River restoration wins new resilience prize at ICE North West annual awards

A river restoration plan has won the first-ever Future Resilience Award at the ICE North West annual awards dinner.

The Kirkstone and Cauldale Beck River Restoration involved re-engineering three watercourses to a wandering channel system while maintaining flood resilience.

The judges said this project exemplified environmental conservation, as demonstrated by the overall ecological improvement to the health of the waterways and floodplain.

The project’s commitment to protecting the wellbeing of the river and the communities around it aligns with ICE President Prof Anusha Shah’s theme of nature- and people-positive.

Prof Shah presented a total of nine awards alongside ICE North West chair, Nushma Juwaheer, at the annual dinner, which was held at the Midland Hotel in Manchester.

Project redesigning electrical protection works wins big

A project that reduced the impact of electrical protection works on three centuries-old bridges in Ashton-Under-Lyne has won the Mercer Innovation Award and the Small Project Award.

The holistic risk methodology developed by the TransPennine Route Upgrade – Ashton Corridor Electrical Protection project helped to safely electrify the route while reducing carbon, cost and visual impact.

The judges praised the project’s ability to gain rail board approval, and to be replicated across the wider electrification project.

The structures in the Ashton Corridor will be used as a template to reduce the extent of works between Stalybridge and York.

The development of programme-level guidance will be applied to over 40 structures included in the route’s upgrade.

The Mercer Innovation Award is awarded to a project that drives innovative practice, while the Small Project Award is for projects under £5 million.

Female engineers triumph in people categories

Using digital tools to improve project delivery, and a passion to encourage others into the industry saw civil engineer degree apprentice, Ellie Carter, win this year’s Rising Star Award.

Yannis Wong received Highly Commended in the same category.

Jacobs’ Alyxandra Murdock won the STEM Volunteer Award, having influenced young children in all types of STEM learning over the past decade.

Murdock was praised by the judges for developing a STEM workshop that was delivered at COP 28 in Dubai.

Murdock’s creation of a STEM resource that links civil engineering to the story of the Three Little Pigs, was also celebrated.

Andrew Maddock received Highly Commended in the STEM Volunteer category.

Volunteer-led LGBTQ+ alliance of over 60 organisations named winner

Promoting inclusion in the workplace through the use of industry-leading educational materials saw Building Equality win the Fairness, Inclusion and Respect Award.

Building Equality develops publicly available resources to encourage open discussions in the workplace.

Some of these resources have been downloaded more than 3,000 times over 120 organisations.

‘First-class’ replacement of high-risk structure takes home prize

Delivering an effective replacement for one of the UK’s most vulnerable bridges saw A533 Expressway Bridge Replacement win this year’s Constructability Award.

The judges described the project as an exemplar of first-class temporary works on difficult sites, and commended the project’s delivery of a safe, speedy and cost-effective bridge replacement.

M60 Barton High Level Bridge Bearing Adjustment received Highly Commended in the same category.

Altrincham Public Realm wins Medium Project Award

A project that delivered significant public realm improvements to Altrincham won the Medium Project Award.

The judges said Altrincham Public Realm is an example of what can be achieved to benefit society through placemaking.

The project has achieved numerous benefits since its completion, including a notable increase in community health and wellbeing, footfall, use of the town centre and new business growth.

Purpose-built hospitals top large project category

The Large Project Award went to the Greater Manchester Major Trauma Centre – a purpose-built facility for patients requiring urgent care.

The new centre has the UK’s first direct-level access rooftop helipad, with lift access to resuscitation, MRI/CT scanning and theatres in under 90 seconds.

Identifying further excellence in this category, the judges wanted to create a Special Recognition Award for a project they deemed a ‘phoenix rising from the ashes’.

The Paterson Cancer Research Centre received the Special Recognition Award for its profound impact on society.

The centre provides around 25,000m2 of sustainable, flexible and innovative cancer research spaces.

The centre will house scientists, researchers, clinicians and operational staff who will deliver clinical trials to improve cancer treatments.

This year’s ICE North West Civil Engineering Awards were sponsored by Mott MacDonald, Civic Engineers, Tensar, Temporary Works Forum, Richter, Waterman Aspen and A E Yates.