COLORADO SPRINGS, CO — Several HDR projects received 2021 Engineering Excellence Awards from multiple state chapters of the American Council of Engineering Companies. The state chapters each recognize the winning project teams and clients at local awards ceremonies throughout the fall, winter, and spring.

The state-winning projects advanced to the national ACEC Engineering Excellence Awards competition, which culminates with the announcement of national award winners at the Engineering Excellence Awards Gala on April 27 in Washington, D.C. The gala, which recognizes the year’s most remarkable engineering achievements, is part of the 2021 ACEC Annual Conference.

The winning projects in Colorado include the Chatfield Reservoir Reallocation Project and the Pine Creek Channel Improvements.

The Chatfield Reservoir is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-owned flood control reservoir in the Southwest Denver metropolitan area. A major recreational attraction, Chatfield features two million visitors annually, and is one of Colorado's most visited state parks.

Raising the water level at the Chatfield Reservoir provides an opportunity to help local communities and agricultural users along the Front Range meet growing demand. USACE approved the storage reallocation project to add 20,600 acre-feet of storage capacity, raising the reservoir water level by 12 feet.

In February 2016, HDR was selected through a competitive process to prepare preliminary designs for the relocation of several of Chatfield’s recreational facilities. HDR provided design and analysis for structures, roadways, and pedestrian trails that needed to be constructed due to the reservoir raise. Relocation works included 12 recreational areas and utility systems, including electrical, potable water, and sanitary.

Flowing through one of Colorado Springs’ golf courses, Pine Creek had degraded due to upstream development and major flooding. The city turned to HDR to restore the historic natural channel and stream system, preserve vegetation, and provide bank stabilization to protect surrounding development from catastrophic floods.

For the first time in Colorado Springs, the HDR team used natural elements including logs, root balls, and cobble riffle structures to provide bank stabilization, called “enhanced-stream stabilization.” The effort is a test case for future drainageway design, including the next downstream channel segment. Further, this effort reduced the overall project cost by minimizing the quantity of material hauled away and repurposing the material on-site.