Best of 2004 top awards given for I-10, art museum projects

Louisiana Contractor's "Best of 2004" project awards program voting was held Sept. 9 and 31 winners were declared, with two awarded the highest honor.

The Best of 2004 Judges' Award in Construction will be presented to James Construction Group of Baton Rouge for the construction of the Interstate 10 Southern Railroad Underpass - Tulane Avenue Interchange in New Orleans.

The Best of 2004 Judges Award in Design will be presented to Eskew + Dumez + Ripple of New Orleans for the design of the Paul & Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum in Lafayette.

This year's winners were chosen from 53 nominations in eight construction categories and two design categories. Nominations were accepted from the construction and design industries, at large.

Official recognition of the winners will be made during a Dec. 2 awards luncheon in Baton Rouge. The Concrete & Aggregates Association of Louisiana is the event's sponsor.

Voting for the Best of 2004 Project Awards was conducted at Embassy Suites in Baton Rouge by the following nine judges: Mike Ricca and Henry Lacinak, both with the Department of Transportation and Development of Baton Rouge; Kelly Allen, Arkel Constructors Inc. Baton Rouge; Ann Ellis, Milton J. Womack Inc. of Baton Rouge; Don Matherne, Percy J. Matherne Contractor Inc. of Baton Rouge; Florian Geissler, BASF of Geismar; Tom Sofranko, LSU School of Architecture of Baton Rouge; Gordon Brooks and Michael McClure, both with the College of Art & Design, University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

The judges based their decisions on the following criteria:

• Solutions to challenges
  
• Project management
  
• Construction innovation
  
• Client service
  
• Safety

Winning projects were determined as follows:

• Best of 2004 Judges' Award in Construction or Design - One project determined by the judges, following a discussion, to be the best of all entries
  
• Best project in a category: The project with the highest score in categories with three or more nominations
  
• Award of Excellence - All projects averaging 4.0 and above (out of 5)
  
• Award of Merit - All projects averaging 3.5 to 4.0 (out of 5)

Following are the winning projects for Louisiana Contractor's Best of 2004 awards program, as determined by the panel of judges: