Twenty-Eight HDR Projects Receive National Recognition

ACEC Honors HDR at Annual Ceremony

The American Council of Engineering Companies has recognized 28 HDR projects with national awards. The projects represent a wide range of disciplines and regions across the United States.

HDR received four Grand Awards, which are in the running for the Grand Conceptor and will be recognized at ACEC’s 55th Engineering Excellence Awards Gala on May 24. A panel of nearly 30 judges selected this year’s most outstanding engineering accomplishments from nearly 200 entries, in what’s known as the “Academy Awards” of the engineering industry.

Four Grand Award winners:

The Shoshone Bannock Tribe's Pettit Lake Creek Weir rectifies a 30-year-old flawed design that restricted safe, effective ways to capture, trap and count endangered Snake River Sockeye Salmon during migration. For the first time, juveniles and adults are safely trapped and counted to help tribal biologists gather population data to provide a healthy future for Sockeye. The new weir is less intrusive, capable of handling increased flow throughout the hydrograph, simplifies debris management, incorporates worker safety in a remote environment, and blends perfectly into the scenic area of the Sawtooth Mountain Range. Completed on budget and on schedule, the project marks a critical restoration point for the tribe and the region’s biological and cultural heritage. 

The Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge Gulf Shoreline Stabilization Project for Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority protects one of the country’s most productive marshland research laboratories. Previously eroding at a rate of over 50 feet annually, the 4-mile lightweight aggregate breakwater reduces the quantity and severity of waves hitting the shoreline, while gaps allow organism, water and sediment movement between the gulf and marsh. Completed on schedule and on budget, the first-of-its-kind project halts the eroding shoreline, protects crucial habitat and preserves a future for this vital refuge.

Rodney Cook Sr. Park in Historic Vine City is a pivotal collaboration between The Trust for Public Land and the City of Atlanta to transform one of Atlanta’s most distressed communities into a versatile greenspace like no other. It restores the long-lost Mims Park with a dual-purpose park and watershed management project that alleviates flooding by capturing and storing up to 10 million gallons of stormwater, while creating a vibrant community destination and ultimately revitalizing the neighborhood. Seamlessly integrating functional engineering features within a programmed park, it possesses state-of-the-art park design features including skyline overlooks, futuristic playgrounds, climbing structures and a natural amphitheater. The project was co-submitted with Freese and Nichols, who engineered the stormwater pond and connecting infrastructure.

The Pavilion at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania establishes a new flagship facility for Penn Medicine: a $1.6 billion, 17-story hospital with a 690-stall subterranean parking garage topped by a 1.5-million-square-foot high rise superstructure, home to 504 private patient rooms and 47 operating/interventional rooms. The project connects the hospital to the University of Pennsylvania campus, Penn Medicine’s Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, and the regional public transportation system SEPTA. The design features innovative structural concepts, including a 50-foot cantilever, multi-story column transfer trusses and one of the East Coast’s largest plate girders. Opened in fall 2021, it is a beacon of hope for patients and an exemplar for the future of hospital design.

One Honor Award:

• Great Northern Transmission Line, Grand Rapids, Minnesota, to Manitoba, Canada

Twenty-Three Additional National Recognition Awards:

• Anacortes Water Treatment Plant Resiliency, Clearwell and Raw Water Line, Anacortes, Washington
• Blue Grass Airport Runway 4-22 Rehabilitation, Lexington, Kentucky
• C-44 Reservoir and Stormwater Treatment Area, Martin County, Florida
• CONNECT Beyond, Charlotte, North Carolina
• Council Bluffs Interstate System Program Management, Council Bluffs, Iowa
• Digester Improvements and Biogas Utilization, Lincoln, Nebraska
• Elwert Road and Kruger Road Intersection, Sherwood, Oregon
• Green Street Pedestrian Bridge, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
• Hubbard Center for Children, Omaha, Nebraska
• I-526 Wando River Bridge Tendon Replacement, Charleston, South Carolina
• I-90 Barker Road Intersection Improvements, Spokane Valley, Washington
• I-91 Rockingham Bridges, Rockingham, Vermont
• Landfill Drop-Off Facility, Billings, Montana
• Little Patuxent Water Reclamation Plant Biosolids Addition, Howard County, Maryland
• Lone Elm Road Intersection Improvements, Olathe, Kansas
• North End Pedestrian Path Under the Connecticut River Line, Springfield, Massachusetts
• Roxbury Fish Culture Station, Roxbury, Vermont
• Salinas Intermodal Transportation Center, Salinas, California
• Southern Water Pollution Control Facility Cogeneration Improvements, Stafford, New Jersey
• St. Mary Facilities Drop Structures Emergency Repairs, Glacier County, Montana
• Tres Rios Water Reclamation Facility Nutrient Recovery, Tucson, Arizona
• Wyoming State Capitol & Herschler State Office Building, Cheyenne, Wyoming
• Zorinsky Lake Water Quality Basin 2, Omaha, Nebraska

About HDR
For over a century, HDR has partnered with clients to shape communities and push the boundaries of what’s possible. Our expertise spans more than 11,000 employees in more than 200 locations around the world — and counting. Our engineering, architecture, environmental and construction services bring an impressive breadth of knowledge to every project. Our optimistic approach to finding innovative solutions defined our past and drives our future. For more information, please visit www.hdrinc.com.