Welcome to the Connecticut Society of Civil Engineers Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers

Congratulations to the 2022 ACE Award Winners!

   Sponsored by:  

President’s Award - Katie Hedberg-Klose, RSP1, CTDOT

Presidents Awards are awarded to individuals selected by the outgoing president who have contributed to the advancement of the Section through their efforts over the preceding year.

Katie Hedberg-Klose has over six years of experience in the civil/transportation industry and currently works for CTDOT in the Sustainability & Resiliency Unit. She is an active CSCE member, where she is the current Younger Members Group President, and one of the chairs for planning ERYMC, which is a conference spanning the entire east coast. Katie has been a key player for other CSCE initiatives this year, such as helping to plan the first CSCE/WTS joint event, and coordinating with CTDOT leadership to start a DOT Partner Program for promoting membership to its employees. She has also been active at the ASCE national level with the Committee on Younger Members, where she assists with programming, awards and annual reports for groups across the country. In October, she will become the Eastern Geographic Member and oversee the 51 younger member groups in the eastern region.

Young Civil Engineer of the Year - Alex Klose, P.E., Town of East Lyme

Nominees must be an ASCE member, a Professional Engineer, and 35 years of age or younger

Alex Klose has over six years of experience in the civil engineering and construction industry and currently serves the Town of East Lyme as their Town Engineer. He has taken on an additional role as the FEMA Community Rating System Coordinator, focusing efforts in repairing infrastructure damaged by Hurricane Ida.

In addition to serving the East Lyme community, Alex also serves his country. He has served as an Engineering Construction Platoon Leader and an Engineer Officer for the 26th Mobility Enhancement Brigade which serves as the headquarters element for the FEMA Homeland Response Force for Region 1, New England. 

After obtaining his PE in 2021, he began teaching as an Adjunct Professor at Three Rivers Community College. He is currently teaching Introduction to Engineering and plans to teach Civil/Environmental Engineering courses in the future.

Alex is also currently pursuing a Master of Science in Engineering Management concentrating in Engineering Services and Infrastructure Management at UMASS Lowell and is expected to graduate in August 2022.

Benjamin Wright Award - Mark Rolfe, P.E., Deputy Commissioner of CT DOT

CSCE honors Benjamin Wright, who was named by ASCE as the Father of Civil Engineering, by presenting an award in his name each year to an individual that has had outstanding contributions to the civil engineering industry.

Mark Rolfe is a legend and a keystone to the transportation engineering community in Connecticut. He has worked for the Connecticut Department of Transportation for over 35 years and in 2019, was appointed Deputy Commissioner. In 2015, Mark became the Construction Administrator responsible for administering all CTDOT construction projects and in 2017, was named Chief Engineer and Bureau Chief for the Bureau of Engineering and Construction. His experience played a critical role in many CTDOT programs, including the Q Bridge program; a 2-billion-dollar contract which included the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge, the nation's first extradosed cable-stayed bridge, and the CTFastrak project. Mark has come a long way since he served as ASCE Student Chapter president in college, and recently became an ASCE Fellow, an honor only 3% of ASCE members hold for their contributions to the civil engineering industry.

2022 Project Awards

ACE Award - Sustainable Historic Preservation

Hotel Marcel in New Haven, CT ~ GNCB Consulting Engineers

Hotel Marcel located at 500 Sargent Dr. in New Haven, CT is a 165 room boutique hotel that includes a restaurant, gallery and meeting space. This project was a certified historic rehabilitation and adaptive re-use of mid-century modern design originally designed by Marcel Breuer in 1967. This building originally housed the Armstrong Rubber Co. Building and then the Pirelli building. This project is LEED Platinum certified. This is the first Passive House certified Hotel in the U.S.

ACE Award - Transportation and Development

Franklin Square Roundabout in Norwich, CT ~ VHB

The VHB Project Team delivered an innovative solution for a modern roundabout project at the intersection of Franklin Street and Main Street, also known as Franklin Square, in downtown Norwich, Connecticut. The project maintained business access and intersection operations during construction, added several spaces of parking to the downtown business district, improved traffic flow, and enhanced pedestrian safety. 

ACE Award - Coastal Structural Engineering

700-Ton Marine Travelift Infrastructure ~ RACE Coastal Engineering

Bridgeport Boatworks had previously operated a 75-ton travel lift and a 200-ton travel lift for recreational and commercial vessels. In order to haul larger vessels, including barges, ferry boats, tugboats and megayachts, it was decided that a 700-ton travel lift was needed and 2 new travel lift piers needed to extend toward Bridgeport Harbor’s Federal Channel. RACE Coastal Engineering provided engineering and construction administration services for the travel lift infrastructure and is proud to provide ongoing waterfront engineering support as Bridgeport Harbor is transformed into an active and vibrant center of marine activities.

The CSCE of the present is the result of a merger of two organizations that occurred more than 35 years ago. The Connecticut Society of Civil Engineers was founded in 1884, while the Connecticut Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers was founded in 1919. In 1958, the Section had 523 members. In 1955 (the nearest comparable year for reliable numbers), the Society had 1,033 members. The two organizations met separately until they merged in 1981, by mutual vote of membership, to become the Connecticut Society of Civil Engineers Section of American Society of Civil Engineers or CSCE.