ASCE and OCEC honor RBF/Baker International transportation, stream restoration, and highway projects

Irvine, Calif. – RBF Consulting, a company of Michael Baker International, in cooperation with six of the firm’s public agency clients, were honored with the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Orange County Branch Transportation and Environmental Engineering Project of the Year awards and Orange County Engineering Council (OCEC) Engineering Project Achievement Awards for work in Southern California. The awards were presented on February 19 and 22, 2014, during National Engineers Week.

“It is an honor to see our personnel being recognized for their exceptional performance across multiple capabilities within our company to include transportation planning, transportation and environmental engineering, stream restoration, hydrology studies and other ancillary engineering services. It truly captures the exceptional depth and breadth of our capabilities in Southern California,” said CEO Kurt Bergman.

Michael Baker International was awarded the Transportation Project of the Year Award by ASCE OC and an Engineering Project Achievement Award by OCEC for the Interstate 5 at Crown Valley Parkway Interchange improvement project. “Based upon a collaborative planning process initiated over 20 years ago, the I-5/Crown Valley Parkway Corridor project represents the final stage of improvements to one of the busiest local freeway interchanges in Orange County,” said Gary Warkentin, RBF/Baker senior vice president. “This complex, multi-agency effort, which included the cities of Mission Viejo and Laguna Niguel, OCTA and Caltrans, has resulted in regionally significant circulation improvements that provide great mobility benefits today that will continue for many years to come.” The project involved preparation of plans, specifications and cost estimates for major capacity and operational improvements.

Baker International was also presented with the Environmental Engineering Project of the Year Award by ASCE OC and an Engineering Project Achievement Award by OCEC for the Buck Gully Canyon Restoration project. The project is a proactive management tool for the City of Newport Beach to implement solutions that will ensure the environmental health of the canyon, restoration of the creek to its course, and provide energy dissipation within the streambed in a non-intrusive manner to ensure the natural environment is protected for generations to come. Baker International provided the City of Newport Beach with planning, design and permitting for the restoration of Lower Buck Gully, as well as detailed hydrology, hydraulic and sediment transport studies for development of the final design.

“We knew early that the issues in the Canyon required an integrated and balanced approach to restoration,” said Richard Beck, vice president at RBF/Baker. “By providing a variety of in-house differentiated services, we were able to create solutions to biological and hydrological challenges that are beyond the capabilities of many other companies in the region. As an urban stream restoration project, the water quality benefits go beyond the Canyon, extending to Little Corona Beach and the Pacific Ocean. We’re proud of the awards, and the project’s success and congratulate the City on another excellent pro-active coastal restoration project.”

OCEC also recognized the City of Tustin’s Tustin Ranch Road Extension with an Engineering Project Achievement Award. RBF/Baker International provided plans, specifications, and estimates for the new grade separation bridge over two mainline (Metrolink/BNSF/Amtrak) tracks within Southern California Regional Rail Authority (SCRRA) right-of-way, over the 6-lane Edinger Avenue, and over the Santa Ana/Santa Fe flood control channel for Phase II of construction. The second phase of the project provided 1.4 miles of new roadway opened in November 2013.