(Ferrovial) Awards & Recognitions

New Terminal 4 at Barajas Airport

The International Puente de Alcántara Prize, established by the San Benito de Alcántara Foundation, was awarded in its 10th edition in the Iberian Peninsula to the project for Terminal T4 Barajas Airport, Madrid.

Awarded every two years, the prize aims to recognize the public works project, from Spain or Latin America, which, in the opinion of the panel of judges, attained maximum cultural, technological, aesthetic, functional and social importance, taking into account the technical and aesthetic quality and the perfection achieved in project execution. The prize is jointly awarded to the developer, designers and construction companies involved in the selected work.

The panel of judges, presided over by Enrique Iglesias, secretary general of the Iberoamerican Office, agreed to award the prize for the Iberian Peninsula to Terminal T4 Barajas Airport in Madrid (Spain) “due to its social and economic importance, contributing as it does to providing enormous impetus to the economy and the employment in the Community of Madrid, as with this extension the new Barajas airport becomes the biggest connection and interaction hub between Europe and America, establishing it as the largest gateway between both continents".

Its futuristic appearance and clarity was also praised – with its glass walls and skylights, aside from the fact that with its 1,200,000 m2 total area, T4 is considered to be the largest project completed in Europe in recent years. The final result is an aesthetically appealing functional design, its chief value being the balance achieved between these two aspects.

Radial 4 Highway

This prize, organized by the Institute of Chartered Civil Engineers (Colegio de Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos), was awarded to the Radial 4 toll highway connecting Madrid and Ocaña, a town in the province of Toledo province where special measures were implemented to protect and safeguard the Southeast Regional Park.

The R-4 project was the most significant civil works contract awarded to a single contractor in Spain. The contract contemplates the construction and operation of a total of 96 kilometres of highway divided between the R-4 highway (M-50-Ocaña-N-IV), and the M-50 ring road, specifically the section between the N-IV and N-II routes.

As far as the environment is concerned, special care was taken to protect the lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni) population by securing a feeding area and by building a nesting site to ensure the continuity of the species in the zone; in addition, several measures were taken to encourage and protect local chalk-loving plant species, restoration of gravel pits, new hydroseeding plantations, etc.

126 VPP Sanchinarro, Madrid

The Madrid Association of Registered Architects awards an annual prize for the most relevant architectural projects executed in the previous year, in an event held on the first day of the Architectural Week.

The 126 VPP project in Sanchinarro was awarded a distinction in 2009, together with other new projects and one refurbishment project.

The objective of these awards is to reward architectural projects reflecting the excellent work of the architect and all parties involved in the architectural process.

COAM’s purpose in awarding the distinctions is to highlight the good overall quality of architectural and construction production rather than only recognizing the merit of the authors of the project.

Finalist project: Palacio de Congresos, Ibiza

The Ibiza Conference Centre, in Santa Eulalia des Riu was chosen as finalist for the “Premio de Arquitectura Española 2009", which, under the Honorary Presidency of His Royal Highness the Prince of Asturias, has been convened since 1993 by the Senior Council of Architect Associations of Spain (Consejo Superior de los Colegios de Arquitectos de España, CSCAE).

Organized every two years, the prize is awarded to a completed project that merits recognition due to its outstanding architecture, its innovative contribution and its paradigmatic quality, constructed during the two year period 2007-2008.

Viaducto de Montabliz

The Montabliz viaduct received the IV Acueducto de Segovia Prize. Convened by the Institute of Chartered Civil Engineers (Colegio de Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos), the prize aims to highlight the importance of environmental considerations in civil engineering works and their execution and operation.

This prize is jointly awarded to developers, designers and builders of the selected civil work, which, to be eligible, must have been completed between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2008.

The panel of judges unanimously selected this project "as a result of its technological and functional significance, since from a natural perspective, it successfully resolves the challenges and risks of working in very sensitive zones, devising constructive solutions for the protection of natural and cultural values, and implementing preventive and corrective measures to mitigate the environmental impact”. In addition, the jury took a positive view of the “various outstanding changes and construction solutions employed to protect natural and cultural values, along with the appropriate measures to prevent and correct environmental impact”.

The Montabliz Viaduct also received international recognition with its Nomination for Outstanding Structure at the III FIB Congress (Fédération Internationale du béton or Internacional Concrete Federation) in 2010, which singles out the most outstanding concrete structures built between 1 January 2006 and 31 December 2009. This prize was jointly awarded to the owner and the three companies involved in the construction project.

The award-winning civil works project is situated in an area of extremely difficult geographical features and terrain through which the Meseta Highway passes along the River Bisueña valley in the province of Cantabria. Its problematic location posed a considerable challenge and required a special structural design so as to protect the environmental value of its natural spaces, the unique mixed oak and beech woods of Montabliz and the local fauna.

The planned solution, 145 m high, the tallest piles in Spain, and one of the four largest built in Europe to date-, 175 m central span executed by means of progressive cantilever, and a transversal section design resolved by means of a single box for two lanes with a platform width of 26.1 m, result in an extremely singular structure, constituting a basic element of communication. This viaduct forms part of and is the singular work of the Molledo-Pesquera section. The cost involved in the execution of the11.9 km long viaduct, approximately 184 million euro, makes it one of the most expensive viaducts built so far in Spain. Its technical difficulties represented a great challenge for Spanish civil engineering.

The Montabliz Viaduct is a great work of engineering representing an enormous personal and professional challenge to the more than of 2000 workers who worked non-stop over a five-year period in the execution of this project.