South Carolina ACEC recognizes parkway design excellence

Beaufort County’s Bluffton Parkway Phase 5A project earned a 2017 Engineering Excellence Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies in South Carolina. Entrants are judged based on innovation, value to the engineering profession, social and economic considerations, complexity and successful fulfillment of client needs.

The project team accepted the award at ACEC South Carolina’s recent awards gala at the Columbia Museum of Art. The project will also advance to the ACEC national competition, winners of which will be announced April 25 in Washington, D.C., during ACEC’s national awards gala.

HDR|ICA led roadway and bridge design, stormwater drainage design, pavement marking and signing, signal design, retaining/noise wall design, sediment and erosion control design, and geotechnical investigations and analysis. The firm also conducted extensive public involvement and completed a sophisticated environmental assessment in concert with its design to receive a finding of no significant impact. The completed project provides a parallel alternative to U.S. Highway 278 and is projected to relieve heavy traffic by 30 percent.

“Beaufort County is very pleased with the success of the Bluffton Parkway Phase 5A project and I commend HDR|ICA staff for their performance and professionalism in taking this project from the planning phase to the completion of construction,” said Rob McFee, P.E., Beaufort County director of construction, engineering and facilities.