The Structural Engineers Association of Illinois held its annual dinner for judging finalists for the association’s best project awards on May 8 at Petterino’s in the Chicago Loop.
The 18 finalists selected by SEAOI’s board of directors each made five-minute presentations to the judging panel and the assembled members at the dinner. The judges chose winners in the categories of best bridge/transportation project, best industrial/utility project, best renovation/retrofit/preservation project, best project over $150 million, best project – $50 million to $150 million, best project – $10 million up to $50 million, best project – up to $10 million, the Lavicka Award for a small firm/small project and the best neighboring state project, which was awarded to a design located in a state neighboring Illinois.
The 2018 judges were Mike Sturino, president and CEO of the Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association; Jeff Yoders, editor of ENR Midwest; Grant Ulrich, deputy commissioner in the City of Chicago Dept. of Buildings; Catherine Baker, current AIA Chicago president; Frank Lombardo, assistant professor of engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and David Bibbs, senior vice president of Cannon Design.
Some of the projects presented included the moveable seating towers at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, the coreless Salesforce.com tower in San Francisco, the redesigned interchange between 1-55 and Lake Shore Drive and an innovative structural solution on a small restaurant project in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood.
The winners will be announced June 9 at SEAOI’s annual awards banquet at the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago.
