PASADENA, CA (May 15, 2017) – Parsons recently accepted 2017 Engineering Excellence Awards from both the New York and New Jersey state chapters of the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC). Parsons’ Throgs Neck Bridge Orthotropic Deck Repair project won an ACEC NY Gold Award in the structural systems category, and the firm’s Route 35 Emergency Restoration work won the Honor Award-Large Project from ACEC NJ. The Engineering Excellence Awards recognize the highest degree of skill and ingenuity among firms throughout their respective states.

“Our talented staff and project teams brought together world-class expertise and innovation for these complex projects that required restoration and repair work to ensure public safety as well as community access and services,” said Michael Johnson, Parsons Group President. “These projects exemplify Parsons’ commitment to meeting our customers’ needs whenever or wherever the need may be. We’ve got boots on the ground and are ready to deliver proactively or on an emergency basis.”

On the award-winning Throgs Neck Bridge project for MTA Bridges and Tunnels, Parsons investigated and identified the causes of fatigue cracks on multiple components of the orthotropic deck approach spans of the bridge, which carries I-295 over the East River in New York City. The project team then designed retrofit and strengthening concepts that would extend the service life of the orthotropic decks. Parsons provided construction support services and field testing as prototypes of these repair options were installed. The project was successfully completed in March 2016, ensuring safe travel for motorists between upstate New York/New England and the Long Island suburbs, including commercial trucking that is vital to the regional economy.

When Superstorm Sandy breached Route 35 in three locations in New Jersey, leaving homes, utilities, drainage, and roadway infrastructure destroyed, Parsons was called in to perform emergency reconstruction of the roadway, sidewalk, and drainage system from milepost 9.0 to 12.5. As damage to the existing drainage outfalls became apparent, Parsons was tasked with designing a new drainage system that would no longer outfall across private easements. The Parsons-led team used an innovative underground pump station design that ensured the drainage system could store a significant amount of runoff and operate as a gravity system or with an emergency generator during power outages—reducing potential impacts from future storms and improving infrastructure resiliency in the vulnerable low-lying community. The project was completed in May 2016.

Parsons has a long history of supporting communities affected by such natural disasters as hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, wildfires, and tornados, and in 2014, the corporation introduced an initiative on Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Planning that recognizes the important global impacts of these climatic events and their repercussions on human health and well-being. For more information about this initiative, read Parsons’ 2017 Corporate Social Responsibility Report.