Gardiner, ME Stantec earned a top engineering design award for its work on a comprehensive transportation improvement project in the city’s historic downtown. The firm and its co-applicants Haley & Aldrich and TMSI were recognized with The Grand Conceptor Award—the top prize—by the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) of Maine as part of its annual Engineering Excellence Awards program.
Stantec led project design and provided construction support for the Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT) and city of Gardiner project, which involved the replacement of two century-old bridges, along with the addition of a multi-use trail with bridge and updates to two signalized intersections.
The Bridge St. Bridge, which was originally built in 1917 to bring Rte. 201 over the Cobbosseecontee Stream, was opened to traffic in November 2020 after a complex lateral slide installation of a new 700-ton single span structure. Completed during a 35-day closure using accelerated bridge construction methods, this was only the second such highway bridge replacement completed in the state.
The completion of the Bridge St. Bridge follows the 2019 replacement of the Maine Ave. Bridge through an accelerated 13-day bridge closure. The Maine Ave. Bridge was built in 1933 to carry Rte. 24 over the Cobbosseecontee Stream. These bridge updates, coupled with complementary roadway and trail improvements, bring a substantial set of multi-modal mobility improvements to this historic downtown.
As part of its project role for MaineDOT, Stantec designed the two bridge replacements as well as a recreational trail and bridge that connects to the Kennebec River Rail Trail. Trail enhancements include landscaping; use of salvaged granite; ornamental lighting; interpretive panels celebrating the stream’s historic dams, fish species, and birds of prey; and safety features. Additional project considerations included utility relocations, endangered fish species protection, and remediation of contaminated soils. Haley & Aldrich provided geotechnical engineering design and construction support and TMSI provided traffic signal and intersection design and utility coordination.
ACEC of Maine’s annual Engineering Excellence Awards competition recognizes engineering firms for projects that demonstrate an exceptional degree of innovation, complexity, achievement, and value. The program honors the year’s most outstanding engineering accomplishments across a range of categories. Projects across the state are rated on 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/owner’s needs.