Engineering excellence awards: FICE/ACEC FL recognize best Florida engineering achievements Florida Construction News staff writer H ow do you decide on the best Florida engineering projects? The Florida Institute of Con- sulting Engineers/American Council of Engineering Companies (FICE/ACEC FL) has developed an answer: A com- prehensive recognition and awards program with independent judges as- sessing complex projects and propos- als for: • Uniqueness and innovative applications; • future value to the engineering profession; • perception by the public; • social, economic and sustainable development considerations; • complexity; and • successful fulfillment of client/owners’ needs, including schedules and budget. This year, FICE selected 10 worthy projects for Grand Awards and, out of them, Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. received the highest Grand Conceptor Award for the port of Miami Tunnel in conjunction with the Florida Depart- ment of Transportation (FDOT) Divi- sion Six. Judges for this year’s awards, rec- ognized at the FES/FICE annual Sum- mer Conference and Exposition on July 31 in Ft. Lauderdale, include: Nathan Butler with HKS Architects Inc. (2014 AIA-Florida president); Scott Judy, editor-in-chief, ENR Southeast; Terry Puckett, FDOT Districts I and VII Geotechnical Office; Manoj Chopra, University of Central Florida; Ron Beladi, vice-president/senior engi- neer, Neel-Schaffer, Inc.; and deputy general counsel John Constigan, Of- fice of General Counsel, Florida De- partment of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Here are details about the winning projects and why they are worthy of recognition. 14 – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015 — Florida Construction News Grand Conceptor Award: Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.: FDOT – Port of Miami Tunnel This project, which opened to traffic on Aug. 2, 2014, is the first bored transportation tunnel ever constructed in Florida. “It was successfully ac- complished in extremely difficult geo- logic conditions, and features fire and safety features not previously used in U.S. tunnel projects, including mas- sive hurricane flood gates and a del- uge sprinkler system,” the award citation says. The Miami Herald in an editorial re- view went further, describing it as a “job well done.” The tunnel, built under the public- private partnership (PPP) model, was completed approximately $90 million under the $760 million budget, even with additional work, including a major widening of the 2,500-ft. long MacArthur Bridge and substantial re- construction of the port’s public road- way system. “The tunnel has been a great suc- cess,” tunnel CEO Christopher Hodgkins told The Herald’s editorial board. “We have changed the quality of life in downtown Miami.’’ FDOT pays Miami Access $3 mil- lion a month (for the next 30 years) to maintain and operate the tunnel, and then ownership reverts to the state. Hodgkins said the tunnel has won local goodwill by employing local res- idents, including Haitian and African Americans and women. “The award-winning tunnel is a work of art — down to the two 50-ton metal gates that will seal it up if a major hurricane approaches,” the Herald reports. The tunnel has been designed with extensive safety fea- tures and while there have been a number of incidents, mostly traffic ac- cidents, there haven’t been any seri- ous problems since its construction. Approximately 14,000 vehicles use the tunnel daily, reducing congestion in downtown Miami.