In a city already filled with “one-of-a-kind” attractions, the newly opened Sphere at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas has pushed the benchmark for “unique” even higher. 

It’s never an easy task for our panels of industry judges to review all of the submissions from project teams to select the Best Projects winners, and this year was particularly difficult given the quality of work completed in the past year in the Southwest.

When a rotten egg odor began plaguing the El Rio Vista Natural Resource Park, local officials realized that it was coming from a Pima County wastewater sewer structure, which had undergone numerous modifications over the last 50 years.

Consisting of 28 miles of 48-in.-dia and 42-in.-dia steel pipe between the communities of Tohatchi and Little Water, N.M., this project brings a much needed water source to the Navajo and Jicarilla Apache reservations.

This conventional activated sludge wastewater treatment plant with nitrogen removal will treat 63 million gallons a day of wastewater from 500,000 residents.

A year-round outdoor space for community sports and leisure, this 37-acre facility features six lighted fields for recreational and competitive sports and more than two miles of pedestrian pathways.

Located directly adjacent to the existing Regional Aquatic Center complex, this new 36,536-sq-ft aquatic facility includes an Olympic-size swimming pool, lobby and ticketing area, spectator seating and locker rooms.

Connecting remote communities to high-speed internet required innovative technology and hard hours of work for crews from Kiewit, which was chosen as construction manager at-risk to install 67 miles of high-capacity fiber optic infrastructure.

To create an interdisciplinary research space that will enhance research into sleep and circadian rhythms, construction began on a 11,460-sq-ft facility in January 2022.

First envisioned in 1992 by the Route 66 Citizens Task Force, this space celebrates unique New Mexican culture along old Route 66 and aims to spur economic development in the area.