Engineering Department

The Norfolk County Engineering Department assists the County Commissioners by providing engineering and surveying services to the municipalities of Norfolk County. These services consist mainly of preparation of highway layouts, preliminary surveys for new layouts, setting of permanent monuments for control on previously laid out ways, and consultations with owners pertaining to land takings and proposed layout lines. Also, the county engineers assist the Massachusetts Highway Department and town highway departments during lay out and construction of county highways. Several years ago, the Norfolk County Engineers embarked on a GPS (Global Positioning System) program in which they would provide GPS ground points for county towns currently working on or starting GIS (Geographic Information Systems) for their own infrastructure. Additionally, Massachusetts General Law requires the county engineers to assist the County Commissioners in a number of specific areas. The list below identifies some of the Norfolk County Engineers' statutory responsibilities:

The layout, relocation, and discontinuance of highway
Alteration of railroad crossings
Layout of a railroad across a way
Layout of a highway across a railroad
Acquisition of conservation lands
Surveys of town lines to replace monuments
Preparation and revisions to county map
Drainage studies and easement plans for highway drainage
Maintenance of monuments, defining location lines of highways
Surveys and plans for the layout of right of ways

The county engineering department has long provided county municipalities with detailed traffic counts at various locations as requested by the city or town. This service provides the locality with valuable information, specifically, the number, speed, type, and turning movements of vehicles at a particular point. Frequently, communities with established engineering departments ask for this service. While these town engineering departments are capable of performing traffic counts, they are increasingly busy dealing with expansion, repairing and upgrading infrastructure, providing specialized engineering and surveying services, and handling time and personnel constraints. Therefore, when the county engineers perform a traffic count for a city or town, it frees up valuable time for each community's engineering department. For county communities that do not have their own engineering department, the Norfolk County Engineers provide invaluable services. These services are provided only to the cities and towns of Norfolk County and are by request to the Norfolk County Commissioner's Office. For more information, contact the engineering department.

Norfolk County Engineering Department, 649 High Street, Dedham, MA 02026
Telephone: 781-461-6128 Fax: 781-461-6148
email: jmcnichols@norfolkcounty.org