CAGC announces winners of 2010 AGC Pinnacle Awards

The awards are presented for the year's outstanding performance by a company and for outstanding construction projects. The annual CAGC Pinnacle Awards competition is judged by a panel of 10 member contractors. Best general contract award has been given to New Atlantic Contracting, Inc., in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. New Atlantic Contracting specializes in complex building construction and renovations, focusing on education, medical and other institutional work. New Atlantic has had zero lost-time incidents in the history of the firm. W.B. Moore Company, Charlotte, North Carolina has secured the best speciality contractor award. W.B. Moore Company is a commercial electrical contractor and full-service design engineering firm. Its corporate headquarters earned the North Carolina's first LEED Platinum Designation Award for new building construction. The best building project award was given to the St. John Baptist Cathedral Restoration, Charleston, South Carolina. This 100-year-old "mother church" of the Catholic diocese of South Carolina involved not only extensive exterior brownstone replacement but also fabricating and erecting an 85-feet steeple. The steeple and bell tower were built in 30 separate pieces off-site using an innovative process borrowed from Hightower's yacht-building expertise, then transported through Charleston's narrow historic streets. The best highway and transportation project award was given to US 17 Bypass at Washington, North Carolina, which is a design-build project. This 6.8-mile bypass on North Carolina's coastal plain stretches over miles of environmentally sensitive wetlands, and features a 2.8-mile structure over the Tar River. The Flatiron/United team developed an innovative "top-down" approach -- a unique overhead gantry system which resulted in both minimal impact to the wetlands and an accelerated construction schedule. Best utility project award was given to Dempsey E. Benton Water Treatment Plant, Garner, NC. This project involved construction of a new 20 million-gallons-per-day water treatment plant, a 5 million-gallons-per-day water storage reservoir and water pumping station, a backwash storage tank, and standby generator facilities. The project required the complete renovation of an existing raw water pump station built in the 1950s, and modifications to an existing gate control structure. Built with the best award was given to Danny Shealy, retired SCDOT Director of Construction. Danny Shealy retired from SCDOT in August 2010 after 35 years of service to the state; in his last thirteen years he served as Director of Construction. The Carolinas AGC Pinnacle Awards competition is co-sponsored by the CPA firm Greer & Walker and the law firm of Johnston, Allison & Hord.