EBA Engineering, Inc. (EBA) honored the firm’s outstanding projects and employees for 2023 at our holiday party held on December 9, 2023, at Turf Valley Resort in Ellicott City, Maryland. Learn more about the 2023 EBA Excellence Awards recipients below.

Project of the Year Award

EBA was proud to work on many innovative, successful projects in 2023, but recently we recognized the best-of-the-best with our 2023 Project of the Year Award. That honor went to the Kenilworth water main pipe rehabilitation project in Bowie, Maryland.

The City of Bowie needed to resolve significant water main pipe corrosion issues along 14 streets in the city’s Kenilworth neighborhood. After researching and carefully evaluating all available rehabilitation options, EBA recommended installing cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) liner for its cost effectiveness, ease of installation, and minimal impacts to the surroundings.

This innovative trenchless pipe technology solution saved more than 50 trees and more than $800,000 in construction costs while reducing permitting requirements, public disturbance, and survey and geotechnical investigation needs.

Because the use of CIPP lining is generally limited to gravity sewer lines, this project offered a first-of-its-kind solution in the local area for water main rehabilitation.

The City of Bowie is now able to provide safe, clear, odorless, and colorless drinking water through fully restored pipes that will serve residents for decades.

The project was also recently recognized with a Grand Award for design in the American Council of Engineering Companies of Metropolitan Washington (ACEC/MW) 2023 Engineering Excellence Awards competition.

Employee Excellence Award

EBA’s Employee Excellence Award honors an employee whose contributions and efforts embody EBA’s motto, “where commitment counts.”

This year, the award went to Rita Patel, EBA’s geotechnical laboratory supervisor. Rita joined EBA in 2008 as a laboratory technician after moving to the United States from India. Now she is responsible for the day-to-day operations of EBA’s geotechnical laboratory, including soil, aggregate, concrete, and hot mix asphalt testing.

EBA’s clients appreciate Rita’s commitment to meeting their project needs and their schedules for receiving laboratory test results. Her deep knowledge of testing standards results in cost savings, efficiency, and precise data for our clients and projects. Our laboratory is an extremely organized, well-maintained, and successful operation thanks to Rita’s hard work and dedication to EBA.

Selection Criteria

EBA’s Project of the Year Award nominees are judged based on their success at exceeding client needs; uniqueness; innovation; scope and significance; social, economic, and sustainable impacts; level of difficulty; and project constraints.

EBA’s Employee Excellence Award is selected based on the employee’s positive contributions to company processes, support of customer satisfaction, innovation, impact on morale, and overall effort.

Congratulations to Rita and the Kenilworth project team—Joseph Danquah, Aster Mehari, Ola Kasumu-Iginla, Jeffrey Lee, and Narishma Kurella—for their achievements! Thank you for your relentless commitment to excellence!