NEW YORK (May 3, 2018) — AECOM, a premier, fully integrated global infrastructure firm, announced today that it has received a 2018 Grand Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) for its work on the Second Avenue Subway-Phase 1 project in New York City. This award is shared with AECOM’s joint venture partner, Arup, and the project’s owners, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Capital Construction (MTACC) and New York City Transit (NYCT).
The AECOM -Arup JV provided full engineering and architectural design services from tunnel to track for Second Avenue Subway, including all planning, architecture and engineering, and construction phase support for 10 separate construction contracts. WSP served as consultant construction managers.
The first major expansion of New York City’s subway system in over 50 years, this first phase of Second Avenue Subway runs 1.8 miles and consists of three new stations at 72nd, 86th and 96th streets, plus one upgraded station at 63rd Street. Tying a new subway line into an existing, 100-year-old system required a comprehensive approach that extended beyond conventional engineering. The three new stations rank among North America’s largest underground excavations, at nearly 64-feet wide, 100-feet deep and 1,600-feet long. A 485-ton tunnel boring machine excavated 12,800-feet of twin-track tunnels measuring just over 22-feet in diameter.
Priority was placed on designing safe and welcoming stations. Each station now has street entrances with escalators and Americans with Disabilities Act-accessible elevators. Monumental works of art, commissioned specifically for this project, anchor each station and collectively make Second Avenue Subway the largest permanent public art display in the state.
Opened to passengers Jan. 1, 2017, Second Avenue Subway reached an average weekday ridership of 190,000 passengers in its first year of operation. With a one-seat ride to destinations throughout the city, accessibility is increased, while delays and overcrowding are reduced on the nearby Lexington Avenue line.
“For nearly six decades, New Yorkers have imagined an Upper East Side with subway access. I am proud that AECOM and its partners worked with our client, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, to deliver an iconic project that is already having a major civic, social and economic impact on New York City,” said AECOM’s Achaibar (Dan) Sawh, chief operating officer, New York Metro, Design and Consulting Services.
The Second Avenue Subway-Phase 1 project has received numerous other awards, including the ACEC New York chapter’s top honor, the 2018 Empire Award; the American Society of Civil Engineers 2018 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award; and Engineering News-Record’s 2017 Best of the Best Airport/Transit Project.
ACEC recognized this year’s pre-eminent engineering projects during their Engineering Excellence Awards Gala held in Washington, D.C. April 17. Two more AECOM projects were honored with awards at this event. The Long-Term Biological Treatment Facility for Petroleum Contaminated Soil received a Recognition Award. This project, delivered for Garfield County, Colorado, offers an environmentally friendly disposal option that uses biopile treatment to reduce contaminant levels in the soil so it can be used as cover at the landfill. Also receiving a Recognition Award was the Gallatin Environmental Integrity Program for the Tennessee Valley Authority in Gallatin, Tennessee. This project combined dry scrubber air quality technology with dry ash storage in a lined landfill, connected by a haul road, all designed to allow the Gallatin plant to provide economical and environmentally sustainable energy for the next 20 years.
About AECOM
AECOM is built to deliver a better world. We design, build, finance and operate infrastructure assets for governments, businesses and organizations in more than 150 countries. As a fully integrated firm, we connect knowledge and experience across our global network of experts to help clients solve their most complex challenges. From high-performance buildings and infrastructure, to resilient communities and environments, to stable and secure nations, our work is transformative, differentiated and vital. A Fortune 500 firm, AECOM had revenue of approximately $18.2 billion during fiscal year 2017. See how we deliver what others can only imagine at aecom.com and @AECOM.
About Arup
Arup provides planning, engineering, design, and consulting services for the most prominent projects and sites in the built environment. Since its founding in 1946, the firm has consistently delivered technical excellence, innovation, and value to its clients, while maintaining its core mission of shaping a better world. Arup opened its first US office more than 30 years ago and now employs 1,400 people in the Americas. The firm’s employee-ownership structure promotes ongoing investment in joint research to yield better outcomes that benefit its clients and partners. Visit Arup’s website, www.arup.com, and the online magazine of Arup in the Americas, doggerel.arup.com, for more information.
Media Contact:
Jason Marshall
Senior Director, Public Relations
1.646.432.8474
jason.marshall@aecom.com