The Consulting Engineers and Land Surveyors of California (CELSOC), a state-wide association of private consulting engineering and land surveying firms, has chosen Moffatt & Nichol (M&N) of Long Beach, Calif., as the recipient of two Engineering Excellence Merit Awards.
One award went to M&N for its work as the prime consultant on the Bolsa Chica Lowlands Restoration, a significant wildlife habitat restoration project for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. M&N successfully tackled a number of key design issues, including creation of a new ocean inlet, two vehicular bridges, levees, water-control structures and contaminated soils management, while keeping the needs of the operating oil field and neighboring community in mind. M&N also developed innovative alternatives for future wetland expansion into adjacent underdeveloped areas.
The second award was for M&N's contribution to the Route 90/Culver Boulevard Interchange project, which extended SR-90 (the Marina Freeway) and constructed a diamond interchange at Culver Boulevard in Marina Del Rey. M&N prepared the project study report, project report, advanced planning studies and the final plans, specifications and estimates. The 243-ft-long, two-span bridge met a variety of demanding project goals, including increasing corridor capacity, protecting existing wetlands, minimizing impact to major existing utilities, meeting community aesthetic requirements and providing a highly cost-effective design.
"To be recognized by a prestigious organization such as CELSOC is certainly gratifying, but the real honor is in being able to benefit the state of California," said Mike McCarthy, M&N's project manager for the Bolsa Chica Wetlands project and southwest regional manager. "Orange County residents are finally able to enjoy the natural beauty of Bolsa Chica's reinvigorated wetlands and L.A. motorists are driving a little easier. That's really why we do this."
