McKim & Creed, Inc., a national engineering, geomatics and planning firm with an office in Wilmington, has been awarded for a pair of projects in the Cape Fear region for engineering excellence.
 
The awards were presented by the American Council of Engineering Companies of North Carolina (ACEC/NC) at its annual Engineering Excellence Awards Gala, which was held in Durham.
 
The Grand Conceptor Award was presented for a proof of concept (POC) completed by McKim & Creed and Esri, the world’s largest geographical information systems (GIS) company, at Wrightsville Beach. The purpose was to determine if unmanned aerial system technology (UAS, also known as drones) can provide coastal communities with a faster, more cost-effective way to produce beach monitoring surveys. The POC showed that municipalities can save up to 60% in time and money by using UAS for data collection.
 
McKim & Creed was presented with an Honors Award in the Transportation category for a three-mile roadway realignment in Wilmington that restores and reconnects wetlands and coastal marsh, protects unique sand ridges, provides a multiuse trail and wildlife corridor, opens access to waterfront property on the Cape Fear River, and offers a safer roadway through dual-lane roundabouts. The $10-million project was completed at no cost to taxpayers and is part of Wilmington’s new RiverLights community.
 
In addition, McKim & Creed won an Honors Award for its work on the Close-King Indoor Practice Facility at North Carolina State University, and an award for its for an airflow reduction and recommissioning project at UNC Chapel Hill’s Genetic Medicine Research Building.
 
McKim & Creed is an employee-owned firm with more than 350 staff members in offices throughout the U.S., including North Carolina, Florida, Virginia, Georgia, Texas and Pennsylvania.