The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) recently hosted the prestigious 2016 Engineering Excellence Awards Gala. Innovative projects from design firms across Washington competed in the “Best in State Projects” category. Our nomination, Seattle Public Utilities’ Venema Natural Drainage Project was presented with the Gold Award for Successful Fulfillment of Client/Owner Needs! Members of the project team are pictured below, accepting their award.
The Venema Natural Drainage Project would not have been a success without our valued team members: Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), who owned the project and worked alongside OCI to design the bioretention systems and provide public outreach support among the community, Cascade Design Collaborative, who provided landscape architecture and plan renderings for community outreach, Mayfly Engineering, who provided storm drainage plans and layout the bioretention cells on one of the streets, Perteet Engineering, who provided roadway design and ADA upgrades, as well as Associated Earth Sciences, who provided geotechnical design for the UIC wells.
The project started in 2013 when OCI was selected by SPU to help design the system in Seattle’s Broadview Neighborhood. Prior to the project, polluted runoff during wet weater was released into Venema Creek at the top of an 80-foot sand cliff, feeding into the fish-bearing Piper’s Creek. By installing a combination of bioretention cells and underground injection control wells, the hydrology of the creek will be restored to its natural state. The project was successfully implemented to meet the SPU’s goal of improving the health of the Venema Creek habitat using Green Stormwater Infrastructure while remaining on budget and on schedule. In addition, the street improvements created a safer environment for residents and more aesthetically pleasing streets. Construction on the project was completed in fall 2015.
OCI is also proud to have worked on two other projects that took home Silver Awards for Complexity, including the SR 167 Puyallup River Bridge Replacement Project and the SR 520 Pontoon Casting Facility Project. OCI is incredibly honored to have received this recognition and is looking forward to another year of successful and innovative projects!
