(Gallery) I-495 bridge rescue project wins top state engineering award

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The Wilmington office of a global engineering firm that aided in the repair of bridges on Interstate 495  won the  top honor in The American Council of Engineering Companies of Delaware 2015  Engineering Excellence Awards.

AECOM’s design work on the emergency repairs of the I-495 won  the  “Grand Conceptor Award.”

The dual bridges on  I-495 over the Christina River in Wilmington were closed to traffic on June 2, 2014 after piers shifted in soil under the spans. . Dumping of materials in the soft soil is believed to be a factor in the shifts.

The closure affected 90,000 daily motorists and commercial traffic to the Port of Wilmington. The AECOM project team launched  the design and construction of repairs within hours of the bridge closing. AECOM recently acquired URS,  a large engineering firm that operates  the office near Wilmington that is now part of  AECOM.

AECOM, based in Los Angeles,  employs nearly 100,000.

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As a result of around the clock design and construction, traffic was restored to the southbound structure within 59 days and full service was retuned in 83 days, more than a month ahead of schedule.

On July 17, President Barack Obama used the bridge under repair as a backdrop for a speech on his   plan to encourage private investment in the nation’s infrastructure.

“This project is the model of engineering problem solving under an intense and difficult time frame; an outstanding team effort to avert a major public transportation and public safety disaster,” said ACEC/Delaware Executive Director Kim Willson. “One of our award judges indicated that this project was one of the most critical projects that they could remember. Real world versus textbook solutions.”

ACEC Delaware’s annual Engineering Excellence Awards competition recognizes outstanding achievements in engineering and land surveying projects completed by Delaware firms. Entries are accepted into one of 12 project categories: studies, research, and consulting engineering services; building/technology systems; structural systems; surveying and mapping technology; environmental; waste and storm water; water resources; transportation; special projects; small projects; energy; and industrial and manufacturing processes and facilities. “Each of the projects that were submitted are a testament to the creativity, commitment and level of resources that the engineering industry in Delaware regularly brings to our private and public clients” said ACEC of Delaware President Michael Angelo.

Winners are awarded as Honor, Conceptor or the highest accolade, the Grand Conceptor Award. panels on display at the 2015 Engineers Week Banquet presented by the Delaware Society of Engineers, February 26, 2015. Other award winners are:

CONCEPTOR AWARD

Innovation Combines Form with Function to Yield Elegance – Sallie Mae Stormwater Management Pond – Newark, DE, Landmark Science and Engineering.

 HONOR AWARDS

Rail Scale Tracks Crude Oil on the Roll – Rail Scale and Tracking System at the Delaware City Refinery – Delaware City, DE, Vandemark & Lynch, Inc.

Regional Infrastructure Planning – New Dover High School – Dover, DE, Becker Morgan Group, Inc.

Water System Upgrades Improve Reliability and Yield Operational Efficiencies – Water Treatment Plant – Lewes, DE, URS Corporation.

Restored Hope for a Streambank – Marshyhope Creek Restoration – Federalsburg, MD, Duffield Associates, Inc.

I-495 Emergency Bridge Inspection and Structural Monitoring – Bridge Inspection and Data Collection – Wilmington, DE, Pennoni Associates

The 2015 Engineering Excellence Awards judges were:

– Marcin Michalski, Manager of Facilities and Maintenance, Red Clay Consolidated School District

– Michael Petit De Mange, County Administrator , Kent County Levy Court

– Gene Dvornick, Town Manager, Town of Georgetown.

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