Ford Engineering, Inc. owned and operated by Edwin R. and Regina L. Ford has been awarded a gold medal in the 2006 Texas Council of Engineering Companies Excellence in Engineering Competition. Category G: Water Resources; Irrigation and Flood Control is the division that the project was submitted into and received First Place Recognition.
The project was titled "West Dietz Creek Channelization Project" and is located in the City of Schertz, Guadalupe County, Texas. This area has a historically high occurrence of flooding, as documented in the official Texas Significant Flood Database maintained by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) through the West Gulf River Forecast Center (WGRFC). Occurrences such as this triggered a massive response by the City of Schertz to prevent these tragedies from re-occurring. The City of Schertz appointed Ford Engineering, Inc., the city engineer, with the task of preparing a flood study and cost estimate to determine the improvements that would be needed in order to reach of goal of containing a 100-year flood within the banks of the West Dietz Creek.
This project rectified 1.5 miles of West Dietz Creek and involved over 700,000 cubic yards of excavation, 1,500 cubic yards of concrete, 200,000 pounds of steel, relocation of water mains and sewer main. Repositioning of electrical lines and road reconstruction were also required. The project succeeded in removing 308 acres of land from the 100-year flood plain.
The Engineering Excellence Awards Competition has been held by the Texas Council of Engineering Companies since its inception in 1975 to honor and recognize outstanding achievements within the engineering community.
The submittal was judged by a distinguished panel of judges from around the state, whom selected 11 Gold Medal and 11 Silver Medal winning projects from a broad field based on uniqueness, originality, technical, value to the engineering profession, complexity and how successfully the project met the needs of the client.
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