibel. "We’re excited to be part of that transformation."