As California’s building boom continues, it is no surprise that the region’s Best Projects competition keeps growing as well. California and Hawaii’s construction industry continues to adopt new technologies and innovations in nearly every aspect of the building process.

Each year, ENR California assembles an independent group of judges to review, score and determine final winners. Work was evaluated on the ability of the project team to overcome challenges; contribution to the industry and community; safety; and construction and design quality. They then met to discuss the projects and to come to a consensus on awards.

Three panels of judges reviewed 110 projects, the region’s highest-ever number of entries, and selected 49 projects as winners in 20 categories. In addition to the category winners, judges chose by consensus one project from Northern California and one from Southern California and Hawaii to stand as the Projects of the Year—entries that clearly outdistanced other winners. This year, those honors went to the Uber Advanced Technologies Group Research and Development Center in San Francisco and the Seaside Way Pedestrian Bridge in Long Beach, Calif.

This year’s judges included: Lee Abramson, senior program manager at Kleinfelder; Rick Castillo, principal at Carrier Johnson + CULTURE; James Fitzgerald, director of project development at MarketOne Builders; Steve Friar, regional director of planning, Western U.S. at Hensel Phelps; Matt Grubb, vice president of construction at R.D. Olson Construction; David Miles,  executive vice president with Kiewit Corp.; Suzanne Napier, vice president, science and technology studio leader at SmithGroup; Jay Turnbull, principal at Page & Turnbull; and Pamela Touschner, global leader of architecture at DLR Group.

Two safety specialists reviewed several dozen entries for the Excellence in Safety award. Those judges were Chad Hoople, Benicia district safety manager at Flatiron, and Pat Callahan, senior vice president of operations at Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Co.

Winning project teams will be honored at two awards banquets—one in San Francisco on Oct. 9 and another in Los Angeles on Oct. 11. Visit enrbestprojectsawards.com for more information.