2016 Award Winners represent the state and the Tennessee engineering community well. The Grand Iris Award was won by Gresham, Smith and Partners for their Transportation project entry “TDOT Fast Fix 8 Project” in Nashville, TN for the TN Department of Transportation. This year’s People’s Choice Award was also won Gresham, Smith and Partners! Other winning entrants for 2016 Engineering Excellence include:
Grand Iris and Transportation Category Winner-TDOT selected GS&P to provide comprehensive design and engineering for structural bridge repairs and roadway improvements on I-40 in downtown Nashville, encompassing four mainline bridge sites spanning Charlotte Avenue, Jo Johnston Avenue, Clinton Street, Herman Street and active CSXT and NWRR railroad tracks. The Fast Fix 8 project was delivered in a scant 10-weekend closure period and deployed numerous rehabilitation methods including full-depth deck panels and prefabricated superstructure units. The accelerated construction schedule was driven by I-40’s tremendous traffic load (> 140,000 ADT), and the need to minimize disruption to the central and mid-town business districts’ primary access points.
Energy Category Winner-I. C. Thomasson Associates, Inc. was responsible for the programming, planning and design of the Powerhouse Gas Conversion project at Vanderbilt University, which replaced the aging coal-fired energy systems with a new energy efficient, environmentally responsible, and economically beneficial natural gas fired combined heat and power system, and allowed the University to cease burning coal. The new combined heat and power system will save the University in excess of $2.5 million in annual energy cost and will reduce air pollutant emissions from the Powerhouse by over 34,500 tons per year.
Environmental Category Winner-By the year 2000, the Nashville Thermal Transfer plant had become inefficient and was an unsightly eyesore in Nashville’s urban core. The plant was demolished in 2004 and what was left behind was an 11-acre field in a prime location with significant environmental concerns including contamination from heavy metals, petroleum, PCBs, and dioxin. In 2013, a team of design consultants led by Hawkins Partners was engaged by the city of Nashville to redevelop the site into a park and amphitheater. K.S. Ware and Associates was the environmental consultant challenged with mitigating the environmental concerns. Two years later, the site had successfully evolved from a smelly, ugly garbage incinerator to an iconic recreational facility and economic driver for the city.
Industrial and Manufacturing Processes, Facilities Category Winner - A2H, Inc. Engineers, Architects, Planners managed the engineering and architecture design for the new manufacturing facility in Jackson, Tennessee for the Japanese-based car parts manufacturer Pacific Industries. Due to growing product demands, Pacific required the plant to be fully operational by June 2015, allowing A2H only six weeks to complete construction documents and permits. The project engineers maintained around-the-clock communication with the Owner in Japan and with each of the other engineering design disciplines in-house. As a result, A2H delivered the project ahead of the accelerated schedule, exceeding Pacific Industries’ needs and expectations
Special Projects Category Winner-What does one do with a mothballed 20,142 seat arena with four walls and no roof on the banks of the Wolf River harbor where the western boundary of the property is the Mississippi River floodwall? It’s redeveloped into the largest Bass Pro Shop in the nation. Kimley-Horn was selected by the project manager, O.T. Marshall Architects to provide traffic and parking studies, site civil engineering, and utility relocation design services for the repurposing of the 48-acre Memphis Pyramid from a multipurpose arena to the world’s largest Bass Pro store.
Small Projects Category Winner-In San Esteban Honduras, the Hope Middle School and Aldersgate Elementary School are located on each side of a busy highway and provide academic and athletic opportunities to over thirty villages. Recent roadway improvements have resulted in a higher volume of traffic, and as a result serious pedestrian crashes. HDR | ICA and Lipscomb University partnered together to design and construct a single span Pratt truss pedestrian bridge to provide safe crossing for students and their families. HDR | ICA provided professional engineering leadership and financial support in order for this project to become a reality.
Structural Systems Category Winner-The Phase I building is located at the corner of Andy Holt Avenue and Phillip Fulmer Way adjacent to the Haslam Business Building, the Stokely Management Center, and the existing University Center. The building is a 5-story 142,000 sf structure that includes a new 50,000 sf bookstore, dining and seating, the Center for Career Development and other offices, a loading dock, and a mechanical penthouse. A new 28' 0'-wide pedestrian bridge spanning 127'-6" connects the pedestrian mall and the Haslam Business building to “The Hill” and provides an excellent viewpoint on game days to see the Pride of the Southland band.
Studies Research and Consullting Category Winner-EnSafe Inc., as partner in a Joint Venture (JV), Resolutions Consultants (RC), was awarded a five-year, $200M, cost-plus, Comprehensive Long-Term Environmental Action Navy (CLEAN) contract with the United States Navy’s (Navy) Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), Atlantic Division. From day one, EnSafe focused on optimizing the LTM program by leveraging technology to increase data visualization quality for improved decision making, reduce LTM operational costs and labor effort, and centralize Program Management Office (PMO) collaboration EnSafe’s innovative use of technology optimized the LTM program for site closure, resulting in a cost savings of approximately $1M.
Suveying and Mapping Technology Category Winner-Within emergency management, a critical factor in building resilience is integrating emergency operation capabilities and mitigation planning. Recognizing this gap, Stantec and Kentucky Emergency Management (KYEM), in a multi-agency effort, developed the Community Hazard Assessment and Mitigation Planning System (CHAMPS). CHAMPS is a secure, customizable, Web-based information management and workflow application which links and stores all administrative, operational, and financial data from the time a disaster occurs through the completion of a mitigation project and into resilience planning. This system has transformed KYEM’s workflow management and has the potential to redefine the landscape of disaster management within the United States.
Water and Stormwater Category Winner-Smith Seckman Reid was selected by Pigeon Forge to plan, design, and provide construction administration and commissioning services for the wastewater treatment plant. The design incorporated original and innovative features including drone surveillance, a chemical dosing system and Sequencing Batch Reactor designed for flexibility due to the City’s wide variances in daily wastewater; an aerobic digestion system which incorporates submerged plate membranes, and the first reuse system in East Tennessee. The plant was brought in under budget and four months ahead of schedule. The new plant will enable Pigeon Forge to preserve its environment, increase its permanent population, and grow as a tourist destination.
Water Resources Category Winner-Cannon & Cannon, Inc. developed a comprehensive water loss control program for Harriman Utility Board (HUB). Tools employed to investigate over 200 miles of pipe covering 75 square miles include the latest technology in hydraulic modeling, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), and acoustic leak detection. Successful implementation of these technologies and analysis of the results narrowed the focus to two of fourteen zones in the distribution system. Eighty eight million gallons of water are now conserved annually, enough to fill an Olympic swimming pool every three days. HUB now treats 19% less water resulting in reduced chemical and energy consumption and lower costs.
