October 2009
Three Halcrow projects celebrated success at last night’s British Construction Industry (BCI) Awards for 2009.
Halcrow’s Dames Point Container Terminal won the prestigious International Award, the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) Woolwich Arsenal Extension won the Best Practice Award and the Dounreay Site Restoration project came away with the Civil Engineering Award.
The BCI Awards are widely regarded as the industry's 'Oscars' and are the most rigorously judged awards in the construction sector. 2009 once again brought a huge response representing over 170 of the best projects in the UK and abroad.
Each of the 35 UK shortlisted projects were visited by members of the judging panel and their project teams quizzed on site. Teams representing the international shortlist of six projects were interviewed in London and visits made for the judges to glean further information.
The awards took place at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, with Ian Hislop – British satirist, writer, broadcaster and editor of the magazine Private Eye – as compere for the evening.
The Dounreay Site Restoration in Scotland fought-off seven other projects to win the coveted Civil Engineering Award, for projects valued between £3 million and £50 million.
This extraordinarily innovative and complex project involved the construction of a high-quality grout curtain around the 65m-deep Dounreay shaft, created in the 1950s as part of an offshore discharge tunnel. This innovative geotechnical project will significantly contribute to long-term environmental improvement in the region.
The judges commented that it was: “A highly complex project which saw technical innovation save millions of pounds and protect the environment”.
The DLR Woolwich Arsenal Extension took home the Best Practice Award, for projects which involved processes adopted to understand and meet client needs, supported team working throughout, and maintained continuous improvement.
The new extension comprises 2.5km of new railway in parallel twin bored tunnels under the river Thames to serve a newly constructed underground station in Woolwich town centre. The judges commented that the project was a very difficult project to deliver successfully.
Dames Point Container Terminal in Jacksonville, Florida, walked away with the International Award for projects outside the UK for which either the principal designer or contractor is a UK-based firm.
Dames Point is one of the largest container facilities on the USA east coast built alongside a 30 acre freshwater wetland. The 42-month schedule was challenging but was met, as well as the budget. It has created 6,000 jobs. The judges were impressed with the clients comment that: “The largest project in the port's history was completed on time and under budget. A truly rare occurrence in public infrastructure construction projects, reflecting well on the professional calibre of the team provided by Halcrow.”
The judges commented: “Yet again we have a superb British-led design team leading an exemplary project in the United States”.
Halcrow’s chief executive, Peter Gammie was at the ceremony and commented: “Our three winning entries exemplify the diversity of our expertise and is a testament to the talented teams we have working throughout the company. These wins support our stated purpose to sustain and improve the quality of people’s lives, so it’s been a great night for Halcrow”.