Acorn Engineering

Oh, what a night!

We had the pleasure of attending the grand opening of the Maine Audubon’s Ann and Jim Hancock Native Plants Education Center earlier this week. The overall project adds two new buildings to the property that will nearly double the space available to the public for education and connection with Maine’s natural world.

Seeing everyone’s hard work over the past 4 years come to life and on such a beautiful night was inspiring! Kudos to Kaplan Thompson Architects, Aceto Landscape Architects, Wright-Ryan Construction, R.J. Grondin and our other project partners. We can’t wait to come back and visit with our friends and family.

Acorns love ping pong and our love runs deep enough that no matter where we are – city or country, streets or woods – we will find a place to play. Here are some of our engineers getting a game in during lunch while out in the field.

Can’t stop, won’t stop learning!

Several Acorns attended the Coastwise Workshops in Freeport and Ellsworth last month hosted by Maine Audubon. The training programs delve into how to plan and build resilient road crossings in tidal wetland areas to accommodate tides, sea level rise, increasingly powerful storm surges and improve habitat connectivity.

We’re thrilled to announce that Sam Lebel has been promoted to Vice President at Acorn Engineering.

Sam has been an integral part of the Acorn team since 2016, when he joined us as a new graduate of the University of Maine, working alongside Will Savage, Acorn’s President. Over the years, Sam has contributed to a wide range of projects and developed a particular passion for affordable housing. His commitment extends beyond his civil engineering work at Acorn through his service with the Portland Society for Architecture and, more recently, the Maine Affordable Housing Coalition -MAHC.

With this promotion, Sam has also taken on an expanded leadership role and now serves as a Member of the Board. We’re grateful for his dedication to Acorn, our clients, and the communities we serve, and we look forward to the continued impact he’ll make in this role.

Please join us in congratulating Sam! 👏

Coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee…

Some days we just can’t get enough --- and some days you hit the motherlode. Here are members of our survey crew on the job and finding a little fuel along the way.

Ready for Round Two

Acorn couldn’t be prouder to be sponsoring the Portland Hearts of Pine for the second year running! We are not only fans of soccer but also the larger community that this team and organization have built over the past year. Can’t wait to see what’s to come…

Acorn has had the privilege of working on several trail design projects around the State of Maine. As nature lovers, it is an honor to assist with work that connects people to the one of Maine’s greatest resources – the outdoors.

Trail design dovetails into our experience with floodplain management, stream-smart crossings, and habitat preservation. That work continues as we head up to Maine Coast Heritage Trust’s 2026 Maine Land Conservation Conference in Augusta tomorrow. There, we look forward to seeing colleagues old and new and continuing conversations about conservation in an effort to meet our local communities' needs.

Acorn’s Kingfield Office had the pleasure of assisting Carrabassett Valley Academy with the development of their High Performance Center – a central hub for student training, fitness and rehabilitation. Project work included site planning and permitting for the almost 6,000 sq ft expansion and the coordination of site and building improvements for utilities.

Drum roll please….

Acorn is pleased to announce our Landscape Design Studio team. We’ve grown from a team of one just two years ago to a team of three. This growth aligns with our greater vision to become an integrated design firm that values creativity and exploration for the built environment. Read on to learn more about the team and what inspires them.

Acorn Reigns When It Rains☔️

April showers bring May flowers and stormwater inspection deadlines so now is the time to prepare. Acorn Engineering supports sites across the state with stormwater inspection reports tailored for their specific stormwater infrastructure. Our engineering background helps us deliver a technical inspection, giving clients and municipalities confidence in system conditions and recommended actions. Get ahead of the season, protect your infrastructure, and reduce compliance risk—Acorn welcomes new clients this spring!

The good, the better, and the best...

As we look ahead to spring weather, and all that it brings, we're reminded of the importance of implementing sound erosion and sedimentation control practices on construction sites. In our travels as third-party erosion control inspectors, we regularly assist site developers and contractors by inspecting site erosion controls and recommending practices to improve the performance of their ESC measures. From the first shovelful to the first mow, we've been proud to work alongside crews to help preserve our State's critical land and water resources.