VHB is proud to have had three projects honored with awards at the American Council of Engineering Companies of Massachusetts’ (ACEC/MA) 2026 Engineering Excellence Awards Gala on April 14. These annual awards celebrate the year’s top projects distinguished statewide by their uniqueness, innovation, complexity, and future value to the engineering profession.
Among a field of 36 project entries, the VHB-HNTB Joint Venture (JV) won a Gold Award for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s (MBTA) South Coast Rail Expansion Project and VHB earned a Bronze Award for the MBTA’s Rail Bridge Replacement Design-Build (“Bridge Bundle”) Project. In addition, the Wharf District Resiliency Plan—led by Arup with VHB as a key subconsultant—received a Gold Award.
South Coast Rail / 1:09
MBTA’s South Coast Rail Expansion Project
Reconnecting Southeastern Massachusetts to Boston with passenger rail for the first time in 65 years, this landmark $1.2B project—which VHB has played a pivotal role in supporting since the 1990s—is revitalizing a long-underserved region. When the MBTA and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation phased the project to restore rail service five years sooner and for over $2B less, the VHB-HNTB JV team’s design approach used a freight rail corridor to expedite permitting and limit wetland impacts. With innovative, cost-cutting measures such as a soil management program that saved $20-$30M and dozens of permit-independent “early-action” projects, the JV team smoothly advanced one of Massachusetts’ largest transportation projects, through myriad obstacles including several leadership changes, funding shifts, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
MBTA’s Bridge Bundle Project
Six century-old commuter rail bridges on four busy commuter rail lines were slated for replacement within a two-year construction timeframe. With MBTA's Bridge Bundle Project allowing only nine weekends of rail line shutdowns to minimize service disruptions, VHB worked closely with design-build partner Barletta and design subconsultants to develop unique design and accelerated construction approaches for each bridge. Resolving complex engineering challenges, such as using micropiles and tiebacks for construction around one site’s utilities, this time-sensitive project strengthened the resilience of critical transportation infrastructure and lowered long-term maintenance costs.
Arup’s Wharf District Resiliency Plan
To safeguard the Wharf District—among Boston’s neighborhoods most at risk for flooding—with an equitable resiliency plan, this innovative project undertook the nation’s largest community-led resiliency planning initiative. Securing all the community’s 16 property owners’ unanimous support, the project proposes a suite of nature-based and other solutions that protect over 60 acres of land while providing ecological benefits and new publicly-accessible open spaces. Supported by VHB’s regulatory analysis and permitting strategy, the project is projected to help the community avoid an estimated $1.9B in flood damages through 2070.
Congratulations to all ACEC/MA Engineering Excellence Awards winners!
Connect with our award-winning team!
