Delaware Department of Transportation awarded JJID, Inc. the contract for the complex Wetland Mitigation at Peterson Wildlife Refuge- Phase 2 in the heart of the riverfront of Wilmington, Delaware. This site had been previously mitigated by JJID on the preceding Wetland Mitigation contract. This mitigation required all four components of the DCA Construction Excellence award grading criteria.

Design and Craftsmanship: This project had very strict and stringent tolerances for design elevations. DelDOT’s permitting had oversight from the Army Corps of Engineers and had several requirements regarding germination of native species, as any botanist will elaborate in a wetland’s ecosystem- native species need specific conditions met for germination. JJID’s Project and Construction Team used specialized tools to meet these standards.

Excellence in Project Teamwork: 2020 was a unique year on multiple fronts with the highest recordable rainfalls in several years to a global pandemic, a lot of pressure was put on both JJID’s Project Team and DelDOT’s Project Team. DelDOT and JJID had the right teams on the project to maintain a collaborative problem-solving demeanor despite challenges.

Innovation in Construction Techniques: JJID’s construction team used equipment with bio-hydraulic fluids, built a zero-impact timber mat road, and used innovative survey techniques including drone/aerial liDAR survey. JJID’s crews partnered with DelDOT inspection personnel to work swing shift schedules to take advantage of tidal fluctuations in the Wetlands. JJID crews used specialized excavators paired with rototilt articulating buckets to meet the design grades and elevations.

Meeting the Challenges of a Difficult Job: This project was difficult at its onsite with its location in a highly tidal wetland with permit specific elevations and grades. This complexity was increased exponentially due to the highest rainfall levels in years. This required both the JJID and DelDOT teams to modify approaches to the work several times. JJID brought in additional resources- doubling the number of timber mats on the project, shifting work hours into swing shifts with the tidal schedule, and using cutting edge survey techniques including LiDAR to build out the wetlands site to design permit elevations and grades.

This project was a complete success due to the partnering of all involved, JJID’s specialized Equipment and Techniques, and best in class workforce.