NSBA Recognizes 19 Outstanding American Bridges

Thu February 20, 2020 - National Edition
American Institute of Steel Construction

The American Institute of Steel Construction and the National Steel Bridge Alliance have announced the winners of the 2020 Prize Bridge Awards.

All of the 2020 Prize Bridge Award winners have made an enormous impact on the lives of the people they serve — some in particularly dramatic ways. The Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge reconnected a California community after a landslide damaged a concrete bridge beyond repair (so much so that groceries and fuel had to be brought in by helicopter). The new bridge opened for traffic across a narrow, mountainous space only eight months after the existing bridge was closed.

"These projects are tributes to the creativity of the designers and the skills of the constructors who collaborated to make them reality," said AISC President Charles J. Carter. "Steel shines and soars on their talents and we celebrate the accomplishments these projects represent."

Since Pittsburgh's Sixth Street Bridge won the first competition in 1928, more than 600 bridges of all sizes from all across the United States have received a Prize Bridge Award. Some of those bridges, such as the Wabash Railroad bridge in Wayne County, Mich., which won a prize in 1941 and still carries railroad traffic more than 70 years later, have actually outlasted the companies that built them.

AISC and NSBA would like to thank the 2020 Prize Bridge Award judges for their time and enthusiasm:

Richard Marchione, deputy chief engineer (ret), New York Department of Transportation
Shane W.R. Kuhlman, state bridge engineer, New Mexico Department of Transportation Bridge Bureau
Frank Russo, vice president and technical director, bridge engineering, Michael Baker International
Rob Richardson, west region bridge leader, associate vice president, HDR
Dennis Golabek, GEC-FDOT Structures Design office, WSP

These dedicated judges considered every entry's merits in terms of innovation, economics, aesthetics, design, and engineering solutions.

Judges weighed each project's use of structural steel from both an architectural and structural engineering perspective, with an emphasis on creative solutions to the project's program requirements; applications of innovative design approaches in areas such as connections, gravity systems, lateral load resisting systems, fire and/or blast protection; aesthetic and visual impact of the project; innovative use of architecturally exposed structural steel (AESS); technical or architectural advances in the use of the steel; and/or the use of innovative design and construction methods.

The Prize Bridge Award program also recognizes the importance of teamwork, coordination, and collaboration in fostering successful projects. Awards for each winning project will be presented to the project team members involved in the design and construction of each winning bridge during an NSBA event in Branson, Mo., during the AASHTO CBS meeting, June 1 to 4.

For more information about the Prize Bridge Awards and the winning projects, visit aisc.org/prizebridge.

Special purpose merit winner: 41st Street Pedestrian Bridge, Chicago (Chicago DOT photo)

Short span merit winner: Anchor Bay Drive, St. Clair County, Mich. (TEG Engineering photo)

Rehab (same structure, same primary members) national winner: Andy Warhol (Seventh Street) Bridge, Pittsburgh. (David Briskey photo)

Movable span merit winner: Bayou Sara Swing Bridge, Mobile County, Ala. (HDR photo)

Reconstructed (new structure on same alignment) national winner: BNSF Wind River Bridge, Skamania County, Wash. (Jeff Jobe photo)

Major span merit winner: Broadway Bridge over the Arkansas River, Little Rock/North Little Rock, Ark. (Trey Cambern photo)

Major span national winner: Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, Westchester-Rockland Counties, N.Y. (New York State Thruway Authority photo)

Special purpose merit winner: East Shore Trail Bridge, Lake Tahoe, Nev. (Mike Okimoto photo)

Special purpose national winner: Frances Appleton Pedestrian Bridge, Boston (Juan Navarro photo)

Medium span national winner: Grand Avenue Bridge, Glenwood Springs, Colo. (Davis Deaton photo)

Long span national winner: Manning Crevice Bridge, Riggins, Idaho. (Ken Saindon photo)

Reconstructed (new structure on same alignment) merit winner: I-240 MemFix4, Memphis (Kiewit Infrastructure South Co. photo)

Long span merit winner: Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge, Big Sur, Calif. (Caltrans photo)

The judges also elected to recognize Pittsburgh’s Liberty Bridge with a special award for resilience. This bridge, which was originally built in 1928, demonstrated the superior resilience of structural steel with a remarkable recovery — reopening to traffic just 24 days after an accidental construction fire warped and buckled a main truss compression chord. (Christine Shiring photo)

Major span merit winner: Portageville Bridge Replacement, Portageville, N.Y. (John Kutcho photo)

Movable span national winner: Sarah Mildred Long Bridge, between Kittery, Maine and Portsmouth, N.H. (Maine DOT photo)

Short span national winner: Vine Street Expressway (I-676) Bridge Reconstruction Project - 18th to 22nd Streets, Philadelphia (John Baer Building Images Photography)