Long before “multidisciplinary” became an industry buzzword, DRMP was already built around it. Since its founding in 1977, the firm has combined surveying and civil engineering under one roof – an uncommon approach at the time. It has since become more prevalent and has proven beneficial to clients and technical staff through more efficient infrastructure delivery.
This model is still central to how DRMP operates. With civil engineers, surveyors, planners, scientists, and construction services professionals all on staff, projects are delivered through a coordinated, one-stop-shop framework that improves efficiency and accountability.
For clients, the benefit starts with simplicity. Instead of managing multiple consultants, they work with a single team responsible for project delivery from start to finish. This reduces administrative burden, minimizes coordination breakdowns, and establishes a clear line of accountability and communication.
For employees, it provides exposure to multiple engineering disciplines, supporting professional growth and development while creating opportunities to build long-term careers within the firm.
It also improves how work gets done. Because all disciplines are in-house, coordination happens in real time. Survey, design, environmental, and construction services teams can resolve issues faster, align on decisions earlier, and develop solutions with a full understanding of project impacts. Having construction services staff embedded in the firm also allows for constructability reviews during design, helping identify and resolve field issues before they become costly construction changes down the line.
A Trusted Advisor
A multidisciplinary structure also enhances project delivery and client relationships. With teams working side by side across disciplines, DRMP gains early insight into project needs and upcoming opportunities, positioning the firm as a trusted advisor rather than a single-service consultant.
These advantages become especially clear on complex infrastructure projects, such as DRMP’s design of the SR 50 Widening Project in Florida Department of Transportation districts 5 and 7.
SR 50 is a major east-west corridor that connects both Florida coasts to Central Florida, and the final two-lane segment between US 301 and Groveland presented safety and capacity concerns due to heavy truck traffic and limited passing opportunities. To address this, FDOT moved forward with an 8-mile widening through the Withlacoochee State Forest, converting the corridor into a four-lane divided highway.
DRMP served as the prime consultant for this project under a single contract spanning the two FDOT districts, coordinating several of its disciplines to improve a highly sensitive and environmentally constrained corridor. Because surveyors, engineers, environmental specialists, and construction-focused staff were all working within the same firm, DRMP was able to maintain consistency across FDOT district boundaries, streamline decision-making, and respond quickly to agency and stakeholder needs.
This approach also helped accelerate delivery. Early coordination between disciplines supported right-of-way decisions and environmental approvals, which shaved off a year in design time and helped FDOT move the project forward efficiently to meet a tight deadline supported by the state legislature.
Specialty Services
In addition to its core disciplines, including established environmental services, DRMP has continued to expand its capabilities through a range of specialty services, including noise analysis, multimodal planning, and disaster recovery and resiliency. This expansion enables DRMP to manage complex challenges more holistically while improving efficiency and reducing risk.
DRMP’s noise analysis expertise, for example, has supported major infrastructure improvements. On Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise Seminole Expressway (SR 417) widening project, the firm’s noise team supported the alternative delivery team by updating design-year models and conducting barrier analyses at six locations under a compressed schedule. Through efficient modeling and recommendations, the team identified cost-effective solutions that met required noise reduction criteria for adjacent communities.
(Photo courtesy of GFT) Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise Seminole Expressway (SR 417) widening under construction
The firm’s multimodal planning services improve safety, accessibility, and mobility for all modes of transportation, including walking, biking, transit, and vehicular travel. This work connects with our transportation planning, environmental, and engineering disciplines by evaluating how people move through their communities, enabling connected, context-sensitive solutions. The result is safer, more complete streets that advance the Safe System Approach and enhance livability.
DRMP’s disaster recovery and resiliency services help communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural disasters by combining engineering, environmental, and planning expertise. This work connects directly with our core disciplines by aligning damage assessments, design development, permitting, and construction support into a coordinated recovery process. This results in infrastructure that is restored more effectively and also rebuilt with improved resilience against future events.
Cohesive Quality Control
In addition to project delivery, DRMP’s multidisciplinary structure also improves quality control. With multiple disciplines reviewing work internally, projects benefit from built-in checks that ensure solutions are not only correct within each specialty but coordinated with all components before reaching the client.
This requires strong communication. Different disciplines often work on different timelines, making coordination much more crucial. Regular project meetings, clear documentation, and shared accountability help keep teams aligned and make sure responsibilities are understood for the project needs.
After nearly five decades, the industry has largely embraced multidisciplinary delivery. But for DRMP, it has always been the foundation, and it continues to define how the firm delivers reliable and more efficient infrastructure for the communities it serves.
