2024 Engineering Excellence Grand Award Winner

Beltway Rszd

The Lincoln South Beltway – a project headed by Benesch – has been named the ACEC Nebraska Engineering Excellence Grand Award winner for 2024.

With an investment of nearly $350 million, the Lincoln South Beltway project stands as Nebraska’s largest, and possibly most significant, transportation endeavor, reshaping the region’s infrastructure landscape. This groundbreaking initiative, overseen by a dedicated team of experts, aims to enhance safety, mobility and economic vitality for the entire community.

The project boasts impressive features, including two system interchanges, three service interchanges, the construction of 43 miles of road, 23 bridges, 11 roundabouts and the movement of over 7 million cubic yards of soil. These elements collectively modernize local transportation networks, reducing congestion and improving overall road safety.

Environmental stewardship was at the core of this initiative, with thorough MS4 water treatments and the revitalization of wetlands and streams ensuring sustainable development. The project’s success is a testament to the planning, relentless collaboration, and shared accountability that have been essential in navigating its complexities.

Through detailed planning, relentless collaboration and shared accountability, the team navigated the intricacies of this project, including accelerated timelines. Weekly meetings guided this endeavor, fostering an environment of holistic collaboration and facilitating crucial tools that guide choices, track adjustments, and ensure shared responsibility.

In summary, the Lincoln South Beltway project represents a long-awaited triumph of engineering excellence and sustainable development. It signifies a turning point in transportation infrastructure, promising a safer, more efficient, and environmentally responsible future for Nebraska’s community and the greater region.

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Aaron Buettner

State Director

Aaron Buettner, PE, CVS leads Benesch’s Nebraska structural group, bringing more than 27 years of experience in structural engineering, project management and value engineering to every project he touches. His work spans highway, railroad and pedestrian bridges, and he has delivered public and private projects across the country involving a wide variety of materials and structure types.

Aaron’s technical depth covers the full project lifecycle, from structural design and in-service inspection to forensic evaluation and construction administration. He is proficient in multiple structural design and analysis software platforms and has a keen understanding of load paths and constructability. As a Certified Value Specialist (CVS), Aaron’s Value Engineering work has generated tens of millions of dollars in potential construction cost avoidance for clients ranging from state DOTs to transit agencies.

Notable projects include the Lincoln South Beltway, where his team designed 10 of 21 bridges on the freeway corridor; the N-12 Emergency Bridge Repairs in northeast Nebraska, where biddable plans for three flood-damaged structures were delivered in just three weeks; and the Penny Bridges Replacement in Lincoln, where value planning produced a context-sensitive solution that earned broad community support.

Aaron also serves as a Structures Specialist on Nebraska Task Force 1 (NE-TF1), which is one of 28 FEMA Urban Search & Rescue (US&R) teams located throughout the United States. In this role, he supports the search and rescue mission by assessing damaged structures, recommending structural hazard mitigation within those structures, and monitoring the structure for condition changes during rescue and victim recovery operations. During his tenure with NE-TF1, he has deployed ​on numerous missions within the state of Nebraska and around the nation to assist communities that have been impacted by emergencies or disasters.

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