VHB was recently honored by The American Council of Engineering Companies of Vermont (ACEC-VT) with the Grand Award for Transportation for the Burlington Amtrak projects at the 2023 Excellence in Engineering Awards, which recognizes achievements throughout the state. The project also received the Green Mountain Award, which is given each year to the most outstanding engineering project overall in Vermont.
The return of Amtrak passenger rail services to the City of Burlington required extensive improvements and additional infrastructure along the rail corridor from Burlington to Rutland. VHB is proud to have provided integrated engineering services—including project scoping, public outreach, permitting, preliminary and final design, and construction inspection—on a variety of large- and small-scale infrastructure improvement projects along the rail corridor. These projects included the relocation of seven tracks and the addition of a new Amtrak Siding in the Burlington Railyard for overnight storage of the Amtrak Train; replacement of the existing Burlington station platform with a 300-foot-long concrete low-level platform and the removal and relocation of a historic steel framed canopy to the south end of that platform; the Middlebury Downtown Bridge and Railroad Tunnel project that included extensive track infrastructure and alignment improvements; scoping services for the new Middlebury Station Platform; and several safety upgrades to existing rail-highway crossings to improve the track and Active Warning systems from Rutland to Burlington.
“VHB is thrilled to receive this distinguished award and I’m proud to be part of the team that led to the historic return of the Amtrak passenger service to the City of Burlington,” said Scott Burbank, Senior Project Manager with VHB’s Structural Engineering group in South Burlington, VT. "Our team worked diligently to meet the needs and expectations of Vermont Rail System (VRS), the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans), the City of Burlington, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and multiple stakeholders that provided guidance and input during the planning, design, and construction of these projects.”
Congratulations to all the winners!