KS Associates Inc., 260 Burns Road in Elyria, has earned a National Recognition Award for exemplary engineering achievement in the American Council of Engineering Companies’ 56th annual Engineering Excellence Awards for designing the Cedar Point Causeway Wetlands Breakwater for the City of Sandusky, according to a news release.
The 64-square miles of Sandusky Bay has supported some of the most significant coastal wetland systems in the Great Lakes.
Over time, however, the bay has been degraded by the effects of human development, shoreline armoring and algal blooms, resulting in significant losses of wetland habitat, the release said.
In response, KS Associates designed the 3,300-foot-long armor stone breakwater to contain up to 260,000 cubic yards of material dredged by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers from the Sandusky Bay Federal Navigation Channel, the release said.
The breakwater has the capacity to contain up to two years’ worth of dredge material, which is being reused to establish and restore up to 31 acres of coastal wetland habitat.
The Cedar Point Causeway Wetlands Breakwater is one component of the Sandusky Bay Initiative, a multi-year initiative of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources that aims to turn the bay into a cleaner, healthier body of water for both wildlife and people.
Lessons learned from this project are already being applied to initiatives aimed at restoring Sandusky Bay, other Lake Erie harbors, and coastlines throughout the Great Lakes, according to the release.
The project is among 179 Engineering Excellence Award entries this year representing engineering excellence from throughout the nation and the world.
Judging for the awards program — known industry-wide as the “Academy Awards of the engineering industry”– took place in March and was conducted by a national 27-member panel of built environment leaders, along with experts from government, the media and academia, the release said.
Award criteria focused on uniqueness and originality, technical innovation, social and economic value, and generating excitement for the engineering profession.
Recognition of all 2023 award winners, including top winners –16 Honor Awards, eight Grand Awards and the prestigious “Grand Conceptor Award” for the year’s most outstanding overall engineering achievement — will take place at the annual Engineering Excellence Award Gala Dinner and Awards Program, a black-tie event June 13 in Washington, D.C.
