Erdman Engineering wins award for Trout Run Trail Bridge

Decorah City Administrator Chad Bird, who had accepted the award Thursday night in Des Moines on behalf of Erdman Engineering, on Monday night presented the award to Lindsay Erdman and John Hjelle from Erdman Engineering

It's official--the Trout Run Trail Bridge over Highway 9 has won an engineering award from the American Council of Engineering Companies.

decorahnews.com first publicized the upcoming award in a story we posted on February 17th: http://www.decorahnews.com/archived-stories/2013/02/4744.html

At that time, however, we stated, "Further details will be released in May."  Now we can disclose those details:

The 2013 American Council of Engineering Companies of Iowa Excellence Awards Competition has recognized WHKS Engineering of Mason City and Erdman Engineering of Decorah for their work on designing the bridge.  The judges stated "The construction of the Trout Run Trail Bridge over Highway 9 satisfies the City of Decorah's goals of providing a "signature" bridge that is both an aesthetically-pleasing and functional structure. Since the bridge opened to the public, the City has received a lot of positive feedback concerning the bridge and the completion of the trail. The use of a post-tensioning system, integral abutments, and high-strength concrete provides a low maintenance and durable structure that combined with the aesthetic features, will serve as a distinctive element of Decorah's trail system for many years to come."

The American Council of Engineering Companies of Iowa presented the Engineering Excellence Award to WHKS Engineering of Mason City and Erdman Engineering of Decorah at the 57th annual conference and awards banquet at the Sheraton West Des Moines Hotel in West Des Moines on Thursday evening.