LONG ISLAND RAIL BRIDGE REPLACEMENT CITED IN NATIONAL ENGINEERING COMPETITION

Rapid Replacement Strategy Improves Safety for Railroad and Motorists 

WASHINGTON, DC – KS Engineers, P.C., of Newark, N.J., has earned a National Recognition Award for exemplary engineering achievement in the American Council of Engineering Companies’ (ACEC) 53^rd annual Engineering Excellence Awards (EEA) for the Buckram Road Bridge Replacement project in Locust Valley, N.Y.

Constructed in 1889, the 134-foot-long, three-span bridge carried a single track of the Long Island Rail Road’s Oyster Bay Branch. A number of substandard features made replacement necessary, including hazardous vehicle line-of-sight angles, limited vertical clearance and lane width, pedestrian accessibility, and track alignment.

KS Engineering and contractor Railroad Construction Co., Inc., developed a strategy to demolish the original three-span bridge and construct a single-span replacement structure in just a single weekend. In addition to limiting service disruptions, the approach reduced project costs by $3 million. The new bridge provides nearly four additional feet of vertical clearance, reducing the risk of impacts from oversized trucks, which had often caused lengthy service delays for inspections and repairs. Removal of a hazardous pier structure and new sightlines also improved public safety.

The project is among a record 203 entries this year representing engineering excellence from throughout the nation and the world. Judging for the awards program—known industry-wide as the “Academy Awards of the engineering industry”– took place in February and was conducted by a national 35-member panel of built environment leaders, along with experts from government, the media and academia. Award criteria focused on uniqueness and originality, technical innovation, social and economic value, and generating excitement for the engineering profession.

Recognition of all award winners including top winners—20 Honor Awards, 16 Grand Awards and the prestigious “Grand Conceptor Award” for the year’s most outstanding overall engineering achievement—will take place at the annual EEA Dinner and Gala, a black-tie event to be held in September on a date and location to be determined.

The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) is the business association of America’s engineering industry, representing more than 5,200 independent engineering firms and more than 600,000 professionals throughout the United States engaged in the development of America’s transportation, water and energy infrastructure, along with environmental, industrial and other public and private facilities. Founded in 1906 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., ACEC is a national federation of 52 state and regional organizations.