Engineering Inc. - May/June 2004 - 32

A C E C 2 0 0 4 E N G I N E E R I N G E X C E L L E N C E AWA R D W I N N E
R S HONOR AWARD WINNERS Blair, Church & Flynn Consulting Engineers Clovis,
Calif. OWP/P Structures Potwisha Suspension Footbridge Chicago, Ill.
Ratner Athletics Center The existing footbridge at the heav- ily traveled
crossing of the Kaweah The new Gerald Ratner Athletics Center is the first
athletic River in the Sequoia National Park facility built at the
University of Chicago in more than 50 had been severely damaged by years.
The building's distinctive exterior is accented by a river debris in 2002.
The project first-of-its-kind asymmetrically supported cable-stayed system
team was challenged to design a that gracefully suspends S-shaped roofs
over the large-vol- new, segmented structure that ume gymnasium and
natatorium. The unique design features offered the appearance of redwood
significantly open activity areas, allowing free movement timber, but
possessed the durability and easy access to natural light. The new
150,000-square- and strength of steel. Another chal- foot facility has
subsequently become more than a center for lenge was that all materials
used in health, fitness and sporting activity, it also has become an the
construction had to be portable enduring and majestic new landmark for one
of the nation's enough to be hand-carried to the great institutions. remote
Kaewah River crossing site. In just four months, a new, stylish sus-
pension footbridge was ready for use. The new bridge, 135 feet in length,
and clearing the river by 20 feet at center span, was completed in time to
accommodate the park's busy summer tourist season. Arup New York, N.Y.
Simmons Hall at M.I.T. CDM The goal was to create a Massachusetts
Institute of Technology MIT resi- Kansas City, Mo. dence hall that was
open to light and air, or as a sponge with multiple Gilbert and Mosley
Project openings. Arup turned the vision into reality by designing the
first mixed- mode system in a major U.S. building a system that
successfully combines The City of Wichita found itself with 3,800 acres of
land the mechanical cooling of a low-volume ducted air conditioning system
with atop contaminated groundwater that threatened health and the natural
ventilation effects of open windows. Simmons Hall, a 10-story, brought
real estate development to a halt. The project team 350-bed MIT student
residence in Cambridge, features 3,000 unique, oper- designed a
groundwater remediation system that reduced able windows that allow
continuous fresh air flow along with breathtaking the volume of water
requiring treatment by 40 percent, sav- views of the Charles River. The
195,000-square-foot residence hall is the first ing the city an estimated
$8 million. The treated water is major building in the country to use the
mixed-mode system for ventilation reused in fountains, aquariums,
reflecting pools, a creek, and, as a result, will require 40 percent less
energy than similar buildings in and other water features. The project
team's innovative the Northeast. approach also allowed Wichita to avoid
Superfund listing of the site and prompted renewed economic development
activity in the area. l June 2004 3 2 E N G I N E E R I N G INC. M a y
Engineering Inc. - May/June 2004

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