ENR Mountain States, working in concert with other regional ENR publications and editors across the U.S., has selected its Design Firms of the Year for 2015. This year, they are Merrick & Co., Greenwood Village, Colo., for the Colorado/Wyoming area; and Horrocks Engineers, Salt Lake City, for the Intermountain area. Both firms were chosen by a vote of the regional ENR editors from a small group of finalists.
Merrick is a well-known Denver-area-based engineering, architecture, design-build, surveying, planning and geospatial solutions firm. It serves domestic and international clients in the energy, national security, life sciences and sustainable infrastructure markets. The employee-owned company maintains offices in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom.
Over the past three years, Merrick has increased its international revenue and is expanding into the (nuclear) power market, building on multi-year contracts with Tennessee Valley Authority and Georgia Transmission Corp. Although the firm’s primary power focus is in the U.S., Merrick has ongoing energy projects in UAE, as well as life sciences and geomatics projects in Kenya.
Over the past eight years, Merrick’s geomatics team has built a strong presence in Mexico. Recent initiatives have expanded service offerings to include life sciences, and in light of the reforms to the power and energy sector, Merrick is also looking to expand its energy practice into the region.
Recent key projects designed out of the Colorado office include:
• The $61-million Crude Unit Replacement, Calumet Montana Refining LLC, Montana
• The $50-million National Biocontainment Lab, Ministry for Primary Industries, New Zealand
• The $30-million Genesis Biofuels, Cool Planet Energy Systems, Louisiana
• The Hydrothermal Processing Pilot System, Genifuel Corp., India
Horrocks Engineers plans and designs transportation systems, water systems, sewer systems, storm drain systems and treatment plants. Most of the firm’s work is done within the Mountain States region. But Horrocks has recently added new offices in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and Las Vegas, and consolidated its Surprise, Ariz., and Phoenix offices.
Horrocks has also moved its plan sets into 3D and is using LIDAR and GIS to create stronger platforms for design and project information access and storage.
The firm’s recent key projects include:
• Work at the $252-million I-15 Point Program Management, Salt Lake and Utah Counties
• The $35-million Provo Westside Connector, Provo, Utah
• The $1.8-billion Salt Lake City International Airport Redevelopment Program
• The $28-million I-84; Broadway Interchange and Gowen Railroad Bridges, Boise.
A profile story on each of the firms will appear in the June issue of ENR Mountain States. Congratulations to this year’s winners.