KCI Projects Honored by ASCE and ACEC Local Chapters

East Brady Bridge over the Allegheny River

February 24, 2009

Sparks, MD

At separate awards ceremonies last week, two KCI projects—the East Brady bridge and I-95/I-495/MD 210 Interchange—were honored by local chapters of national engineering associations.

East Brady Bridge—On Saturday evening, February 21, KCI accepted the Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award for the East Brady bridge project from the Pittsburgh Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Spanning the majestic Allegheny River, the East Brady bridge has carried traffic across the Allegheny River since 1934. To replace the structure, engineers and planners faced several critical design challenges, not the least of which was building a safer, more aesthetic crossing while balancing environmental impacts.

During the planning study, endangered freshwater mussels were found in the waters below the bridge. A stalwart mitigation program combined with unique design solutions and construction methodologies would become the hallmark of the project. Working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the team developed a progressive plan to remove more than 16,000 mussels from the riverbed and hold them in a hatchery during construction. Completed and carrying traffic since April 2007, the structure stands as a testament to how collaboration can bridge the often tenuous gap between meeting transportation needs and minimizing impacts to the environment.

I-95/I-495/MD 210 Interchange—At a banquet held in Baltimore on Thursday evening, February 19, the Maryland Chapter of the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) honored the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Replacement project with an Engineering Excellence Grand Award. Among the largest multi-jurisdictional transportation projects ever undertaken in the Mid-Atlantic region, the $2.5 billion Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project involved the replacement of the largest moveable-span bridge in the world along with reconstruction of four interchanges and nearly 12 percent of the Capital Beltway. As a section design consultant, KCI provided design services for the reconstruction of the I-95/I-495/MD 210 Interchange as well as the fish passage stream restoration work completed as environmental mitigation for the bridge replacement.

KCI is an engineering, consulting and construction firm serving clients throughout the U.S. and beyond. With revenues of approximately $124 million in 2010, KCI is ranked 82 on the Engineering News-Record's list of the top 500 engineering firms in the country. Roughly 850 KCI employee owners provide environmental, transportation, telecommunications, construction, facilities, and land development services from more than 20 locations. For more information, visit www.kci.com.

For more information please contact:
George G. Perdikakis, Sr.
georgep@kci.com
410.316.7951