The American Council of Engineering Companies of Massachusetts (ACEC/MA) has named HNTB Corporation, with offices in Boston and Chelmsford, as a winner of its 2017 Bronze Engineering Excellence Award for work on the Fitchburg Commuter Rail Improvement Program project.
The 2017 Engineering Excellence Awards were announced at the recent ACEC/MA Engineering Excellence and Awards Gala with emcees Carol Gladstone, Commissioner of the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance and Commissioner Leo Roy of the Department of Conservation and Recreation.
HNTB partnered with the MBTA to combine a design-to-budget approach with innovative financing and scheduling for the Fitchburg Commuter Rail Improvement Program – one of the first commuter rail projects funded under FTA Small Starts. The 50-mile Fitchburg Line, previously the least reliable corridor in the MBTA system, today experiences 95% on-time-performance. Benefits include two new accessible stations, significantly greater train frequency, increased maximum speed to 79MPH, and a new modern signal system. This was accomplished through unique contract packaging and construction staging to minimize outages and disruption along an active mixed use commuter/freight rail corridor.
“The winning projects exemplify ingenuity and professionalism and represent the breadth of engineering’s contribution to our everyday lives,” said ACEC/MA President Mark S. Bartlett PE. “They are outstanding examples of how engineers connect communities, provide safe and reliable water and energy, and make our buildings safe and efficient. The professional engineers and their colleagues at our member firms are dedicated to working on quality infrastructure, which wouldn’t otherwise exist. These outstanding projects are but a few examples of the quality work designed by Massachusetts engineering firms.”
About ACEC/MA
The American Council of Engineering Companies of Massachusetts (ACEC/MA) is the business association of the Massachusetts engineering industry, representing over 120 independent engineering companies engaged in the development of transportation, environmental, industrial, and other infrastructure. Founded in 1960 and headquartered in Boston, MA, ACEC/MA is a member organization of the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) based in Washington, DC. ACEC is a national federation of 51 state and regional organizations. For more information on ACEC/MA, visit their website at www.acecma.org. ACEC/MA is undertaking an awareness campaign to educate the public on the many contributions engineers make (or the engineering innovations) in everyday life through their hash tag #EngineeringGoFigure. To Follow us on Twitter: @ACECMA
