On behalf of all of the editors of ENR and ENR’s Regional Editions, I’m honored to present the winners of ENR’s Best of the Best Projects 2012. These projects are the culmination of an eight-month effort to find, examine and judge the most outstanding construction projects completed between July 2011 and June 2012 in the U.S.

We started with a huge outpouring of entries from the industry – nearly 1,000 project teams submitted their best work to the regional Best Projects competitions. In each of the nine regions, the editors assembled panels of judges to hone in on the winners in 19 categories.

Once the regional winners were settled, the top winners in each category from each region moved up to the national competition. A brand new set of judges examined each project all over again, going through every entry with a fine-tooth comb to look at each entry’s details in an effort to distinguish, well, the best from the best.

We couldn’t have completed this huge undertaking without the generous donation of hundreds of hours of time by our judges, including some of the biggest names in the construction industry.  

These projects are truly outstanding examples for the entire construction industry of teamwork, safety, overcoming challenges, innovation and quality.

The national Safety category is being judged by a specialized panel of safety experts, and will be announced in a separate post.

The projects and judges will be featured in more depth in the Feb. 11, 2013 issue of ENR. Also in that issue, the editors of ENR will select one project from the Best of the Best Projects winners as the Editors’ Choice, which won’t be revealed until the issue date. Until then, on behalf of the staff of ENR and all the judges, congratulations to all the winners! 

Note: if you have an outstanding project located anywhere in the world, be sure to check back in January for ENR's inagural Global Best Projects competition!

BEST OF THE BEST PROJECTS 2012 WINNERS      

Civil Works/Infrastructure: Yellow River Water Reclamation Facility Improvements Project, Lilburn, Ga., Submitted by CH2M HILL, ENR Southeast

Cultural/Worship: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Ar., Submitted by Buro Happold, ENR Texas & Louisiana

Government/Public Buildings: The Natural History Museum of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, Submitted by Big-D Construction, ENR Mountain States

Green Project: The David and Lucile Packard Foundation New Headquarters, Los Altos, Calif., Submitted by DPR Construction, ENR California

Health Care: Palomar Medical Center, Escondido, Calif., Submitted by DPR Construction, ENR California

Palomar Medical Center photo by Tom Bonner Photography

Higher Education/Research: University of Washington Molecular Engineering & Sciences Building, Seattle, Wash., Submitted by ZGF Architects, ENR Northwest

Industrial/Manufacturing: The Boeing Company | 787 Building Program, North Charleston , S.C., Submitted by KBR Building Group, ENR Southeast

Interior Design/Tenant Improvement: El Paso Corporation Tower Renovation, Houston, Texas, Submitted by Gilbane, ENR Texas & Louisiana

K-12 Education: James M. Bennett High School, Salisbury, Md., Submitted by Becker Morgan Group, Inc., ENR Mid-Atlantic

Landscape/Hardscape/Urban Development: National September 11 Memorial, New York City, Submitted by Handel Architects, ENR New York

National September 11 Memorial photo by Joe Woolhead

Office: Delta Dental of Michigan Headquarters Expansion and Renovation, Okemos, Mich., Submitted by Walbridge, ENR Midwest

Renovation/Restoration: Freedom Tower Restoration, Miami, Fla., Submitted by Kaufman Lynn Construction, ENR Southeast

Residential/Hospitality: Omni Dallas Hotel, Dallas, Texas, Submitted by Balfour Beatty Construction, ENR Texas & Louisiana

Retail/Mixed-Use Developments: Pearl Brewery Development, San Antonio, Texas, Submitted by Joeris General Contractors, ENR Texas & Louisiana

Small Project (under $10 million): University of Texas at Dallas Visitor Center and University Bookstore, Richardson, Texas, Submitted by PageSoutherlandPage, ENR Texas & Louisiana

Specialty Contracting: Perot Museum of Nature and Science, Dallas , Texas, Submitted by Gate Precast Company, ENR Texas & Louisiana

Sports/Entertainment: Marlins Park, Miami, Fla., Submitted by Hunt Construction Group, Inc., ENR Southeast

Transportation: John James Audubon Bridge, St. Francisville, La., Submitted by Flatiron and Louisiana TIMED Managers, ENR Texas & Louisiana

John James Audubon Bridge photo courtesy Louisiana TIMED Managers

Follow ENR_SW on Twitter