Atkins has won an American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) Engineering Excellence Award-Grand Award for its work on the Manning Crevice Bridge replacement project.

The bridge is a 300ft (90m) asymmetrical suspension bridge over the Salmon River near Riggins, Idaho. Atkins was Engineer-of-Record for the US$ 9.64m project, which was the first bridge in North America constructed as a single-tower asymmetrical roadway suspension bridge.

Engineers faced numerous challenges including steep topography, equipment restrictions, swift and highly variable river flows, as well as aggressive and protected wildlife. The site had a very small construction footprint, with no construction allowed within the 100-year flood plain of the river to preserve the river area for whitewater rafting. Design services were completed in 2015, and the bridge was officially opened to the public in 2018.

The ACEC Engineering Excellence Awards recognize preeminent engineering achievements throughout the world. As one of 16 Grand Award winners, Atkins is in consideration for the Grand Conceptor award, which is due be revealed at ACEC’s annual Engineering Excellence Awards gala in autumn 2020.