News
March 29, 2023Local Engineering Project Receives National Honor – H42
Clough, Harbour & Associates Consulting, Inc. (CHA), of Albany, N.Y., has earned a National Recognition Award for exemplary engineering achievement in the American Council of Engineering Companies’ (ACEC) 56th annual Engineering Excellence Awards (EEA) for designing improvements to I-91’s Interchange 29 in Hartford and East Hartford, Conn.
Revamping the interchange was a priority for the Connecticut Department of Transportation, as the original single-lane, low-speed ramp caused backups for miles and was an area of numerous accidents. CHA’s design created a new high-speed two-lane ramp that accesses southbound Route 5/15 via an 880-ft-long, five-span flyover structure. The ramp continues over the Charter Oak Bridge to eastbound I-84 without the need to weave.
The highly skewed crossing over Route 15 required an innovative triple I-girder staddle bent design that has revolutionized the steel industry by providing a cost-effective, structurally redundant solution. Other project facets included widening northbound I-91 and Route 5/15 to add additional through lanes, and modifications to eight interchanges and seven corridor bridges, including widening five spans of the Charter Oak Bridge, which carries Routes 5 and 15 over the Connecticut River.
The project is among 179 EEA entries this year representing engineering excellence from throughout the nation and the world. Judging for the awards program—known industry-wide as the “Academy Awards of the engineering industry”– took place in March and was conducted by a national 27-member panel of built environment leaders, along with experts from government, the media and academia. Award criteria focused on uniqueness and originality, technical innovation, social and economic value, and generating excitement for the engineering profession.
Recognition of all 2023 award winners, including top winners—16 Honor Awards, 8 Grand Awards and the prestigious “Grand Conceptor Award” for the year’s most outstanding overall engineering achievement—will take place at the annual EEA Gala Dinner and Awards Program, a black-tie event to be held Tuesday, June 13, 2023, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, D.C.
