SEH Honored For Duluth Sky Harbor Engineering

SEH’s Duluth Airport Authority’s Sky Harbor Airport Runway Relocation effort was one of four company projects that received engineering excellence awards during the American Council of Engineering Companies of Minnesota’s (ACEC-MN) 54th Annual Engineering Excellence Awards Program Feb. 26.

The project received a Grand Award for engineering achievements that exhibited the highest degree of merit and ingenuity.

Entries were judged by an objective panel based on originality and innovation, future value to the engineering profession, social, economic and sustainable design considerations, complexity, and meeting the client’s needs.

“We’re thrilled with the results of a decade plus of engaging community conversations and stakeholder relations. Combine this with innovative engineering and construction solutions and it’s a win for aviation, the community and the natural environment, said SEH Project Manager Kaci Nowicki.

During the course of the 13-year project, SEH facilitated a complex environmental review, permitting, mitigation, design and construction process for maintaining the airport within and adjacent to protected and regulated natural resources.

The project protected 27 acres of vulnerable forest, nurtured local wildlife and ensured the safety of all airport users. The project involved rotating the runway by 5 degrees into Lake Superior, creating 7 acres of new land in the process.

The SEH team minimized impacts to airport users through a unique phasing plan, which kept the runway open through nearly all of construction. The project team avoided construction impacts to a 5-mile residential street, a historic lift bridge and Duluth’s tourist district by barging 210,000 tons (12,500 truckloads) of material to the site. Barging this material also saved 50,000 gallons of fuel.