South Central Construction’s Best of 2006

Two awards programs recognize the best projects in five state

Voting for South Central Construction’s Best of 2006 Awards in Construction and Design was held Sept. 11 in Baton Rouge and Sept. 14 in Memphis. Judges in Baton Rouge selected 30 projects as Louisiana’s Best of 2006, and Memphis judges selected 32 projects as the best in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. 

This year’s winners were chosen from about 100 nominations in 16 construction categories and four design categories. Nominations were accepted from the construction and design industries, at large.

Winners will be officially recognized during a Nov. 30 awards luncheon at The Peabody in Memphis and a Dec. 7 luncheon at Boudreaux’s in Baton Rouge.

Sponsoring the Baton Rouge event are Volvo Rents Construction Equipment, C. P. Grace & Associates Inc., Concrete Eaters Inc. and RSC Equipment Rental. The Memphis event is sponsored by Volvo Rents and Hertz Equipment Rental.

Baton Rouge awards voting was held at Embassy Suites in Baton Rouge by the following construction and design judges: Mike Ricca and Henry Lacinak, both with the Louisiana Dept. of Transportation and Development, Baton Rouge; Ann Ellis, Milton Womack Inc., Baton Rouge; Jeff Zagone, Dow USA, Plaquemine, La.; Florian Geissler, BASF, Geismar, La.; Tom Sofranko, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge; Robert McKinney and Gordon Brooks, both with the University of Louisiana – Lafayette, Lafayette.

Memphis voting was held at Coletta’s Italian Restaurant in Memphis by the following judges: Larry Cockerham, representative of the American Society of Professional Estimators, Ripley, Miss.; Roger Sigler, Inman Construction Corp., Memphis; Mark Zellner, Zellner Construction Co. Inc., Memphis; Anita Haines, Pyramid Electric Inc., Memphis; Tim Michael AIA, Archimania, Memphis; and Jim Lutz AIA, Department of Art, University of Memphis.

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 2006 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)