Battling to keep businessafloat in a tough economic climate is hard enough, but the 98 contenders in this year's Best Projects competition had to go further than just completing the job. They had to make sure that their finished projects met a list of criteria and met it in a way that would impress seven highly qualified judges from across the A/E/C industries who sat on this year's jury.
To be eligible for the competition, projects had to be completed between Aug. 1, 2010 and July 31, 2011. Submitters had to address the challenges they faced during design or construction and how successful they were at overcoming these hurdles. Safety was another factor, as submitters had to discuss how they went above and beyond baseline industry safety requirements.