At its annual conference in June, the Texas Chapter of the American Public Works Association (TX-APWA) awarded BGE and its clients four awards: the Sustainability Practice Award, the Exceptional Performance Award in Journalism, the Project of the Year for Environment Less Than $2 Million, and the Project of the Year for Transportation Between $25 Million and $75 Million. TX-APWA’s annual awards program recognizes excellence in the field of public works throughout the state of Texas.
“It’s always great to be recognized for a job well done, but these awards are special because they recognize the full team: owner/agency, contractor and consultant,” said BGE’s Director of Public Works, Matt Froehlich. “We have a lot of great clients and contractors we work with, and these projects are prime examples of the success those relationships can lead to.”
Sustainability Practices Award
This award recognizes teams or organizations who have contributed significantly to promote sustainability in public works. TX-APWA recognized North Fort Bend Water Authority (NFBWA) with this award for its Water Conservation Program, which BGE administers as NFBWA’s program manager. The team successfully developed a model that can teach water managers a method to quantify conservation by removing influencers through statistical analysis. The fully developed model has indicated the NFBWA conservation program’s efforts have assisted in decreasing water usage in the community by 296 gallons per day per connection during peak water usages.
Exceptional Performance Award in Journalism
This award recognizes teams or individuals who have impacted the profession by raising public awareness. TX-APWA again honored North Fort Bend Water Authority with this award for its Outreach and Education Program which BGE manages. The NFBWA successfully underwent a massive rebranding over the past two years and launched a new website (www.nfbwa.com), which has led to a drastic awareness increase in translating the difficult topic of subsidence to the community. Through the NFBWA’s enhanced branding and use of more social mediums, many more people can understand the importance of water, where it comes from, and why there is a need to preserve it for the future.
Project of The Year Award for Environment Less Than $2 Million
This award went to the Old Galveston Road Waterline Replacement which included the replacement and upsizing of 3,580 feet of waterline for the City of Webster. For the project, BGE evaluated several installation methods for Webster and ultimately utilized pipe-bursting installation for a large portion of the project to minimize surface disturbance and service interruptions in a residential area. With the quick installation and minimized need for site restoration, the project was completed over 2 months early.
Project of the Year for Transportation
Between $25 Million and $75 Million
This award went to the Texas Heritage Parkway project, which is the longest road in the Greater Houston area using only roundabouts and no traffic signals. This project was designed, primarily by BGE, to include concrete trails and tunnels underneath the roundabout intersections for the enjoyment and safety of pedestrians and cyclists along the 6.3-mile thoroughfare. BGE also provided program management, coordinating a multitude of stakeholders including landowners, developers, pipeline companies, other consultants, two counties and two cities to bring this project to a successful completion in July 2022.
Congratulations to the BGE Public Works and Transportation departments for their great work on these projects!