Hat-trick at CEF Awards for NI Water’s Ravenhill Avenue Flood Alleviation Project!

10 October 2024 10:13

Photo Caption (L-R) Claire McCollum, Niall McKenna Geda Construction, Bryan Vaughan (CEF President), NI Water’s David McClean and top broadcaster and TV Host Phil Spencer pictured at the recent CEF awards.

The project team for the Ravenhill Avenue Flood Alleviation Project has recently been awarded three major awards - a hat-trick! at the prestigious CEF Excellence Awards (Construction Employers Federation) The team were honoured to collect a Social Value Award, Infrastructure project of the year, and a Judges' bonus award - Achieving Excellence in Partnering.

The £7 million Flood Alleviation Project for the Ravenhill Avenue Area of South Belfast was recently delivered as part of the Living With Water in Belfast Plan, which aims to help protect against flooding, enhance the water environment and provide the increased capacity needed for economic growth. 

Some sewers in this part of South Belfast dated back to the early 1900’s and were in very poor condition, and this essential project improved the sewers, whilst significantly reducing the risk of ‘out-of-sewer’ flooding and environmental pollution in the area.

The Social Value Award celebrates outstanding projects that deliver significant social value by maximising social, environmental, and economic benefits, and team members were commended for being good neighbours in the communities in which they work and for their valuable contributions to improving the image of construction through their respectful approach to the public, their workforce, and the environment.

The Infrastructure Project of the Year Award for Utilities recognises projects that demonstrate innovative engineering solutions to overcome challenges, acknowledging excellence in many areas including health and safety, sustainability and minimising public impact.

NI Water’s Senior Project Manager, David McClean said:

“NI Water is delighted that the project team has received three prestigious awards, which demonstrate an excellent approach to partnering in the delivery of the scheme, as well as best practice project management.

“The awards also recognise the efforts made to minimise disruption to the public, whilst delivering what matters to our customers - essential improvements to the sewerage infrastructure in a busy urban area heavily populated with schools and businesses, whilst reducing the risk of out of sewer flooding.”

The team is proud of the collaboration throughout the project, recognised by the Achieving Excellence in Partnering Award, which exemplifies an outstanding approach to partnership throughout its delivery. This award is jointly shared by the client NI Water, design team AECOM, and Geda’s construction team, recognising their collaborative efforts to deliver this essential improvement project.

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Notes to editors:

Media enquiries should be directed to press.office@niwater.com

• Further information on the CEF awards is available at: Construction Excellence Awards CEF (cefni.co.uk)

• The Social Value Award celebrates outstanding projects that deliver significant social value by maximising social, environmental, and economic benefits. This award highlights initiatives that implement tailored, creative, and impactful solutions to achieve positive outcomes for communities and stakeholders.

• Infrastructure project of the year (under £10m) – The Infrastructure Project of the Year Award for Utilities recognises projects that demonstrate innovative engineering solutions to overcome challenges, with a strong focus on end-user needs and client satisfaction. Key criteria include effective project management, particularly in delivering the project on time, within budget, and maintaining a high standard of finish. The award also considers the project's contribution to buildability, successful management of the supply chain, and adherence to health and safety standards. Sustainability performance and minimising public impact are also critical factors.

• The Achieving Excellence in Partnering Award is a Judges' bonus award, presented to the project that best exemplifies an outstanding approach to partnership throughout its delivery. This award is jointly shared by the client, design team, and construction team, recognising their collaborative efforts. Key criteria for this award include a highly integrated approach that enhances performance, setting mutual objectives, effective dispute resolution, and commitment to sharing gains and incentives. It also values early involvement of key team members, the use of common processes like shared IT, and maintaining strong relationships across the supply chain. Other factors include minimal design changes during construction and achieving measurable targets in health and safety, sustainability, design quality, value engineering, and project timelines.