B.C. Transportation Ministry launches new awards for consulting engineers

Relations between consulting engineers and transportation ministries in the provinces aren’t always ultra-smooth, but the B.C. Ministry of Transportation evidently appreciates the quality of engineers’ work. On February 5, at the Changing Lanes Conference the Ministry gave out its first awards to consulting engineers for projects done on the Ministry’s behalf. The Ministry holds a similar awards program for contractors, but this is the first year it has held awards for the engineers.
B.C. Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon, Deputy Minister Dan Doyle and Assistant Deputy Minister John Dyble presented the awards at the conference, which was organized by Consulting Engineers of B.C. (CEBC holds its own awards ceremony this Saturday.)
The Deputy Minister Consulting Engineer Awards had three categories: Project Supervision; Road, Bridge and Structures Design; and Specialized Services. In the Project Supervision category, the winner was McElhanney Consulting Services. for the Cecil Lake Road Slide Repairs. Other finalists were: J.E. Tait Consulting Services for McAlpine Bridge, Highway 97, and PBA Engineering for the George Massey Tunnel Counterflow System Replacement- Electrical.
In the Design category the winner was Westmar Consultants for the Thompson River Bin Wall. Other finalists were McElhanney Consulting Services. for Highway 3 at Moyie Bluffs, Stantec Consulting for the Skagit and Skaist Bridges on Highway 3 in Manning Park, and Associated Engineering (BC) for the Brisco and Botts Bridges, on Brisco Road, south of Golden.
In the Specialized Services category there were two winners: SNC Lavalin for acting as the Owner’s Engineer on the Sea-to-Sky Highway Project, and AMEC Earth and Environmental for geotechnical and quality management on the South Taylor Hill project. Other finalists were PBA Engineering for George Massey Tunnel Counterflow System and UMA Engineering for Project Management of the Cecil Lake Road Slide Repair.