Toronto, ON (July 5, 2011)—R.V. Anderson Associates Limited (RVA) wins the American Public Works Association (APWA)’s 2011 Public Works Project of the Year Award for the City of Greater Sudbury’s Sudbury South End Sewage Rock Tunnel Project.

The APWA Public Works Projects of the Year awards are awarded annually to promote excellence in the management and administration of public works projects. Projects of the Year are chosen from a wide range of submittals received from across North America. The Sudbury South End Sewage Rock Tunnel was awarded the Project of the Year award in the Environment ($25 to $75 million) category.

Insufficient sewer capacity within its "South End" led the City of Greater Sudbury to retain R.V. Anderson Associates Limited to plan, design and oversee the construction of a comprehensive solution to add capacity and relieve basement flooding and sewage overflows into local water courses: a $31 million, 6.5 km long, sewer tunnel system, blasted through bedrock 25 m below the surface.

R.V. Anderson Associates' innovative approach comprised an extension of Sudbury's existing sewer tunnel system, which enabled decommissioning of six sewage pumping stations, following diversion of flow into the tunnel. The elimination of the pumping stations is projected to save approximately $17 million over the next 60 years.

"We are grateful for the international recognition of our innovative engineering work," says Ken Morrison, president of R.V. Anderson Associates Limited. "We appreciate the industry's acknowledgment of our commitment to sustainable infrastructure development".

The South End Sewage Rock Tunnel Project was also awarded the Ontario Public Works Association's 2010 Project of the Year, in the structures category.