EBA Engineering, Inc. (EBA) was recognized with two awards in the American Council of Engineering Companies of Metropolitan Washington (ACEC/MW) 2021-2022 Engineering Excellence Awards competition. An emergency repair project to restore a water main breach under the I-83 bridge in Baltimore received an Honor Award. The District’s Metropolitan Branch Trail lighting system upgrade was also recognized with a Merit Award

EBA’s Rizwan Siddiqi, Pranoy Choudhury, Joseph Danquah, Megan Disney, Jeffrey Lee, and Khalid Qadwai accepted the awards at a gala on December 8, 2021, in Arlington, Virginia.

ACEC’s annual Engineering Excellence Awards competition recognizes engineering firms for projects that demonstrate an exceptional degree of innovation, complexity, achievement, and value.

“Both of these complex projects reflected our teams’ ingenuity and work ethic to exceed our clients’ expectations,” said EBA President and CEO Rizwan Siddiqi, PE. “We’re proud of both project teams for providing outstanding services, and we’re grateful for this honor.”

City of Baltimore, Emergency Repair of PCCP Water Main Under I-83 Bridge

When a 48-inch PCCP water main was found leaking under the I-83 bridge in Baltimore, the City needed a repair solution fast. To avoid a catastrophe, the City immediately mobilized EBA and the contractor.

EBA evaluated several options for cost, availability of materials, access, and construction constraints. Based on the evaluation, EBA recommended a carbon fiber reinforced polymer lining system to repair the water main. EBA evaluated multiple construction proposals, selected the best bid, and provided services during construction.

Other work included a 36-inch valve replacement; design of access ports for pipe inspection and repair; permitting; and extensive coordination with City agencies, contractors, and the design team. The pipe was returned to service the day after installation.

District Department of Transportation Metropolitan Branch Trail

The Metropolitan Branch Trail (MBT) is a unique transportation asset, serving as one of the District’s only non-motorized travel corridors for a large portion of northeast Washington, DC. To improve trail user safety and usability, the District undertook a 1.4-mile lighting system upgrade along the MBT between Florida Avenue and Franklin Street.

The new lighting system uses low energy, high efficiency, solar powered LED luminaires, which are a vast improvement to the previous lighting system. The new solar energy solution also saves the client money in electricity costs.

The project also improved the pavement, pavement markings, and overall safety on the trail, making it more usable.