News

Gresham Smith Projects Receive National Recognition Awards from ACEC

Transportation and Water + Environment Projects Celebrated for Engineering Excellence

Four Gresham Smith-designed projects received National Recognition Awards from the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC). The project teams accepted the awards on June 13 in Washington, D.C. at the 2023 Engineering Excellence Awards Gala alongside their clients.

“We are proud to be recognized at a national level for our outstanding engineering achievements,” said Gresham Smith CEO and Board Chair Rodney Chester. “The ACEC awards program recognizes the nation’s most premier engineering work and we thank our clients for allowing us to partner with them on these award-winning projects.”

The ACEC Engineering Excellence Awards competition showcases the innovation, technical expertise and value that engineering firms provide their clients. The I-24 MOTION, Guam Waterworks Authority– Northern District Wastewater Treatment Plant, KY 237 Widening and Reconstruction and the Complete Streets, Roads, and Highways Manual projects were eligible for national awards after winning state-level awards from the ACEC Kentucky and ACEC Tennessee Engineering Excellence Award programs.

About the I-24 MOTION Project

I-24 MOTION—the I-24 Mobility Technology Interstate Observation Network—is a first-of-its-kind testbed implemented by TDOT and designed by Gresham Smith with data management by Vanderbilt University that will uncover how vehicles interact with each other and the state’s infrastructure. The project will equip a four-mile section of I-24 in the Nashville-Davidson County Metropolitan area with more than 250 ultra-high definition cameras that will convert images of the vehicles into a digital model of how each one behaves. Using this anonymous data, vehicle and infrastructure design can be optimized to reduce traffic concerns and improve safety, air quality and fuel efficiency.

About the Guam Waterworks Authority – Northern District Wastewater Treatment Plant Project

To meet the needs of recent population growth in the island’s northern district and the upcoming relocation of 5,000 deployed U.S. Marines and their families to Guam’s new military base, the Guam Waterworks Authority required upgrades to its wastewater treatment process to comply with EPA-mandated requirements. As part of an effort funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, Gresham Smith overcame challenges presented by the site’s complexity and remote location to engineer an expansion to the Northern District Wastewater Treatment Plant. The project, which increased the plant’s capacity and elevated treated water quality, was performed with no operational downtime.

About the KY 237 Widening and Reconstruction Project

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet called on Gresham Smith to transform a 5.2-mile stretch of KY 237, a curvy, two-lane roadway, into a multi-modal corridor that reduces congestion, reconnects neighborhoods and safely accommodates alternative modes of transportation. Incorporating a multi-lane roundabout, a single-point urban interchange and multi-use paths, our design team delivered a modern roadway that meets the needs of the growing Boone County community.

About the Complete Streets, Roads, and Highways Manual

The Complete Streets, Roads, and Highways Manual provides planning and engineering practitioners, transportation agencies and local communities with development strategies for Complete Streets throughout the Kentucky transportation network. Authored by Gresham Smith for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s Division of Planning, the Manual builds upon the most current and emerging national best practices for safe, enjoyable and equitable transportation for all users.