Parsippany Firm Fast Tracks Restoration of New Jersey Coastal Environment
WASHINGTON, DC (March 17, 2014)—Dewberry of Parsippany, N.J., has earned a National Recognition Award for exemplary engineering achievement in the American Council of Engineering Companies’ (ACEC) 48th annual Engineering Excellence Awards for managing the statewide Superstorm Sandy Waterway Debris Removal Project for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
New Jersey’s recovery after Superstorm Sandy hinged on the success of clearing debris from commercial and recreational waterways along the state’s 127-mile coast. Dewberry’s strategy addressed both the massive scale of the effort—the largest in U.S. history—and location-specific dynamics that included protection of sensitive wetlands and archeological treasures. The collaborative effort cleared New Jersey’s waterways of all wet storm debris just eight months after Sandy made landfall. When the program concluded on the storm’s one-year anniversary, more than 100,000 cubic yards of debris—including 194 vessels and vehicles, and four homes—and 360,000 cubic yards of sediment had been safely removed and disposed of.
The project is among 143 engineering projects throughout the nation and the world being recognized by ACEC as preeminent engineering achievements for 2013. Judging for the Engineering Excellence Awards—known as the “Academy Awards of the engineering industry”—took place in February, conducted by a panel of more than 25 engineers, architects, government officials, media members, and academics. Criteria for the awards include uniqueness and originality, technical innovation, social and economic value, complexity, and success in meeting goals.
Final top winners, including 16 Honor Awards, eight Grand Awards and the prestigious “Grand Conceptor Award” for the year’s most outstanding overall engineering achievement, will be announced at the Engineering Excellence Awards Gala, a black-tie event to be held Tuesday, April 29, 2014 at The Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, D.C.
