At the top of their craft: winners of BKD Build Indiana Awards.

• Author: Held, Shari
• Position: Real Estate & Construction

EACH YEAR THE BKD Build Indiana Awards recognize contractors who perform at the top of their craft. Following are details of the latest BKD Build Indiana Award winners, exemplifying quality, innovation and excellence in project management.

The BKD Governor's Award. Wurster Construction Co. of Indianapolis was honored for the stations and walkways linked to the Clarian People Mover project in Indianapolis.

The People Mover, the only privately funded project of its type in the nation built in a public right of way, presented a lot of unknowns. There was really nothing comparable to it.

The project had a special set of challenges that included leading-edge work at 70 feet in the air. In addition, it was spread over three sites, two of which were hospital facilities that had to remain open and functional during construction. Daily coordination with Schwager Davis Inc., contractor for the 1.5-mile rack and train, was required, and the construction of stations to accommodate 57,000-pound trains traveling 30 miles per hour necessitated some difficult engineering.

Partway through the project, plans changed for the Indiana University Hospital/ Riley Hospital station. "Incorporating those changes, which were quite massive, and completing them within the timeframe of the initial scope for the project was another huge challenge," says president Al Wurster.

The entire cost of the two-year project, which enables doctors and nurses to go from Methodist Hospital to IU and Riley hospitals in five minutes flat (in their shirtsleeves, no less), was $40 million. Half a million people are expected to use the people mover annually.

"It was a lot of stress up-front," says Wurster, "but a lot of joy at the end of the project. We got it accomplished in a timely manner and it's a beautiful project."

Industrial award. Pepper Construction Co. of Indiana, based in Indianapolis, was honored for its Eagle Creek I warehouse project in Lebanon.

Pepper brought the $8 million, 500,O00-square-foot (think 11 football fields under one roof) design-build project in under budget and on time, but it wasn't easy. "We had to be creative to find innovative ideas that would keep the building attractive while bringing down the overall cost of the project to allow the developer, Pizzuti Companies, to be competitive in the industrial market," says James Belange, project manager.

Architecturally modified structural pre-cast was used to create a faux window effect for the warehouse, replacing the all-glass entry...