The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) needed to provide an EV charging infrastructure at many of its district offices so that it would be prepared to support the addition of electric vehicles to its fleet of pool cars. All chargers were for PennDOT’s use only and not available to the public. Erdman Anthony was selected as the prime consultant to provide engineering and design services to add EV charging stations to seven district office and maintenance building sites. The number of Level 2 EV chargers per site ranged from 10 to 32, which totaled to 142 across the seven locations. Erdman Anthony began the design process by using aerial imaging of each site during meetings with district representatives to determine proposed locations for the charging stations. These images were used to identify the areas where topographic surveys needed to be performed for use in developing the base mapping for site-plan drawings. While this process was occurring, a minimum of 12 months of electrical utility demand data was obtained from PennDOT for each site, and a load analysis was completed to determine whether the existing building service had sufficient capacity to support the proposed number of chargers. Once the base maps were obtained, our firm completed electrical surveys of each site to obtain existing parking area conditions, checked electrical one-line drawings and panelboard locations, and reviewed proposed EV charger locations with facility personnel. Drawings were developed for each site, along with common detail sheets and specifications for use in permitting and bidding. Some sites had sufficient capacity in the existing building electrical service to support the EV chargers, but several sites required new and separate utility services. Our firm coordinated with the utilities on required service details, metering, and points of connection. Electrical usage meters were included at the sites where power was obtained from the existing building electrical service so that PennDOT could track how much energy was being used to charge the fleet of pool cars. Most of the sites have two units mounted on a single pedestal, while one site has primarily wall-mounted units. Permit applications were prepared and submitted. Construction administration services will be provided, along with assistance in completing rebate applications for the installation of the chargers.
Nearly 150 Level 2 EV chargers at seven district office and maintenance building sites have helped reduce vehicle emissions and noise while advancing the commonwealth’s goal of making its fleet greener.