Firms honoured with 2021 and 2022 B.C. Transportation Consulting Engineers Awards
February 4, 2022
By CCE
Last year's awards ceremony was cancelled by COVID-19.
Photos courtesy B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.
On Feb. 2, British Columbia’s ministry of transportation and infrastructure handed out two years’ worth of awards to consulting engineering firms to honour the province’s most important transportation projects.
Last year, the annual B.C. Transportation Consulting Engineers Awards were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, both the 2021 and 2022 awards were handed out virtually this week:
Alternative transportation
The 2021 award went to 3GA Marine for the Cable Ferries Replacement Project, which involved designing and building four new cable ferries to serve rural communities. The construction of each ferry took place at a different waterfront location and the project involved testing, certification, commissioning, crew training, terminal modifications and deployment.
For 2022, the recipient was Urban Systems for the South Island Transportation Strategy (pictured above, top left), which involved working with Indigenous, local and regional governments, transportation authorities and other stakeholders to improve integration and accessibility and reduce dependency on single-occupancy vehicles.
Design and contract preparation: Structures
Associated Engineering won the 2021 award for designing two Highway 16 bridge replacements on Haida Gwaii: Geikie Creek and Gold Creek. The project involved structural, geotechnical and hydrotechnical designs, construction engineering support, upgrades to highway approaches and utility relocations.
For 2022, BGC Engineering and Gygax Engineering Associates were recognized for their Highway 99 Ten Mile Slide Stabilization Project (pictured above, top right), 17 km northeast of Lillooet. The Ten Mile Slide on the Xaxli’p (pronounced “hawk-leap”) Indian Reserve is one of North America’s only known continuously moving landslides. Contractors developed a safe, reliable and low-maintenance alignment to stabilize slide movement.
Design and contract preparation: Roads
The 2021 award went to R.F. Binnie and Associates for its work to address traffic congestion, improve pedestrian and cycling accessibility and increase connectivity between Langley communities at the 216 Street Interchange. This project included constructing a new interchange, widening the highway from 202 Street to 216 Street with pedestrian and cycling access and adding high-occupancy vehicle ramps and a third high-occupancy vehicle lane.
For 2022, McElhanney won the award for its work in North Vancouver on a new Keith Road underpass, two new Highway 1 Lynn Creek bridges, the realignment of Keith Road, two new Highway 1 westbound collector lanes, the reconfiguration of the Keith Road and Mount Seymour Parkway intersection, active-transportation facilities and the relocation of a salmon-bearing stream.
Construction management and supervision services
Stantec Consulting was the 2021 recipient for improving the Highway 93 and Highway 95 intersection in Radium by constructing a new roundabout, which was key to the safe and efficient diversion of traffic from the Kicking Horse Canyon Phase 4 project.
For 2022, WSP Canada won for the Lower Lynn Interchange Improvements project in North Vancouver (pictured above, lower right). WSP reconstructed the Keith Road and Mount Seymour Parkway interchange, constructed a new westbound collector-lanes system and rehabilitated the existing Highway 1 Lynn Creek Bridge Steel Truss Bridge.
Specialized engineering services
PBX Engineering won the 2021 award for its Railway Crossing Information System in Langley and Surrey. Designed to enable better use of local roads and overpasses, the system displays railway crossing arrival times to drivers on the Roberts Bank Rail Corridor.
For 2022, Northwest Hydraulic Consultants won for its Highway 97 Flood Risk Geographic Information System (GIS) Database (pictured above, lower left), which assesses the flood risk to a 75-km segment of Highway 97 in the Pine Pass area, west of Chetwynd, and identifies flood-prone areas to help determine where to invest in resilient infrastructure.
