ACEC N.Y. engineering firms honored for outstanding projects

The American Council of Engineering Companies of New York (ACEC New York) will award 30 Diamond Awards to 28 consulting engineering companies Saturday evening, March 29, at its annual dinner dance in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The awards are the highest given by the association for outstanding projects. Halcrow HPA and PB will receive Diamond Awards in each of two categories. Kari Byron of the Discovery Channel's MythBusters will host the evening's events. The awards recognize projects in several categories including studies and research, building/technology systems, structural systems, surveying and mapping, environmental, water and wastewater, water resources, transportation and special projects. Platinum, Gold and Silver Awards will also be awarded. This year, an additional award will be given for graphic design. Every year, each firm submits well-designed panels containing graphics in addition to descriptions of their projects. Named the Best Panel Award, the winning selection was made by members of the public relations committee from a small number of panels previously selected as outstanding by the Engineering Excellence Awards judges. This year, the Newark Light Rail panel, submitted by STV Group, won the award. "Engineering projects serve many purposes, but above all, they create and connect communities," said Gregory Kelly, president of ACEC New York, after viewing the entries. "Transportation projects," he continued, "create economic development. Power grids connect people to the electricity that makes modern life possible. Water and sewer projects deliver fresh water to homes and businesses and remove wastewater to be treated. Buildings provide structures that allow people to come together to live, learn, work and play. Each of these projects was technically challenging and resolved issues with imagination and foresight. We celebrate these projects to remind both the public and ourselves of the good and important work we do every day." The Diamond Award winning projects for 2008 and the firms responsible are: * United States Air Force Memorial, Arlington, Va., Arup * Dr. Hudspeth Ear Cell Laboratory, New York, N.Y., Atkinson Koven Feinberg Engineers, LLP * Oneida-Herkimer Regional Landfill Facility, Town of Ava, N.Y., Barton & Loguidice, P.C. * Rte. 17 - Horseheads, N.Y., Bergmann Associates, Inc. * Hamlet of Redwood - Water Storage and Distribution, Town of Alexandria, N.Y., Bernier, Carr & Associates, P.C. * Binghamton-Johnson City Joint Sewage Treatment Plant Upgrades, Vestal, N.Y., C&S Engineers, Inc. * Princeton University Lewis Library, Princeton, N.J., DeSimone Consulting Engineers, PLLC * 34 Freeman's Bridge Road Site Remediation, Scotia, N.Y., Earth Tech, Inc. * Miami-Dade Water Reuse Feasibility Study, Miami-Dade County, Fla., Ecology and Environmental Engineering, P.C. * Frederick Douglass - Susan B. Anthony Memorial Bridge, Rochester, N.Y., Erdman, Anthony & Associates, Inc. * Newtown Creek WPCP Contract 35, Brooklyn, N.Y., Greeley and Hansen, Hazen and Sawyer, Malcolm Pirnie, Inc. * Khalifa Port Planning, Abu Dhabi, UAE, Halcrow HPA * Jebel Ali Port Expansion, Dubai, UAE, Halcrow HPA * Rehabilitation of Hollywood Boulevard over Intracoastal Waterway, Hollywood, Fla., Hardesty & Hanover, LLP * The Great Lawn, Utica, N.Y., Lochner Engineering, P.C. * Croton Water Treatment Plant Site Preparation, Bronx, N.Y., Metcalf & Eddy/Hazen and Sawyer * Surveying for the Fulton Street Transit Center, New York, N.Y., Naik Consulting Group, P.C. * Third Avenue Bridge Construction Management, New York, N.Y., PB * Southern Outer Bangkok Ring Road Chao Phraya River Bridge, Bangkok, Thailand, PB * Genesee Riverway Trail, Rochester, N.Y., Stantec Consulting Services Inc. * Ninth Precinct Reconstruction, New York, N.Y., STV Group * Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks, Tupper Lake, N.Y., Syska Hennessy Group, Inc. * NJ Transit Newark Broad Street Station, Newark, N.J., Systra USA, Inc. * Pelham Rock Slope Stabilization, Pelham, Westchester County, N.Y., Tectonic Engineering & Surveying Consultants P.C. * The National September 11 Memorial at the World Trade Center, New York, N.Y., The Louis Berger Group, Inc. * Long Island Non-Motorized Transportation Study, Nassau and Suffolk counties, Long Island, N.Y., The RBA Group * The New York Times Building, New York, N.Y., Thornton Tomasetti * Pier 3 Cruise Ship Dock Canopy, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Weidlinger Associates, Inc. * Kalamazoo Transportation Center, Kalamazoo, Mich., Wendel Duchscherer Architects & Engineers, P.C. * Carnival Center for the Performing Arts, Miami, Fla., Ysrael A. Seinuk, P.C. The Diamond Award-winning panels are posted in the Engineering Excellence Awards section of ACEC New York's Web site: www.acecny.org. Jay Simson, CAE, is the executive director of ACEC New York.