The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) today congratulates the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the joint venture of T.Y. Lin International/Moffat and Nichol; and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and RS&H— for projects which won top awards in the 2014 America’s Transportation Awards competition.
Co-sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), AAA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the 2014 America’s Transportation Award winners were chosen from 73 transportation projects in 36 states and the District of Columbia. Projects were judged against three criteria: “Under Budget,” “Best Use of Innovation,” and “Quality of Life/Community Development.”
The Grand Prize winner was the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge East Span project designed by ACEC Members T.Y. Lin International and Moffatt & Nichol. The $6.3 billion project replaced a nearly 80-year-old, two-mile-long eastern span of the Bay Bridge. Achieved for Caltrans, the bridge features advanced seismic response technology and was constructed to last more than 100 years.
The People’s Choice Award winner was the Mathews Bridge Impact and Emergency Response Project, designed by ACEC Member RS&H for FDOT. In September 2013, a vessel collided with the Mathews Bridge in Jacksonville, damaging the bridge’s north lower steel truss and compromising the entire structure’s stability. RS&H’s repair efforts reopened the vital regional crossing to vehicle traffic only 33 days after the collision and 12 days ahead of schedule.
“These exemplary engineering achievements confirm once again how successful collaboration between government and the private sector results in innovative solutions that benefit all of society,” said ACEC President and CEO David A. Raymond.
Raymond also noted that the Florida Department of Transportation won ACEC’s 2014 Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS) Award for procurement policies that emphasize project innovation and quality.
