MWH wins national engineering award

• MWH recognized for innovative contributions that helped improve navigation between Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers

CHICAGO, May 22, 2007 -- MWH, a leading provider of environmental engineering, construction and strategic consulting services, today announced that it received the top honor in the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) 40th Annual Engineering Excellence Awards competition.

Twenty-four projects were recognized for excellence in engineering before an audience of over 800 engineers, clients and government officials at an awards gala dinner -- known industry-wide as the "Academy Awards" of engineering -- held on May 8, 2007 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in downtown Washington, D.C. The competition recognizes outstanding projects designed by private practice engineering firms who conduct business in the United States.

The highest award -- the Grand Conceptor -- was presented to MWH for its contribution to the design of the Montgomery Point Lock and Dam project located in Arkansas and owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE) Little Rock District. The Grand Conceptor Award recognizes an engineering achievement that demonstrates a high degree of merit and ingenuity, contributes to the advancement of the private practice of engineering and enhances the economic and social welfare of the general public. This year's competition saw 180 entries, from which 24 finalists are chosen, which are comprised of 16 Honor Awards, seven Grand Awards, and one Grand Conceptor.

"MWH introduced innovative designs for several critical features of the project, including the cofferdam, overflow spillway and hinged crest gates," said Chander Sehgal, vice president and project manager for MWH. "By collaborating closely with the USACE, these innovations helped to significantly improve navigation from the Mississippi River to the main stem of the Arkansas River."

The Montgomery Point Lock and Dam Project is a navigation project designed to improve navigation conditions in the White River Entrance Channel, located in Arkansas, while incorporating environmental features for protecting aquatic resources and reducing dredging activities. This channel constitutes the first segment (10 miles) of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System. The project features a dam consisting of a unique 300-foot-wide gated navigable pass, a 200-foot-wide ungated overflow spillway, and a 110-foot-wide by 600-foot-long navigation lock. The navigable pass includes 10 hydraulically-operated hinged crest gates placed side by side. All gates are normally submerged in the lowered position, allowing vessels to pass over them. As the downstream Mississippi River stages fall, the gates are raised to maintain minimum navigable depths upstream and vessels pass through the lock. The project includes a unique dewatering structure for maintaining six navigable pass gates simultaneously and a SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system for remote operation and monitoring of the facilities.

MWH's Dam and Hydropower Services
MWH's dam and hydropower services were developed and made popular by Harza Engineering Company, a firm with deep roots in Chicago dating back to 1920. After merging with Harza Engineering in 2001, MWH continues to base the bulk of its dam and hydropower operations in Chicago, where more than 200 professionals are employed. The Chicago-based dam and hydropower group specializes in the design, development and operation of water resources projects -- dams, hydro projects and hydropower facilities -- around the world.

Previous ACEC awards won by MWH include ACEC-National Grand award for South Holston Project in Tennessee (1994) and ACEC-Illinois Eminent Conceptor awards for the Montgomery Point Lock and Dam in Ohio (2007), the Guri Project in Venezuela (1986), TARP (Tunnel and Reservoir Plan) Project in Chicago (1985) and the Cornell Hydro Project in Wisconsin (1977).

Headquartered in Broomfield, Colo., MWH is a private, employee-owned firm with more than 6,000 team members worldwide. The company provides water, wastewater, energy, natural resource, program management, consulting and construction services to industrial, municipal and government clients in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, India, Asia and the Pacific Rim.

---
Also see:
-- "MWH wins Illinois engineering award for dam project"

###