“ACI Excellence in Concrete Construction” Award by the Maryland Chapter of the American Concrete Institute (ACI).
Projects were celebrated during the “ACI Excellence in Concrete Construction” Awards Banquet held on September 8, 2022, at Engineers Club at the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion, Baltimore.
I-895 Canton Viaduct and Harbor Tunnel Project – (winner of the infrastructure project category)
The Canton Viaduct and Baltimore Harbor Tunnel (I-895 Bridge Project) was a very challenging project from the study phase, field testing and evaluation, final design, and finally construction, spanning from 2013 to 2020. Ignamara put a tremendous effort into the project. She spent many nights (9 pm to 5 am) in the tunnel along with Galo Bowen and Justin Wingerd when a tube was shut down for maintenance to complete the field testing evaluation and hands-on inspection of the retaining walls and structures along the approach ramps to the tunnel, and the tunnel deck. The design phase included developing a one-of-a-kind precast concrete drainage system, a latex modified concrete overlay for the tunnel deck, many other remedial repairs, and a sequence of construction. During construction, MDTA only allowed the contractor a 60 day closure per tube with a significant incentive/disincentive clause in the contract, so when an RFI was submitted, the contactor and MDTA required a timely response, which Ignamara delivered. In addition to the tunnel work, Krista Ziegenfuss and Cody Harnish developed a girder erection plan and report for the Canton Viaduct, a 19-span northbound bridge, and a 18-span southbound bridge being constructed in two stages. The erection plan needed to account for many challenges including various railroads, utilities, I-95 ramps, local streets and businesses, and a portion of the viaduct which crossed under I-95 with low overhead clearance. The erection plan was used to prove the existing structure could be removed and the new viaduct constructed within the tight clearances at the site and was an extremely challenging assignment requiring intense coordination with many stakeholders as the bridge design progressed.
