Two Eastside engineering projects took away a handful of trophies at the annual Institution of Civil Engineers West Midlands awards.
The Think Tank Science Garden and Birmingham’s first urban park in 130 years received two awards each at the ceremony in the ICC, attended by more than 300 engineering professionals.
Both were competing against 22 entries from across the region.
Thinktank Science Garden, launched in summer 2012 as part of the regeneration of Eastside and designed to foster an interest in engineering in young children, received the education prize and shared the chairman’s award with Eastside City Park.
Completed in December 2012, the £12 million park project also received the sustainability award.
Created on a brownfield site, it doubled the amount of green space in the city and marked the last phase of regeneration in Eastside.
Tim Harbot, chairman of ICE West Midlands, said: “The Thinktank Science Garden project impressed the judges with its highly interactive design, developed to encourage young people’s enthusiasm for science and engineering at an early age in a fun and engaging way.
“Eastside City Park breathes life into this vital and developing part of the city, encouraging investment and providing important social benefits for the surrounding community and has helped to raise the profile of Birmingham as part of a gateway to the proposed HS2 terminal.”
A project designed to stabilise an embankment supporting the southbound off-slip of the M5 at junction 7 near Worcester was crowned overall winner and also took the innovation and geotechnical awards for its pioneering electrokinetic technique.
The extension to platform four at Wolverhampton train station received the partnership award, while work on the retaining wall at Ludlow Castle Square car park received the heritage award.
Milverton viaduct won the construction award and Teme Bridge strengthening and refurbishment won the communication award.
Andy McLoughlin from Atkins recevied a highly commended certificate for an Engineers Without Borders outreach project and an innovation award went to Interserve for the Midland Metro retaining wall surveys project.
• Photo shows (from left) Edward Woodhouse from Mott MacDonald representing Thinktank Science Garden, Chris Birkett from Arup, representing Eastside City Park and president of the Institution of Civil Engineers Professor Barry Clarke.
