Three Projects Named 2020 ACEC-NY Award Winners

(NEW YORK, NY – November 18, 2019) – Three projects managed by Hazen and Sawyer were recently named ACEC-NY Engineering Excellence Award winners.

The East Side Coastal Resiliency Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) won a Diamond award, the Alley Creek Tidal Wetland Restoration won a Platinum award, and the Experimental Nitrogen Removing On-site Wastewater Treatment won a Gold award.

The East Side Coastal Resiliency Project (ESCR) is the largest post-Sandy resiliency project in New York, and the first to be implemented within Manhattan. The $1.45 billion project involves construction of an integrated flood protection system for a 2.4-mile section of Manhattan. The Environmental Impact Statement and permitting team is leading a coordinated effort that balances a tiered environmental review (NEPA, SEQRA, CEQR) with regulatory and design implications under an aggressive schedule. There is no precedent for a project of this size and scope in New York City. Once completed, ESCR will serve as a model for the integration of coastal protection into livable spaces.

The eastern shore of Alley Creek, a tributary of Little Neck Bay in Queens, is the site of a first-of-its-kind wetland reconstruction providing year-round water quality improvements and mitigating the effects of a nearby combined sewer overflow (CSO) outfall. This pilot project uses progressively smaller sinuous tributaries to maximize contact time between incoming water and native wetland plant species, improving water quality by removing fecal coliform bacteria and increasing dissolved oxygen levels.

For 40 years, water quality in Suffolk County has plummeted due to increasing nitrogen levels, causing issues in local lakes and coastal marine waters, threatening public safety, and restricting growth. This nitrogen increase is attributed to wastewater discharged from individual on-site wastewater treatment systems or unsewered systems like antiquated cesspools and septic systems found in 70% of Suffolk County homes. The New York State Center for Clean Water Technology (CCWT) selected Hazen to evaluate available on-site wastewater treatment technologies. Nitrogen Removing Biofilters (NRBs) were the most effective technology based on cost per pound of nitrogen removed. CCWT then tasked Hazen to design and install five NRBs in Suffolk County.

The Engineering Excellence Awards are presented to projects that encompassed both the public and private sector in the following categories: studies, research, and consulting services; building/technology systems; structural systems; surveying and mapping technology; environmental; waste and storm water; water resources; transportation; energy; industrial and manufacturing processes and facilities; and special projects.

These winners will be honored at the Annual Engineering Excellence Awards (EEA) Gala, which will take place at the Hilton Midtown in New York City on April 4, 2020. The winner of the Empire Award — an award given to the highest rated project in New York State — will be announced at the EEA Gala. All Diamond Award projects designed and built in New York State are in contention for the Empire Award.