Awards for Five innovative construction projects

Chicago, IL – Five major construction projects are vying for the inaugural Construction Project of the Year honors being offered by the International Construction Economic Forum (ICEF).  The winner will be announced November 20-22 at ICEF ceremonies in Amsterdam, Netherlands.  The five shortlisted entries include the following:

Cognizant Technology Park, Chennai, India – The park is a series of buildings spread across 13.6 acres with an interconnected design featuring covered connected corridors with a comprehensive landscaping theme.

Common amenities include a multi-level car park/cafeteria that serves the entire facility. Design concepts include minimized impervious surface areas to reduce the urban heat island effect. The project was submitted by Larsen & Toubro.

J.W. Marriott Marquis Hotel, Dubai – Brookfield Multiplex was appointed as the main contractor by Emirates Airlines for the Marriott Marquis project in 2007. The hotel features a twin tower complex with an intricate façade design using curved elements and a unique footprint that required innovative approaches and collaboration between designer and contractor. The architect on the project was the Archgroup.

The project was built on an L-shaped plot and at 355 meters breaks the Guinness world record for the tallest dedicated hotel.

Kattupalli Shipyard and Port, Chennai India – Submitted by Larsen & Toubro, the shipyard and port are a state-of-the-art combined ship building and repair facilities. The project, spread over 1200 acres, was built in 34 months despite disruptions caused by three major cyclones.

Major structures include breakwaters, container berths, production shop, ship-lifting platform and a fabrication yard.

The project represented a challenge due to complexity of structures involved, innovative design and execution methodologies, simultaneous execution of dredging and marine construction and benchmark work in village relocation.

The Shard, Central London – Standing at 310 meters, the Shard is the tallest building in Western Europe. The tower features a crystalline façade that has transformed the London skyline. The Shard is a mixed use “vertical town” accommodating more than 8,000 residents and more than 600,000 square feet of office space on 24 floors.

The structure features a 17-story hotel and spa. The structure is crowned with a steel-framed pinnacle adorned with shards of glass that reach into the sky.

The project was developed by Sellar Property, designed by the Renzo Piano Workshop and constructed by the Mace Group.

Vidin-Calfat Bridge, Bulgaria – The $360 million New Europe Bridge links Dresden, Germany, Thessaloniki, Greece and Istanbul, Turkey and is the longest bridge over the Danube at two kilometers.

Built by FCC, the bridge construction used innovative measures in longer lasting construction components, saddles for stay cables and precast segmental duct couplers. The new bridge reduces the travel time from Vidin, Bulgaria to Calafat, Romania from three hours to 10 minutes.

The bridge is part of the European Transport Corridor IV.

The ICEF will focus on core themes of trends and forecasts in the global construction industry, project finance, successful project management and delivery, equipment technology and asset management.