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KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Feb. 12, 2018) — An emergency-repair project that quickly restored sewer service, protected against future problems and saved Kansas City, Missouri, more than $600,000 in anticipated costs is being honored among the year’s best engineering projects in Missouri.

The West Blue River Interceptor Sewer Project, a 72-inch aerial sewer crossing Brush Creek, designed and delivered by the team of Burns & McDonnell and Leath & Sons, is a winner of an Honor Award from the Missouri chapter of the American Council of Engineering Companies. The chapter presented its 2018 Engineering Excellence Awards during a banquet Feb. 10 in Columbia, Missouri.

Judges honored the team for its quick, efficient and effective work replacing a failed aerial sewer and the emergency bypass that the City had installed on a temporary basis. The bypass had been costing the City $70,000 a month, an expense that could not be sustained.

“This unexpected failure of the interceptor could have become a costly and time-consuming process to fix,” says Karine Papikian, project manager for Kansas City Water Services. “Instead, the Leath & Sons and Burns & McDonnell team quickly delivered solutions to remedy the sewer failure, saving the City money, and made improvements to existing infrastructure to mitigate future issues.”

Jeff Heidrick, project manager for Burns & McDonnell says, “The design-build process allowed us to expedite all facets of the design and construction process. Using a collaborative approach, we were able to quickly discuss ideas and solutions, and provide Water Services a long-term sustainable solution for this aerial creek crossing.”

About Burns & McDonnell

Burns & McDonnell is a family of companies made up of more than 6,000 engineers, architects, construction professionals, scientists, consultants and entrepreneurs with offices across the country and throughout the world. We strive to create amazing success for our clients and amazing careers for our employee-owners. Burns & McDonnell is 100 percent employee-owned and is proud to be No. 16 on Fortune’s 2017 list of 100 Best Companies to Work For.