McHarg Elementary Dedicates New Chimney Swift Tower Designed By Thompson & Litton

Stakeholders gathered Saturday, April 29 for the dedication of the much-anticipated Chimney Swift Tower at McHarg Elementary School designed by T&L’s own Erica Sunshine, AIA.

Erica Sunshine, Director of Architecture of VA/WV, worked closely with ​bird enthusiasts/donors to design a maintenance free Chimney Swift Tower that coordinates not only with the new school design but provides a learning experience for all.  The Tower is equipped with two cameras that capture the Swifts flying overhead and nesting.  A QR Code will provide access for the community to follow along on the Tower happenings.

Chimney Swifts have lost 50% of their population, one pair of Swifts will call this Tower home, but it can also be used as a communal roosting site when the birds migrant to Peru, up to 150 pairs may pass through each season. They are best seen just after dinnertime in the evenings and typically fly overhead in a circular pattern.

Prior to this new home for the Chimney Swifts the birds roosted in a chimney that had been in place since the school was built in 1957. When the remodel of the school required that the old chimney, no longer used, be dismantled, it was taken down in late August 2020. Radford lost an important spring and summer nesting site for dozens of Chimney Swifts during this time. Chimney Swifts are beneficial to the city. Each bird eats up to 12,000 mosquitoes, termites, flies, and other insects a day.

Chimney Swift populations are in decline across the country. Radford is fortunate to have one of Virginia’s premier birders and naturalists here in their community, Clyde Kessler. He has been monitoring and recording data on the McHarg swifts since the early 1980s. The chimney swift numbers in the vicinity of McHarg peaked at 209 birds on August 29, 2011. In 2019 the highest count was 74 on September 12.

Others that were instrumental in raising funding for the project and educating the public were Wilson Rankin – Long-time member of Pathways for Radford and steward of Wildwood Park; Bob Sheehy – One of the founding members of Pathways for Radford and Liz Altieri – Liz is also a long-time member of Pathways for Radford, and her aspirations are to teach young children about plants, birds, and nature someday when she retires.

To learn more, please visit the McHarg Renovation page at https://sites.google.com/rcps.org/mcharg-project/home

T&L Survey Department Secures Two Significant Awards

First Place Award Heads to National Plat Contest

Thompson & Litton’s Survey Department excels in the Annual Virginia Association of Surveyors Plat Contest with two substantial awards.

The plats were judged at the Annual Convention held in Newport News, Virginia on April 12 – 15. The Marriott City Center hosted the awards banquet and dinner on Friday April 14th. Matt Mosteller, LS, and Michael Miller attended and represented the T&L Survey Department at the event, where they received a first-place recognition for the Miscellaneous category and a second-place recognition in the Subdivision category out of the all the plats entered statewide.

The plats submitted were a topographical survey of a bridge on the Blue Ridge Parkway over Route 220 in Roanoke County, Virginia. T&L survey crews performed the field work with a robotic scan station and static GPS receivers. This project incorporated terrestrial scanning, conventional surveying, and the creation of a GPS control network. Mike Countiss performed the drafting on the Miscellaneous plat with Matt Mosteller, LS sealing the plat. Josh Holbrook with the assistance of Michael Miller drafted the Subdivision plat created from a parcel in Pulaski County, Virginia while Matt Mosteller, LS sealed the plat.

The award-winning plats will be on display at the Radford Annex office along with the 1st and 2nd place plaques. The first-place miscellaneous plat is going on to the National Society of Professional Surveyors national plat contest for judging later this year.

Thompson & Litton, Inc. (T&L) Excited To Be Sponsor Of Newly Installed Light Poles And Entrance Sign At Radford High School

Thompson & Litton, Inc. (T&L) is excited to be a sponsor of the newly installed light poles and entrance sign at Radford High School.

Last year, T&L responded to a request issued by Radford High School seeking donors to sponsor a light pole to help raise money for a lighted sign at the back entrance to the High School of the newly installed walking/running trail. The trail now continues from the existing sidewalk at Sixth Street to the entrance of the track. This has provided a safer area for students to walk to and from school and run for practices. This improvement is part of the Healthy Young of America Grant in partnership with Radford City Schools, City of Radford, Radford University, and Bobcat Backpacks.

The T&L sponsored light pole features a banner with the company logo. This is one of eight light poles that can now be seen at the trail. We are proud to be a part of this wonderful addition to the campus.

Jennifer Moore, P.E. To Attend the Prestigious 2023 TPMI Program

Jennifer Moore, P.E., Lead Civil Engineer from the Thompson & Litton, Inc. (T&L) Bristol, Tennessee office recently received the prestigious honor of being selected into the Transportation Project Management Institute (TPMI) Program.

With only thirty slots available, Jennifer’s acceptance into this very respected and highly competitive program is not only an impressive accomplishment for her but for T&L as well. This reflects the dedication and continuous growth and experience that T&L encourages and has kept the company expanding for 67 years.

This year the Boar’s Resort in Charlottesville, Virginia is hosting the TPMI Program from May 15-18, and May 22-25. This is an eight-day intensive residential training program exclusively designed for managing the development phase of transportation projects. TPMI is designed to strengthen highly capable mid-level professionals expected to assume greater levels of responsibility in project management.

The program’s objective is to enhance the knowledge and skills of project managers to complete projects on-time and on-budget. The program has been developed specifically for project management practitioners from Virginia Department of Transportation, local government, and private consulting firms. Participants will be able to directly apply their learning of project management principles, practices, and techniques to their day-to-day jobs. Instructional hours in this program may qualify for meeting Virginia professional engineer licensure (or other) continuing education requirements. All participants who successfully complete the program will earn Certificates of Attendance.

Steve Brooks celebrates 30-year milestone

T&L congratulates our Senior Vice President of Operations Steve Brooks, PE as he celebrates his 30-year milestone with the company. Steve was honored at the Wise luncheon on Dec. 20, 2022. T&L President, Greg Hurst presented a plaque with his family members and other employees in attendance.

Melissa Whited Celebrates 30 Years with Us!

T&L congratulates our Business Development Manager Melissa Whited as she celebrates her 30-year milestone with the company. She was honored at the Tazewell luncheon on Dec. 8, 2022 with Tazewell Office Manager and Director of Strategic Initiatives, Jim Thompson, company President, Greg Hurst, family and other employees in attendance.