WSP Cantor Seinuk collected a top engineering award for its work on the World Trade Center Memorial and Museum.
The firm was among 500 consulting engineers and clients gathered for the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York’s (ACEC New York) 45th annual Engineering Excellence Awards gala at the Waldorf=Astoria last the weekend.
Twenty-five New York State cfirms received ACEC New York’s Diamond Award for their work on 26 projects throughout the world.
The judging was based on complexity, future value to the engineering profession, original or innovative application of new or existing technologies, and meeting or exceeding client needs.
The Empire Award — given to the highest rated project in New York State based on contributions to the economic health of an area, sustainability, innovation and creativity — went to WSP Cantor Seinuk for its structural systems design work on the World Trade Center Memorial and Museum.
The Memorial Park is supported by the steel framing of the roof of the subterranean memorial structure, which descends as far as 70 feet below plaza level.
The 200-foot fountain pools that occupy the footprint of the Twin Towers are approximately 30-feet deep with centrally located voids, waterfalls of massive scale that flow through the ceiling to the museum below. The concrete walls surrounding the fountains are an integral part of the gravity and lateral system, capable of withstanding blast loads.
Among the project’s additional challenges were: resisting earth and hydrostatic pressures from up to 70 feet of pre-9/11 excavations and the need to support the existing slurry wall.
Now designated a federal landmark, the 60-foot high original slurry wall held back the waters of the Hudson River on September 11.
The New York State Department of Transportation’s (NYSDOT) received the Council’s Award of Merit for it rapid response to the damage caused by Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee this past year, and its quick repair of infrastructure essential to transportation. A $5,000 scholarship in the name of NYSDOT was presented to Benjamin Conable, a distinguished third-year CUNY engineering student.
Michael Leydecker, chairman of ACEC New York, said, “ACEC New York’s annual Engineering Excellence Awards gala is a vehicle for honoring outstanding projects and the firms these engineers represent. From working on new transportation systems to rebuilding our infrastructure to creating environmentally sustainable buildings, New York’s creative and technically skilled consulting engineers continue to design extraordinary projects that improve the quality of life for millions of people around the globe.”
