Once again it’s time for ENR Texas & Louisiana to showcase the outstanding projects recognized as part of its annual Best Projects competition. For more than 20 years, this contest has recognized outstanding construction and design achievements across the region that includes Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi and Oklahoma, and we are proud to do the same this year. Our independent panels of judges again had difficult choices to make, with ENR Texas & Louisiana receiving a total of 115 entries overall.

This year’s panelists collectively reviewed entries in a total of 18 different project categories, ranging from airport/transit to water/environment while evaluating factors such as safety, innovation, design execution, craft quality and community or industry benefit. To ease the burden somewhat, each individual panel of judges collectively reviewed only a handful of project categories.

After each individual judge read and submitted their scores for each entry, individual panels then met via a Zoom call to discuss and determine individual overall winners for each category. In each category, the judging panels would collectively decide upon an overall Best Project award for the market category along with an award of merit if warranted.

The Baytown Supermodule Furnace project in Baytown, Texas, marked a notable achievement in modular construction.
Photo by Dave Shafer

It’s never an easy task for our panel of judges to review all of the submissions we receive from project teams and select the Best Projects winners, and this year was particularly difficult given the quality of work completed in the past year in the Texas and Louisiana region.

ENR Texas & Louisiana thanks these judges, listed here alphabetically, for lending us their time and industry expertise in helping us recognize these projects.

• Matthew Cartwright — Freese and Nichols Inc.
• Isaac Garcia — Robins & Morton
• Timothy Gregorski — Walter P Moore
• Julie Huval— Marketing Operations Advisor
• Matt McCaffrey — Skanska USA Building Inc.
• Natalie Pagano — Manhattan Construction Group
• Sam Roberts — Brushy Creek Regional Utility Authority
• Valetta Saldanha — AECOM

Additionally, each year ENR Texas & Louisiana recognizes projects for their overall attention to safety as well as the results the team was able to achieve during the course of construction. Assisting us with the review of this year’s safety award candidates was Kim Mason, senior director-safety services at the Associated General Contractors of Houston, and Brandon Smith, director of safety and workforce development with the Greater Baton Rouge Industry Alliance.

Submitted by contractor Stacy Witbeck, the recipient of the Excellence in Safety award was the McKalla Station Design-Build project in North Austin, Texas. The project also won an award of merit in the airport/transit category.

A project team transformed a former rocket manufacturing warehouse into a fun and aesthetically pleasing library in Frisco, Texas.
Photo by Ryan Conway

Project of the Year Finalists

In addition to selecting category winners, the entire group of Best Projects judges then for voted to determine the finalists for Project of the Year.

The Frisco Public Library project in Frisco, Texas, and the Port of Beaumont Main Street Terminal 1, in Beaumont, Texas, were both strong contenders for the honor, but taking the top prize was the Baytown Supermodule Furnace Project in Baytown, Texas.

We invite you to read about not only these three projects, but all of this year’s collection of Best Projects, all deserving of recognition.