It was a very good year
2006 was a very good year – for CTE. An award-winning year. And, because awards are a great way for an engineering firm, such as CTE, to distinguish itself within a wide field, we would like to share CTE’s honors and accomplishments of the past year.
Whites Creek Basin I/I Reduction
Trenchless Technology
Project of the Year Award
CTE cemented a 15-year Program Management relationship with Metro Water Services of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee, with a team win as Trenchless Technology’s Project of the Year. The Overflow Abatement Program is nationally recognized for its measurable results, while the Whites Creek project is an example of how teamwork and an innovative approach to infiltration and inflow (I/I) reduction produce benefits for both clients and rate payers.
Metro was the first to utilize a performance-based contract for sewer rehabilitation. The five-year, $7.5 million program achieved a 41% reduction in I/I in the Whites Creek Basin. As a result of the pioneering approach and the success of the contract, Metro and abatement program manager CTE won this impressive award.
I-90/94 Dan Ryan/Chicago Skyway Interchange Reconstruction
Illinois Department of Transportation
Award for Exceptional Consulting Engineering Services
Harry R. Hanley Award for Outstanding Consulting Engineering Service
Our work on the massive I-90/94 Dan Ryan/Chicago Skyway Interchange reconstruction earned the praise of the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), along with two prestigious IDOT awards – the Award for Exceptional Consulting Engineering Services and the Harry R. Hanley Award for Outstanding Consulting Engineering Service. Both awards were presented for CTE’s work on the Chicago Skyway Interchange project, which included the replacement of its four bridges and upgrades to reduce flooding and congestion, and to improve pavement conditions and traffic safety.
Interchange 8, I-87/I-287 Reconstruction
American Road & Transportation Builders Association
Pride Award for Public-Media Relations/Education
The most expensive project ever undertaken by the New York State Thruway Authority, the Interchange 8 reconstruction project involved a new configuration of connecting roadways linking interchange 87 with interchange 287, and two new higher-speed E-ZPass lanes. The project’s education outreach program taught more than 1,000 local students in four school districts about the transportation construction industry and road building process, and how the Interchange project affected their daily lives. And for this successful effort, CTE earned an American Road & Transportation Builders Association’s (ARTBA) Pride Award for public-media relations/education.
South Lake Shore Drive Reconstruction
American Road & Transportation Builders Association
Pride Award for Community Relations
The 6.4-mile reconstruction of South Lake Shore Drive enhanced a major commuter route – more than 100,000 vehicles travel it daily – renovated two popular lakeside parks, and proved that a large-scale urban engineering project can be improved, significantly, by community involvement. According to ARTBA, “The project team, with continual involvement and feedback from a local advisory group, was successful at reconciling the demands of building an efficient modern highway in a major urban park, while still preserving a strong connection to the lake and allowing for outdoor activities.” CTE and client City of Chicago were presented with a Pride Award for community relations on the South Lake Shore Drive reconstruction project.
Metra SouthWest Service Line
Midwest Construction
Best of 2006 Award of Merit for Transportation
American Council of Engineering Companies, Illinois Chapter
Special Achievement Award
Seeking to significantly enhance the travel options for Chicagoland commuters, Metra completed a five-year, $97 million upgrade to its Southwest Service line. This colossal project extended 12 miles of rail service from Orland Park to Manhattan and increased daily trains from 16 to 30. In 1991, Metra hired CTE as design engineers to implement Phase II of this project. Some of CTE’s work included designing stations, warming shelters, platforms, and parking lots, while upgrading or replacing 11 miles of rail track; and, replacing seven bridges, while rehabilitating five others.
The Southwest Service line now stretches 41 miles from Chicago’s Union Station, allowing more commuters to travel conveniently by rail to and from Chicago and creating more economic opportunities for suburban residents – and earned two honors in the process: Midwest Construction’s Best of 2006 Award of Merit for transportation, and a Special Achievement Award from the Illinois Chapter of the American Council of Engineering Companies.
Metra "New Start" Rail Lines
American Public Works Association, Chicago Metro Chapter
Project of the Year Award for Transportation Projects Over $100 million
Population and business booms throughout Chicagoland’s six-county region created a strong demand for commuter rail service. Metra strengthened this region’s rail service by implementing three “New Start” projects in 2006.
The inaugural runs of these New Start rail lines brought to fruition plans made possible in 2001, when Congress awarded Metra three full funding grants to increase the North Central Service Line, extend deeper into Kane County on Union Pacific’s West Line, and, expand SouthWest Service’s Line. In addition to boosting rail service, other elements of the New Start projects include locomotives, station parking improvements, track and signal upgrades, and adding stations and rail yards.
These combined enhancements are part of Metra’s commitment to providing safe, reliable, and affordable commuter rail service, and earned the American Public Works Association Project of the Year Award for the Chicago Metro Chapter in the category of “transportation – more than $100 million.”
Marquette Interchange Reconstruction
Wisconsin Department of Transportation
Golden Shovel Award
CTE took a young electrical engineering firm under its wing on Milwaukee’s Marquette Interchange project, implementing a first-of-its-kind mentoring program with Buveck Consultants. With extensive experience in roadway lighting and Intelligent Transportation System design and inspection, CTE worked alongside Buveck – a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) – providing training and guidance in electrical construction inspection on the Marquette project, and won the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s Golden Shovel Award for creating this flourishing partnership.
“We appreciate the opportunity to work alongside a successful, established firm like CTE that is dedicated to teaming with smaller engineering firms on large-scale projects,” said Thomas Burse, owner and principal of Buveck Consultants. “It’s been a win-win situation for both of our firms.”
