SUFFOLK, VA — The Glen Allen, Virginia-based team of Dewberry Engineers Inc. and Garney Construction has earned an Honor Award for exemplary engineering achievement in the American Council of Engineering Companies’ (ACEC) 59th annual Engineering Excellence Awards (EEA). The award comes for the design and construction of a new raw wastewater transmission force main across the James River from Newport News to Suffolk, Virginia.
The total crossing included more than 4.5 miles of new high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe ranging from 42 to 54 inches in diameter. At more than a mile, the section beneath the Newport News Shipping Channel represents the world’s longest single horizontal directional drilling installation of HDPE pipe with this diameter and dimension ratio.
The project is a part of the Hampton Roads Sanitation District’s $2.6 billion Sustainable Water Initiative for Tomorrow program, aimed at improving the Chesapeake Bay’s water quality and sustainability. The crossing will help replenish the Potomac Aquifer, which serves more than 2 million residents, and reduce ground subsidence, improving the area’s resilience against sea level rise.
Other participating engineering firms include Michael Baker International, Brierly and Associates, and Moffat and Nichol.
Judging for the awards program was conducted by a national 32-member panel of built environment leaders, along with experts from government, the media, and academia. Award criteria focused on uniqueness and originality, technical innovation, social and economic value, and excitement generated toward the engineering profession.
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All 240 award winners — including 16 Honor Awards, eight Grand Awards, and the announcement of the Grand Conceptor Award for the year’s most outstanding overall engineering achievement — will take place at the 2026 EEA Gala at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C.
