Engineering Excellence Awards

ACEC Colorado’s Engineering Excellence Awards (EEA) program, established in 1967, is celebrating its 60th year of recognizing consulting engineering firms for projects that demonstrate an exceptional degree of innovation, complexity, achievement, and value. Each year, Colorado firms submit their most innovative projects and studies for consideration in the EEA competition.

All submissions are recognized as award-winning projects, underscoring the prestige and distinction associated with participation in this premier program. Regardless of award level, each entry represents a commitment to advancing the engineering profession and showcasing excellence within the industry. A distinguished panel of judges carefully reviews every submission, evaluating projects against established criteria.

ACEC Colorado’s entry guidelines generally align with those established for the ACEC National EEA competition, to which Colorado Grand Conceptor and Grand Award recipients may advance. Projects advancing to ACEC National receive broader recognition and must submit additional materials, with possible updates to meet national standards.

Awards will be presented to Colorado recipients at the Awards Luncheon on Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. Explore our Awards Luncheon sponsorship opportunities.

2027 EEA Program Dates

Nov. 1, 2024 – Oct. 31, 2026: Substantial construction/completion of project work to be entered (Colorado Official Rules)
Aug. 14, 2026: Deadline to register project for entry in Colorado 2027 EEA Program (payment due with entry)
Aug. 21, 2026: Deadline to upload entry materials to portal (link sent to primary contact after entry is completed)
Aug. 26, 2026: Registration for ACEC Colorado EEA Luncheon Opens (Luncheon registration is NOT included with project entry fee)
Sept. 30-Oct. 1, 2026: In-person interviews scheduled and conducted with project manager(s) (sign up sent to primary contact after entry is completed)
September 2026: Independent judging (judges to do not view/score videos and do not meet as a group to compare scoring/comments)
September 2026: Online voting for People’s Choice Awards (firms are encouraged to launch their own social media campaigns to increase votes for their individual projects)
Nov. 6, 2026: ACEC Colorado EEA Awards Luncheon and reveal of winners at Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center
Jan. 6, 2027: ACEC National Competition Entry Deadline (the Colorado 2027 EEA Grand Conceptor & Grand award receipients will be eligible to advance to this competition)
April 20, 2027: ACEC Engineering Excellence Awards Gala, Washington, DC

Special 30×30 Production Offer for EEA Project Entrants
As an ACEC Colorado Corporate Diamond Sponsor, Ken’s Print+Graphics is offering a 25 percent discount to any current or past EEA participants for production of project gallery displays boards, like the ones in the ACEC Colorado office conference room. Click here to learn more.

eea pca square The Colorado EEA People’s Choice Award allows firms’ employees, clients, industry stakeholders and the general public to weigh in on which project board and executive summary resounds most with them for excellence in engineering. Click here to view this year’s entries.

Unlike the traditional EEA judging, this award is all about popular vote not scoring on criteria. More than 1,100 votes were cast for the Colorado 2026 EEA competition. The contest is promoted across ACEC Colorado’s social media platforms and entering firms are encouraged to create their own campaigns to garner votes for their projects. It’s your chance to get involved, spread the word and rally support. The entry with the most verified votes will take home the honor of being the crowd favorite.

Colorado 2027 EEA Recipients

Project board for the Colorado Avenue Ramp Replacement in Telluride, entered by KLJ Engineering for the Town of Telluride. Photos show a worn curb ramp before construction, crews rebuilding a corner, an aerial view down Colorado Avenue and a finished bump-out with a streetlamp in the historic downtown.

Project board for CR 17 Corbett Creek Crossing Improvements near Ouray, entered by KLJ Engineering for Ouray County. Photos show the road buried by a debris flow, the two old 48-inch culverts choked with sediment, and the new 20-by-10-foot concrete box culvert under construction.

Project board for the East 16th Avenue Storm Interceptor in Denver, entered by Muller Engineering Company for Denver Transportation and Infrastructure, titled Historic Community, Modern Drainage, Lasting Flood Protection. Photos show the corridor from above, a flooded alley, a worker standing inside a large oval pipe and a deep shored excavation.

Project board for Hillside Street Reconstruction in Delta, entered by KLJ Engineering for the City of Delta. Photos show the narrow street before work with no sidewalks, an excavator installing drainage on the hillside, new curb ramps being formed and an aerial view of the finished intersection.

Project board for Larimer County Solid Waste Improvement Facilities and Program, entered by HDR for Larimer County. Photos show the new transfer station building with its row of truck bay doors and aerial views of a new landfill cell being lined.

Project board for the GSA National Science Foundation Ice Core Facility in Lakewood, entered by IMEG for GSA. The main photo shows rows of ice core storage racks that hold more than 30,000 meters of ice, with smaller photos of the entry, refrigeration equipment, the original warehouse and a work room.

Project board for the 1959 US 181 Harbor Bridge Removal in Corpus Christi, Texas, entered by Foothills Bridge Co for Flatiron Dragados and TxDOT. The main photo shows the bridge's center span cut free over the ship channel with a barge waiting below, plus photos of torch cuts, the span being lowered and the span towed away at night.

Project board for Reclaiming Uvalda Tributary in Denver's Montbello neighborhood, entered by Muller Engineering Company for Denver and the Mile High Flood District. Before and after aerial photos show a straight concrete ditch replaced by a natural rock-and-grass channel with bike lanes, plus a street cross section and a design rendering.

Project board for the Summit County Transit and Operations Facility in Frisco, entered by Kimley-Horn for Summit County. An aerial photo shows the completed transit facility, which includes 10 workforce housing units, against forested hills, with photos of winter construction, foundations, a training room and the mechanical room.

Project board for Tejon Street Revitalization in Colorado Springs, entered by Kimley-Horn for the City of Colorado Springs. Photos show soil cells installed around exposed utilities, trees at a temporary nursery, crews setting granite crosswalk pavers, a curbless intersection from above and the finished tree-lined street.

Project board for the Ridgway Beaver Creek Diversion Restoration, entered by RESPEC for the Town of Ridgway. Photos show a temporary water pipe in the rocky creek bed, a drone view of the flood-damaged channel, crews installing the intake in snow and the finished concrete diversion with its intake screen.

Project board for Waterworks Park in Pueblo, designed by Recreation Engineering and Planning for the Pueblo Board of Water Works. Before and after photos show a hazardous low-head dam turned into a river park full of swimmers and tubers, plus a river surfing wave, the boater bypass channel and a riverside trail.

Project board for the Youth Empowerment Center Improvements in Denver, entered by Huitt-Zollars for the City and County of Denver. Photos show the renovated building entrance, interior construction, the finished open interior and conference room, and a community ribbon cutting.

Project board for the Alameda Avenue Bridge over the South Platte River in Denver, entered by Felsburg Holt and Ullevig for the Colorado Department of Transportation. An aerial photo shows the new bridge, its bike lanes and the river trail below with the downtown Denver skyline behind, plus a historic photo of cyclists on the original bridge.

Project board for Ascent at Hover Crossing in Longmont, entered by Kimley-Horn for the Longmont Housing Authority and Pennrose. Photos show the new affordable housing and the Aspen Center for Childhood Development, its playground, a drainage plan and a walkway between buildings.

Project board for Big Dry Creek at 104th Avenue to Sheridan Boulevard in Westminster, entered by Olsson for the Mile High Flood District and City of Westminster. Photos show a crane setting a pedestrian truss bridge, the restored meandering creek and trail, an outdoor classroom, water quality ponds and children crossing on stepping-stone boulders.

Project board for Boulder Fire Station #3, entered by KL and A Engineers and Builders for the City of Boulder and Davis Partnership Architects. Photos show the finished red-paneled fire station, stacks of steel salvaged from the old Boulder Community Hospital, and the exposed steel roof framing inside the apparatus bay.

Project board for Cameron Peak Fire Mitigation in Larimer County, entered by Ayres, titled From Emergency Response to Ecosystem Recovery at Scale. Photos show a burned forest of blackened trees, a debris-flow field of logs and mud, a muddy stream through the burn scar and erosion-control wattles on a charred slope.

Project board for the Chimney Hollow Reservoir Project near Loveland, entered by Stantec for the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District. Construction photos show the reservoir valley and earthwork, construction along a steep rock cut, a survey crew in a rock tunnel and heavy equipment placing rockfill on the dam.

Project board for City of Boulder Main Sewer Improvements, Phase II, entered by HDR for the City of Boulder. Photos show crew members surveying along Boulder Creek, a tunneling machine at the bottom of a deep circular shaft, and an aerial view of ponds with the Flatirons beyond.

Colorado 2026 EEA Results (Awarded Nov. 14, 2025)

Download ACEC Colorado 2026 EEA Commemorative Program
View 2026 EEA Playlist (Downloadable/Sharable Project Videos)
View 2026 Outstanding Graphics Award
View 2026 Judges
View Photo Gallery of Colorado EEA Luncheon (Nov. 9, 2023) (NOTE: Password: EEA25)
Read Colorado Public Works Journal EEA Section (Winter 2026)

Colorado 2025 EEA Results (Awarded Nov. 8, 2024)

Download ACEC Colorado 2025 EEA Commemorative Program
View 2025 EEA Playlist (Downloadable/Sharable Project Videos)
View 2025 Outstanding Graphics Award
View Photo Gallery of ACEC Colorado’s EEA Luncheon (Nov. 8, 2024) (NOTE: Password – Awards)
View 2025 Judges
Read Colorado Real Estate Journal EEA Section
Read Colorado Public Works Journal EEA Section

Awards | Engineering Excellence Awards

Colorado 2027 EEA Recipients