ENR California is pleased to announce that John Rinard, transportation program director, U.S. West Region for AECOM, is the 2024 Legacy Award recipient for Southern California.

This awards program recognizes industry veterans with many years of experience and long lists of contributions to their profession and community. More than a dozen individuals were submitted as nominees for Northern and Southern California. In choosing this year’s winner, ENR editors weighed several criteria, including each nominee’s history of innovation, career highlights and engagement within the industry and the surrounding community.

Over the past four decades, Rinard has made a mark on the nation and the world’s transportation infrastructure. A specialist in heavy civil construction, freight rail, and rail and bus transit projects, he has overseen more than $200 billion in construction value across the country and spanning five continents.

In his career, Rinard has successfully handled some of the largest and most complex transportation projects in Southern California, earning a reputation for consensus building among diverse stakeholder groups. These include:

The Alameda Freight Corridor
Serving as a railroad employee and later as a consultant director, Rinard came up with an innovative idea of combining four rail lines to and from the Los Angeles-area ports. This idea was sold to the railroads to alleviate car-train interferences at more than 300 at-grade crossings. The $2.4 billion project was the first of its kind in the U.S. and has never been duplicated.

Southern California Regional Rail (Metrolink)
As the founding director of engineering and construction, Rinard successfully delivered six lines, spanning over 300 miles within four years for the second largest commuter system in the U.S. The $3 billion program was completed without any litigation or claims.

LA Metro Blue Line to Long Beach
The initial Metro LRT was created on shared corridors, where collaboration with the railroad was necessary. Rinard, as the railroad authority, played a significant role in speeding up the program by implementing innovative ideas. These ideas included delivering materials via train, coordinating construction stages against dozens of port train traffic, and utilizing the railroad for greater production.

To read more about Rinard and his achievements, check out the March 11 print issue of ENR California.

Here is the list of the prior ENR California Legacy Award for Southern California.