Engineering firm McKim & Creed has earned a National Recognition Award for exemplary engineering achievement from the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC). The award recognizes the firm’s work performing beach surveys along four miles of New Jersey coast for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, according to a news release.
 
“To restore four miles of beach devastated by Super Storm Sandy, the Corps needed accurate topographic information for groins, revetments, and other structures both above and below the water line,” the release stated. “Crashing waves, strong currents, and steep drop-offs made conventional surveying methods unsafe, so the project team applied a combination of land, sea, and air survey tools.”
 
The technologies — GPS, bathymetric single-beam and multi-beam sonar, and aerial Light Detection and Ranging — captured features as detailed as the size and configuration of the underwater boulders that make up the groins, the release continued, stating, “The innovative approach will help agencies assess the condition of their costal structures, and formulate maintenance and repair strategies.”
 
McKim & Creed's project is among 170 engineering projects throughout the nation and around the world recognized by ACEC as preeminent engineering achievements and eligible for one of the top 2015 Engineering Excellence Awards, according to the release.
 
McKim and Creed was founded in Wilmington and now has offices in North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Texas and Virginia.