Rockliffe pathway in Ottawa wins top CEO award

At the 2014 Ontario Consulting Engineering Awards held at the Liberty Grand in downtown Toronto on Saturday, April 12, an Ottawa firm won the top Willis Chipman Award.

The award went to REMISZ Consulting Engineers for a multi-use path they completed for the National Capital Commission along a very steep escarpment on Ottawa’s Rockcliffe Parkway. Instead of building with traditional retaining walls, the design uses a system of micro piles, elevated precast concrete slabs, and a new type of guiderail system. It also reused part of the old heritage wall system and paving stones to create a bluff viewing area.

Presented by Consulting Engineers of Ontario (CEO), there were a total of 12 awards given out, chosen from 36 nominees.

“The projects completed by all of the nominees are remarkable for their ingenuity and innovation,” said Barry Steinberg, Chief Executive Officer of CEO. “The quality of the work we see each year through this awards program speaks volumes about the incredible skill and dedication of consulting engineers in Ontario and the reputation they’ve earned around the globe.”

Awards of Excellence

Awards of excellence were selected by categories according to the firm’s number of employees.

Among firms with 1-25 employees, Integral Group of Toronto won an award of excellence for designing a new headquarters for the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario in Toronto. The building is a LEED Platinum candidate.

Among firms with 26-50 employees, Cowater International of Ottawa won for planning, scheduling, financial management, design, and construction supervision of 600 rural water systems in Mozambique.

Among firms with 51-100 employees, Associated Engineering of Toronto won for upgrading the century-old Scott Street Sewage Pumping Station in downtown Toronto.

Among firms with 100-350 employees, Halsall Associates of Ottawa won for renovating a six-storey, 1950s building and adding a new 15-storey tower at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Social Sciences.

Among the largest firms — those with more than 350 employees — MMM Group Limited of Toronto won for the recently opened new Quito International Airport in Ecuador, S.A.

Awards of Merit

Six consulting engineering companies won awards of merit, given by project type.

In the building engineering and science category, Smith and Anderson Consulting Engineers of Toronto won for Bridgepoint Health, a new technologically advanced hospital combined with a 150-year jail repurposed into an administration building. (See cover feature, CCE’s August-September 2013, click here. https://www.canadianconsultingengineer.com/issues/de.aspx?id=13556

In the environment category, Dillon Consulting of London won for plant upgrades at the City of London’s Vauxhall Pollution Control Plant, which has improved the wet weather treatment capacity of the plant.

In the industry, energy and resources category, Hatch Mott MacDonald and Hatch of Mississauga won for the Niagara Tunnel, the largest hydroelectric project in Ontario in the past 50 years.

In the project management category, AECOM Canada of Markham won for Whitby’s new Abilities Centre, which has been selected as one of the Parapan American Games venues for 2015.

In the studies and research category, J. L. Richards and Associates of Kingston and Associated Engineering of Toronto won for an environmental assessment for the County of Wellington that examined the need for additional transportation capacity across the Cataraqui River.

In the transportation category, Hatch Mott MacDonald of Mississauga and AMEC of Burlington won for a project completed for the City of Burlington and Canadian National Railway Corp. They developed an innovative open-cut bridge jacking technique for a grade separation at an extremely busy section of railway.

This year marked the 12th anniversary of the CEO Awards. The projects were judged by a panel of eminent professionals representing client groups, professional associations and academia, who are not currently engaged in consulting practice.

Bruce McCuaig, President and CEO of Metrolinx, was keynote speaker at the event and Breakfast Television co-host Kevin Frankish of City Television served as master of ceremonies.

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Pathway along Rockcliffe Parkway in Ottawa, designed by REMISZ Consulting Engineers, winner of the Willis Chipman Award in the 2014 Ontario Consulting Engineering Awards.

Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario building in downtown Toronto.