2021 AREMA Dr. William W. Hay Award

A historic milestone was achieved by CN Engineering teams on November 23, 2020, with the cutover to the reconstructed Bonnet Carré-McComb Spillway Bridge near New Orleans, LA. The bridge provides a critical U.S. transportation corridor for both freight and passenger service across the Bonnet Carré Spillway, which alleviates excess water from the Mississippi River, protecting New Orleans and other communities from flooding. The accomplishment greatly adds to the safety, reliability and fluidity of CN's network.

The size and scale of the $90-million multi-year project was significant. Large numbers of CN Engineering employees and contractor construction crews operated 24/7 to take an existing, historic timber bridge built in 1934-35 and replace it with an 11,712-foot (nearly 2.2 mile-long) precast concrete bridge. The ONE TEAM included employees from Bridges and Structures, Track, Signals and Communication, Design and Construction, Environment, Legal, Public and Government Affairs, Real Estate and Transportation.