(June 20, 2007 update)
The National Association of Environmental Professionals presented the Maryland State Highway Administration and Hunt Valley, Md.-based consulting engineering firm KCI Technologies with an Environmental Excellence Award in Environmental Streamlining for the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Replacement Project’s Fish Passage Program. The program opened 26 miles of historic spawning habitat by removing 23 blockages to fish passage in five Washington, D.C., streams. Each stream had been altered by a mix of active and abandoned utility lines, concrete fords, dams, and grade control structures, which prevented fish from swimming upstream for spawning. This was the first time that a fish passage project of this size, scale, and type had been attempted in an urban setting. The designed systems required the precise placement of rocks and boulders to create ramps or pools that allow fish to cross a specific section of stream. This work was completed as part of the environmental mitigation program developed for the $2.4 billion Woodrow Wilson Bridge Replacement project. To date, all 23 projects have been constructed and are being monitored to verify success. Many sites are now in their second or third year of monitoring and are exceeding expectations with respect to aesthetics and improvements in biodiversity. The project will serve as a guidepost for fish passage efforts in urban streams throughout the nation.

MSCW, Inc., served as primary consultant for two projects recognized by the First Coast American Planning Association—the Dunn Avenue and Main Street Corridor Redevelopment Plan and the 2030 Horizon: City of Jacksonville Growth Management Task Force. The Dunn Avenue and Main Street Corridor Redevelopment Plan received this year’s Outstanding Master Plan Award, which recognizes a master plan developed in the last two years that will greatly contribute to the field of planning upon completion. The plan was developed by the city of Jacksonville’s Planning and Development Department with the assistance of MSCW. The 2030 Horizon: City of Jacksonville Growth Management Task Force received the award for Best Planning Advocate, which acknowledges planners or citizens who have advocated for better planning or made a difference to the future planning of a community. The Task Force was coordinated by the city of Jacksonville with the assistance of MSCW.

Fuscoe Engineering, Inc., received Habitat for Humanity of Orange County’s Vision Builder Award. Fuscoe Engineering has provided comprehensive, pro bono civil engineering design services for a number of Habitat for Humanity projects, including seven new townhomes in the city of Cypress. In addition to providing grading, water, sewer, and storm drain plans, the Fuscoe team developed a sustainable storm drain system that provides pre-treatment of stormwater. The system was designed with inlets that filter and infiltrate to recharge the groundwater basin. Additionally, two single-family detached Habitat homes in Palm Desert are currently under construction, and the Fuscoe Palm Springs Regional office has committed to a duplex project this fall. Another Habitat project "on the boards" is Calle Rolando Villas, which will comprise 27 housing units and a park in the city of San Juan Capistrano. Since the site is located in a floodplain, design challenges for this project include drainage issues and stormwater regulations compliance.

CH2M HILL received five Excellence in Environmental Engineering awards from the American Academy of Environmental Engineers (AAEE). The Los Angeles Integrated Resources Plan won the Grand Prize in the Planning category. CH2M HILL teamed with CDM and the city of Los Angeles to develop a strategy for the city of 3.8 million residents to more efficiently manage their water resources. The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MSD) Study of High-Rate Treatment of Wet Weather Flows received the 2007 Grand Prize in the Small Project category. CH2M HILL and Milwaukee MSD were successful in demonstrating the effectiveness of chemically enhanced clarification (CEC), biologically enhanced CEC, and a UV disinfection system in treating intermittent, high wet-weather wastewater flows. The F. Wayne Hill Water Resources Center was awarded the 2007 Grand Prize in the Design category. The team of CH2M HILL; Jordan, Jones & Goulding , Inc.; and Precision Planning, Inc., delivered this $365 million facility approximately one year ahead of schedule. The Stamford Water Pollution Control facility won the Honor Award in the Small Project category. Teamed with the city of Stamford, Conn., CH2M HILL achieved the most ambitious and sophisticated upgrade in the plant’s history by increasing the plant’s average capacity by 4 million gallons per day and upgrading the facility. The MSD-Cincinnati Wet Weather Storage and Treatment Facility received the 2007 Honor Award in the Small Project category. CH2M HILL eliminated the discharge of untreated sewage for rainfall events to improve local water quality and protect public health. The project was completed $50,000 under budget and six months ahead of schedule.

Skanska USA Building Inc., in conjunction with Johnson & Johnson Worldwide Engineering and Kling Stubbins Architects, was awarded the Philadelphia Water Department’s 2007 Stormwater Best Management Practices Recognition for their work on the porous asphalt parking lot, underground infiltration beds, and bioretention swales for the research center project at Johnson & Johnson’s Spring House, Pa., campus. This award recognizes companies whose work supports the Office of Watershed’s mission to preserve and enhance the health of the region’s watersheds through effective wastewater and stormwater services. This includes the adoption of a comprehensive watershed management approach that achieves a sensible balance between cost and environmental benefit and is based on planning and acting in partnership with other regional stakeholders.

(May 11, 2007 update)
Walter P Moore won a Silver Medal in the Water Resources Category of the 2007 Engineering Excellence Awards competition for its role in Flood Mitigation for the UT Health Science Center Medical School Building. This competition is sponsored by the Texas Council of Engineering Companies (TCEC). After a serious flooding event in Houston, and the subsequent loss of resources, the University of Texas Health Science Center Houston asked Walter P Moore to develop a reliable flood-mitigation system for its Medical School Building. The resulting perimeter berm and building improvements were designed to be part of the landscape, providing features that protect from flooding and enhance the campus experience. The project team met the challenges that included incorporating 500-year-flood protection, Green considerations, extensive utilities constraints and the need to keep the building open during construction without disrupting the occupants.

MSCW, Inc., an Orlando, Fla.-based planning, design and civil engineering firm, received the Orange County Public Schools’ (OCPS) Outstanding Partners in Education Award during this year’s Community Resources Recognition Event. During the event, outstanding school volunteers, business partners and volunteer coordinators are recognized for their human, in-kind and financial contributions to enhance educational excellence throughout Orange County. The OCPS Partners in Education program helps businesses form partnerships with schools, which enhance student learning and promote school improvement. Specifically, the Outstanding Partners in Education Award is bestowed upon business partners who demonstrate excellence in the variety of activities provided, in an appropriate amount of interaction with the school throughout the school year, and in meeting the needs of the school with quantitative outcomes.

RBF Consulting recently received an Outstanding Civil Engineering Project of the Year Award from the San Diego Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers for the Naval Training Center Redevelopment (Liberty Station) project. RBF was recognized, together with The Corky McMillin Companies. The city of San Diego and The Corky McMillin Companies partnered to transform the 360-acre Naval Training Center into a vital new mixed-use waterfront community renamed Liberty Station. Under contract to McMillin, RBF was designated as the prime engineer responsible for the design of $125 million in infrastructure improvements to support the redevelopment. Liberty Station boasts 125 acres of public parks and open space; a 28-acre civic, arts and cultural district housed in 26 historic buildings; retail villages; two hotels; a seven-building office district; 349 homes; a 22-acre educational campus; golf course; and an extensive pedestrian pathway that will extend to downtown. Engineering required the ability to handle unusual constraints that were being unveiled daily with respect to existing infrastructure and areas of historical significance. Success depended on resolving a combination of engineering, environmental, social, economic and political challenges.

(April 30, 2007 update)
HDR received two Diamond Awards and one Gold Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York. The Diamond Awards are the highest honors given at the state level, and the winners are nominated to represent New York in the national Engineering Excellence Awards competition. The Diamond Award in the Environmental category went to the Neptune Regional Transmission System, a 660-MW (500 kV) high-voltage direct current transmission line that will be the longest HVDC undersea/underground transmission project on the East Coast. HDR/LMS provided permitting, planning, engineering design and environmental compliance. The Diamond Award in Water and Wastewater went to Micro-Tunneling: The No-Dig Solution at the Fort Hamilton Parkway in Brooklyn, which replaced a 100-year-old, 54-inch-diameter, combined brick sewer under the Fort Hamilton Parkway with a new, 78-inch-diameter Class IV reinforced pipe. HDR/Daniel Frankfurt led this project, which was completed with less than 1 inch of deviation from the proposed grade. HDR/Daniel Frankfurt also won a Gold Award in the Special Projects category for the Randall’s Island Infrastructure Master Plan. The island’s existing infrastructure was not up to the task for the new water park and other planned sports amenities.