Thomas & Hutton Engineering, of Nashville, Tenn., has earned a National Recognition Award for exemplary engineering achievement in the American Council of Engineering Companies’ (ACEC) 57th annual Engineering Excellence Awards (EEA) for designing Hangar 692 at Smyrna/Rutherford County Airport in Smyrna, Tenn.
The new 31,000-sq-ft hangar supports the airport’s plans for increasing charter and scheduled passenger airline activity. Located on the site of a World War II-era structure destroyed by fire in the 1980s, the new hangar can house aircraft as large as a Boeing 737-800. Widening the exit apron onto the taxiway allows these aircraft to make a smooth turning maneuver into the hangar, providing adequate wing clearance with the sliding door. Hangar 692 also features 2,400 square feet of leasable office space, a new 42-unit parking lot, and a low-foam fire protection system.
In addition to leading design, planning, and construction oversight for Hangar 692, Thomas & Hutton designed a 277,000-gallon insulated glass fused/steel bolted ground storage tank for fire suppression, as well an equally sized recapture pit lined with a geomembrane to safeguard the environment.
Thomas & Hutton provides consulting, planning, and engineering services across the Southeast U.S.
The project is part of 203 entries this year representing engineering excellence from throughout the nation and the world. Judging for the awards program—known industry-wide as the “Academy Awards of the engineering industry”– took place in February and was conducted by a national 26-member panel of built environment leaders, along with experts from government, the media and academia. Award criteria focused on uniqueness and originality, technical innovation, social and economic value, and generating excitement for the engineering profession.
Recognition of all award winners including top winners—16 Honor Awards, eight Grand Awards and the prestigious “Grand Conceptor Award” for the year’s most outstanding overall engineering achievement—will take place during the 2024 EEA Gala, to be held at the Grand Hyatt, Washington, DC, on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, later this spring.
