City of Fort Worth, TX

05/19/2022 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/19/2022 11:53

Fort Worth storm drain rehab program earns national award

Fort Worth storm drain rehab program earns national award

Published on May 19, 2022

The City of Fort Worth and Halff Associates Inc. have earned a National Recognition Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies for developing and implementing the city's Storm Drain Rehabilitation Program.

The awards program salutes exemplary engineering achievement. An awards ceremony will take place at the 2022 Engineering Excellence Awards Gala in Washington, D.C., on May 24.

The Storm Drain Rehabilitation Program builds on the city's previous efforts and lessons learned, and it provides a strategic, long-term framework to guide condition assessment and rehabilitation. The program leans heavily on data-driven decision-making, which requires structured coordination of the data and key priorities of the internal stakeholders.

"This has been a very successful program, as inspection metrics were exceeded in Year 1 and Year 2, and more than 100 high-risk pipes were identified with structural concerns and packaged as capital projects for near-term repair," Fort Worth stormwater infrastructure manager Cannon Henry said.

"The Fort Worth Storm Drain Rehabilitation Program represents an exciting and ongoing project in which Halff works with the Fort Worth Transportation & Public Works Department to gather and evaluate high-quality data about structural and operational trends throughout the system," project manager Matt Stahl said. "The program's main goal is to identify and correct potential asset failure before it happens to enhance customer safety and service."

The project is part of 195 entries this year representing engineering excellence from around the world. Judging for the awards program - known industrywide as the Academy Awards of the engineering industry - took place in February and was conducted by a national 27-member panel of built environment leaders, along with experts from government, the media and academia. Award criteria focused on uniqueness and originality, technical innovation, social and economic value, and generating excitement for the engineering profession.

Photo:A proactive program has been established to provide a cost-effective and data-driven way to rehabilitate and renew stormwater drains by targeting the most critical assets in the worst condition first. Before: an open sinkhole occurred due to buckling and a collapsed 24-inch storm drain at West Seventh and Carroll streets. After: post-emergency repair of the storm drain.

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