Recipients of the Aon Build America Awards were revealed at last week�s AGC National Convention in Las Vegas. Several Mountain States region projects were honored, including Utah�s Pioneer Crossing, the Odd Fellows and Tanner Flagship Store renovations in Salt Lake City and the NREL Research Support Facility in Golden, Colo.

This year�s competition netted more than 115 entries and yielded eight Merit Winners and 20 Aon Build America Awards. The winners were:

GRAND AWARD WINNER
MUNICIPAL UTILITY NEW

Lake Oswego Interceptor Sewer Project, Lake Oswego, Ore.
Advanced American Construction Inc.
Engineer: Brown & Caldwell

The floating sewer line beneath the tranquil surface of Lake Oswego sets a new standard for municipal utility design and construction. A 50-year-old, corroded sewer line was deemed hazardous to the community, and in response, the project team developed an energy-saving gravity-flow system 15 ft below the lake�s surface. The project required crews to drill 270 ft into bedrock to install anchors for the system, and work was heavily regulated to ensure there was no impact on recreational activities, local business operations and environmental practices for lake residences. The project was completed without any lost-time accidents and included more than 1,200 commercial dives.

BUILDING NEW

CONSOL Energy Center, Pittsburgh, Pa.
PJ-Dick/Hunt, A Joint Venture
Architect: Populous
Engineer: Thornton Tomasetti, M-E Engineers

The CONSOL Energy Center is a new 720,000-sq-ft arena for the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team and up to 150 entertainment events annually, constructed in a congested urban area with an 80-ft elevation change. The arena features luxury seating and high-tech amenities and was built to hold 18,300 guests in the most comfortable seats in the National Hockey League.

Floor-to-ceiling windows provide breathtaking views of the city landscape, while public bar and food court areas give patrons open viewing of the playing surface. The CONSOL Energy Center was the first LEED-Gold-certified NHL arena in the United States, featuring low-flow plumbing fixtures, use of recycled or sustainably harvested materials and a recycling program for glass and plastics.

BUILDING NEW

National World War II Museum Phase IV Expansion, New Orleans, La.
Satterfield & Pontikes Construction
Architect: Voorsanger Mathic LLC
Engineer: Civil Engineer, Morphy Makofsky Inc.; Structural Engineer, Weidlinger Associates Inc.; MEP Engineer, Alteri Sebor Wieber LLC

The National World War II Museum is considered one of the top destinations for New Orleans visitors, featuring diverse geometric shapes and angles, leaning walls and unusual material applications. The team overcame many challenges, including incorporating an existing 150-year-old wall with unstable foundation into the new building, and installing a special wellpoint system during construction of a special-effects pit located just five ft above sea level. In the end, Satterfield & Pontikes� value engineering saved the owner more than $1 million. There were no recordable incidents in 840,000 man-hours on the project.

BUILDING UNDER $10 MILLION NEW

Texas Christian University Mary Wright Admission Center, Fort Worth, Texas
Linbeck Group LLC
Architect: Hahnfeld Hoffer Stanford and Cannon Design
Engineer: Baird, Hampton and Brown

The 13,000-sq-ft Mary Wright Admission Center at Texas Christian University serves as an undergraduate recruiting center. It includes a one-story admission center, offices, conference and interview rooms, a presentation room, interactive graphic displays and support facilities. Exterior components include sitework, utility distribution, landscaping, courtyards, terraces and a water feature. This project was completed 23 days early, despite record-breaking heat and rain and midstream changes to the design, with no lost-time injuries. The team also delivered a LEED-Gold-certified facility, although the client anticipated only LEED Silver, utilizing BIM models.

BUILDING RENOVATION

Arena Stage Expansion and Renovation, Washington, D.C.
Clark Construction Group LLC
Architect: Bing Thom Architects
Engineer: Fast & Epp

This project transformed a decades-old, two-theater facility into the state-of-the-art Arena Stage at the Mead Center for the Performing Arts, featuring three theaters enclosed in a transparent glass curtain-wall system under a white curving roof. The two existing theaters were fully renovated, including carefully restored plaster, concrete and woodwork, and installing new rigging and control booths.

The project demanded strict acoustical requirements to prevent noise and vibration from entering performance areas but maximized noise penetration in the new theater with a signature wooden wall. In the end, Clark reduced the original budget by $20 million to meet the Arena Stage�s available funds.

BUILDING UNDER $10 MILLION RENOVATION

The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist Restoration and Steeple Addition, Charleston, S.C.
Hightower Construction Co. Inc.
Architect: Glenn Keyes Architects, Glenn Keyes, Rueben Solar
Engineer: 4SE Structural Engineers, John Moore

The St. John the Baptist Cathedral, known as the �Mother Church� of South Carolina, was restored to its 1907 splendor and now includes a steeple more than 100 years in the making to replicate the cathedral that burned in its place in the Great Fire of 1861.

Hightower Construction Co. completed the project with an unblemished safety record while utilizing unique and innovative construction methods. In addition to the construction of the new steeple, the team replaced 2,500 weak stones on the exterior with new brownstone, and repointed 27 miles of mortar joints between stones to ensure strength and prevent water intrusion.

CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT NEW

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Yawkey Center for Cancer Care, Boston, Mass.
Walsh Brothers Inc.
Architect: Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects LLP
Engineer: Bard, Rao + Athanas Consulting Engineers LLC

The new facility is designed to meet the growing demand for outpatient cancer services and infusions, as well as a nearly 80% increase in clinical trials. Walsh Brothers contributed its expertise on various foundation systems and found the best way to build the medical tower without disrupting neighboring institutions. The 275,000-sq-ft, 14-floor center includes 100 exam rooms, 15 consultation rooms, clinical research areas, a dining facility and a healing garden, as well as a seven-level underground garage.

CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT RENOVATION

The University of Michigan Football Stadium Expansion & Renovation, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Barton Malow Co.
Architect: HNTB
Engineer: HNTB

�The Big House� is a landmark stadium designed by athletic director Fielding H. Yost in 1927 and has since undergone several small expansions. Barton Malow developed three construction �seasons��which included installing new underground utilities, club seating, 81 suites, 2,952 club seats, two upper concourses and 22 freestanding buildings�to avoid interrupting 16 home football games, two spring commencements and two spring football games. With more than 11,000 safety huddles and toolbox talks, this major renovation and expansion was completed without incident, despite more than 100,000 fans passing through an active construction site throughout the football season.

DESIGN-BUILD NEW

NCDOT US 17 Washington Bypass, Washington, N.C.
Flatiron Constructors Inc.; United Infrastructure Group Inc.
Engineer: AECOM of North Carolina

The 6.8-mile Washington Bypass for Washington, N.C., is located on the state�s coastal plain and features a 2.8-mile structure over the Tar River and the adjoining environmentally sensitive wetlands. Flatiron-United developed a new top-down construction approach using an overhead gantry specifically designed and built for the project, resulting in minimal impact to the wetlands and an accelerated construction schedule. The two self-contained gantries worked simultaneously from each end of the bridge, performing such tasks as driving precast piles, erecting precast girders and supporting deck-pouring operations. It was the world�s first application of the pile-driving operation from an erection gantry and offered a safer way to build the bridge by eliminating the need for construction of a temporary work bridge.

DESIGN-BUILD NEW

New Meadowlands Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.
Skanska
Architect: EwingCole
Engineer: Thornton Tomasetti

Home of the New York Jets and New York Giants, this stadium hosts soccer matches, concerts and other sporting events in addition to NFL games. The 2.1-million-sq-ft facility has seating for 82,500, including 217 suites, upscale clubs and upgraded pedestrian circulation to reduce bottlenecks and improve traffic flow. The New Meadowlands Stadium was completed on budget and five months ahead of schedule. Enhanced site safety, cutting-edge technologies and strong communication contributed to the project�s overall success.

DESIGN-BUILD RENOVATION

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Albert B. and Margaret M. Alkek Hospital Expansion,
Houston, Texas
McCarthy Building Cos. Inc.
Architect: HKS Architects
Engineer: Walter P. Moore

The 12-story vertical expansion and structural steel horizontal expansion of the University of Texas MD Anderson Alkek forced the McCarthy Building Cos. team to overcome numerous obstacles, including tight space and noise and infection control, to more than double the height of the hospital and add 503,000 sq ft of space. The limited space allowed for only one tower crane, with which the team delivered an innovative solution: build the 12-story expansion around a single tower crane erected in an existing elevator shaft, and then lift sections through the shaft piece by piece. After 31 months of being on call 24/7, McCarthy completed the project on time and on budget.

ENVIRONMENTAL NEW

Round Butte Dam Selective Water Withdrawal Project, Madras, Ore.
Barnard Construction Co. Inc.
Engineer: CH2M Hill

This one-of-a-kind, highly technical project is the result of more than 5 million lb of steel, fabricated into thousands of pieces, delivered in 204 truckloads and constructed in 270 ft of water. The Selective Water Withdrawal Structure in central Oregon�s Lake Billy Chinook was created to subtly change currents in the reservoir and the water temperature downstream of the dam while allowing for fish collection and transfer. The team performed underwater excavation, drilling and grouting using remotely operated vehicles to avoid making risky and time-consuming dives.

ENVIRONMENTAL RENOVATION

Savage Rapids Dam Renovation, Grants Pass, Ore.
Slayden Construction Group Inc.
Engineer: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

The Savage Rapids Dam was constructed in 1921 to divert water from the Rogue River and supply irrigation water to local farmers. Situated 107 miles from the Pacific, it impacted 500 miles of upstream spawning habitat of salmon and steelhead, blocking fish migration and degrading water quality and habitat. Slayden constructed pumping and conveyance pipeline facilities to replace the dam�s diversion function and removed the Savage Rapids Dam. The project was completed on time and on budget with no lost-time incidents.

FEDERAL & HEAVY NEW

NASA Mobile Launcher, Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
Hensel Phelps Construction Co.
Architect: RS & H
Engineer: RS & H

The NASA Mobile Launcher will be used in the assembly, testing and servicing areas at existing Kennedy Space Center facilities; to transport the space vehicle to the launch pad; and provide ground support for launches. The Mobile Launcher contains two main components: the Mobile Launcher Base, a 25-ft steel section on girder and pipe trusses that contains the facility ground systems, and the Mobile Launch Tower, a 359-ft pipe steel tower that consists of multiple platforms for personnel access and utilities for future rocket use. While two major redesigns, including an almost complete redesign of the electrical system, could have set the project back months, the team absorbed the schedule impact by working 24 hours a day, seven days a week to complete the project on time.

FEDERAL & HEAVY RENOVATION

Seal Observation Facilities Construction Project, St. Paul Island, Alaska
WPC
Architect: Livingston Slone Inc.
Engineer: PND Engineers Inc.

The series of towers and walkways the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration used to observe and count the seal population on St. Paul Island, Alaska, were in poor condition and no longer safe for use. The project required replacing seven towers and 1,000 ft of walkways in the small window of time the seals migrate from the island. Custom materials, including fiberglass-reinforced polymers and natural Alaskan cedar, were used as a test for replacing all structures on the island, but delivery was unpredictable and slow. Despite average daily temperatures below zero, strong winds and frequent whiteout conditions, the Wade Perrow team completed the project with zero accidents and no lost-time injuries.

HIGHWAY NEW

Pioneer Crossing Design-Build Project, American Fork, Utah
Kiewit/Clyde, a Joint Venture
Engineer: Parsons Transportation Group

Pioneer Crossing includes six miles of a new east-west connector from American Fork Main Street to Redwood Road in Saratoga Springs, Utah. The project required a new diverging diamond interchange, which includes twin, two-span prestressed concrete girder structures, in addition to a new waterline for the Central Utah Water Conservancy District, new bridges and a 5-7-lane urban arterial. The concept for the interchange was developed by the Kiewit/Clyde team to increase capacity, enhance safety and allow for more efficient traffic flow while saving the owner $20 million.

HIGHWAY UNDER $10 MILLION RENOVATION

ITD SH-78 Givens Hot Springs (WMA) ITD District III, Region III, Givens Hot Springs, Idaho
Idaho Sand & Gravel Co.
Engineer: Design Engineer: Cary McAlister, Materials Engineer: John Aramberri, Regional Engineer: Shauna King

This $2.6-million, 42,000-ton asphalt-paving project covered 40 lane miles of Highway 78 in Idaho. While it originally called for traditional hot-mix pavement, Idaho Sand & Gravel was optimistic that Astec Green warm-mix asphalt was a reliable solution for the stretch of highway. The team was successful in demonstrating the benefits of using this technique, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions and is part of the Federal Highway Administration�s Every Day Counts initiative, to the project owner. The job was completed within 28 working days, on time and on budget.

HIGHWAY RENOVATION

Hood Canal Bridge Retrofit and East Half Replacement, Puget Sound, Wash.
Kiewit-General A Joint Venture
Engineer: Washington State DOT

This 6,350-ft floating bridge is the longest in the world over salt water, located over the Hood Canal in the Puget Sound region of Washington State. Early on, an ancient Indian burial ground was discovered on the site and threatened to terminate the contract. The Washington State Dept. of Transportation worked with the project team to restructure, relocate and resequence the work to deliver the project on time.

As a result, much of the work was performed offsite, and pontoons, which required custom formwork, were floated out of a graving dock with only inches of clearance above the floor. The team utilized the largest floating crane on the West Coast and finished the closure work eight days ahead of schedule while also working closely with the U.S. Navy to ensure submarine traffic was not delayed.

INTERNATIONAL NEW

Umm Qasr Pier and Seawall, Umm Qasr Iraq
West Construction Co. CCI Inc.
Architect: PND Engineers Inc.
Engineer: Bill Gunderson, PND Engineers Inc.

Umm Qasr, Iraq, is a strategic shipping area for the entire country and is often the target for unfriendly groups throughout the region. West Construction Co. was on site within days of receiving a request for assistance to construct a vital Iraqi Naval Pier using the Open Cell steel sheet-pile method. Because the fixed portion of the pier was on unstable soil, the work was completed from a barge through the sea water. The workforce included 70% Iraqis and required West Construction to train more than 60 individuals in surveying, pile driving and heavy equipment operation.

MUNICIPAL UTITILY RENOVATION

Val Vista Water Main Rehabilitation CMAR, Phoenix, Ariz.
Kiewit Western Co.
Engineer: Brown & Caldwell

The Val Vista Water Transmission Main in Phoenix is a critical piece of infrastructure that transports drinking water to as many as 60% of the city�s population. Due to short construction windows, the team utilized an emerging steel slip-lining technology that eliminated the need to excavate from outside the pipeline and minimized impact on the surrounding communities. The result was the largest slip-lining and slide rail shoring project performed in the United States and included nearly 31,100 ft of pipeline.

Merit Award Winners

BUILDING RENOVATION

O.C. Tanner Flagship Store Renovation
Salt Lake City, Utah
Big-D Construction

CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT RENOVATION

Fort Worth Museum of Science and History
Fort Worth, Texas
Linbeck Group LLC

CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT RENOVATION

New Arrowhead Stadium
Kansas City, Mo.
Turner Construction

DESIGN BUILD NEW

U.S. Dept. of Energy's Research Support Facility at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Golden, Colo.
Haselden Construction LLC

FEDERAL HEAVY RENOVATION

Odd Fellows
Salt Lake City, Utah
Emmert International

HIGHWAY RENOVATION UNDER $10 MILLION NEW

Tucson�Ajo Highway (SR 86)
Pima County, Ariz.
Combs Construction Co.

HIGHWAY RENOVATION

SFOBB Temporary Bypass Detour
San Francisco, Calif.
C.C. Myers Inc.

MUNICIPAL UTILITY NEW

Elwha Water Facilities
Olympic National Park, Wash.
Watts Constructors/DelHur Industries, A Joint Venture