Five projects in Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee — including two that were part of Hurricane Helene recovery efforts — were among the winners in this year’s Baldwin Group Build America Awards.

The 2026 award winners were announced at the annual convention of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) in Orlando, Florida.

“These projects reflect the highest standard of craftsmanship, innovation, and collaboration in our industry — strengthening communities, advancing infrastructure, and demonstrating what’s possible when excellence leads the way,” said Joe Charczenko, Partner and Construction Practice President for The Baldwin Group.

For 44 years, the Build America Awards have recognized excellence in the construction industry. A panel of judges representing all areas of construction evaluated submitted projects based on factors including innovation, complexity, and contribution to the community.

In the Dixie Contractor region, the following projects received 2026 Build America Awards.

This project, delivered under the Tennessee Department of Transportation’s (TDOT) first progressive design-build (PDB) contract, earned an award in the Highway and Transportation New ($20 million to $100 million) category.

In September 2024, catastrophic rainfall resulting from Hurricane Helene and a stalled frontal system destroyed the Sgt. Elbert Kinser Bridge (State Route 107) and severely damaged the Alfred Taylor Bridge (State Route 81) over the Nolichucky River in eastern Tennessee.

Kiewit Infrastructure South Co. rebuilt both crossings in just 7.5 months. The team mobilized within 72 hours and advanced design and construction in parallel to restore critical access between the Greeneville, Jonesborough, and Erwin communities. They reopened the $60.4 million project one month early with zero recordable incidents over 65,000 work hours.

“Collaborative teamwork was the key to everything here,” said Jason Sholtz, TDOT Region 1 Alternative Delivery Manager. “We had so many moving pieces — VERY quickly moving — to manage, that there just had to be trust that everyone on the PDB team was pulling in the same direction.”

The PDB approach allowed the team to more effectively identify and mitigate risks.

“The single biggest advantage of using the progressive design-build model was having the contractor in the room very early in the design process,” Sholtz said. “This allowed the identification of constructability issues, which are routinely among the riskiest unknowns in a traditional design-bid-build process.”

Mike Svoboda, Kiewit’s Project Manager, estimated that with a traditional delivery method, the project would have taken at least two years.

Instead, to speed delivery, “The PDB team worked extremely hard to identify risk and decide who would bear it very early in the design process,” Sholtz said. “This became of critical importance during construction. As inevitable issues arose, there was nothing that surprised the team. Decisions were made on the spot, because we had done a good job of being thorough in our identification of potential risks and how those would be mitigated. This saved precious time and prevented costly change orders.”

Sholtz also credited the impact of interagency planning and cooperation. “This is something we’ve always known but seeing it in action here was an object lesson in how it should be. The speed at which emergency processes were implemented across multiple state and federal agencies enabled the project team to navigate processes that are normally very time-consuming in an extremely expedited manner. It was a real testament to the value of emergency planning BEFORE you have an emergency.”

Construction crews worked through extreme winter weather and highly variable springtime river levels, managing labor and equipment needs to restore the community’s connection to essential resources.

“Being part of a team comprised of people from across the country who converged here in east Tennessee to attack the task with resolve and respect is something that I don’t think any of us had ever been a part of,” Sholtz said. “It truly was remarkable and moving to witness.”

Michels received the Marvin M. Black Excellence in Partnering and Collaboration award for projects under $20 million for their work on another structure damaged by Hurricane Helene.

Michels stabilized and restored the historic SR 67 bridge over the Doe River in Elizabethton, Tennessee, under an accelerated progressive design-build contract. The team installed micropiles to secure the foundation and used synchronized lifting to return the bridge deck to its original elevation. They completed substructure and superstructure repairs within months to restore the community’s critical transportation link.

A joint venture of McCarthy Building Companies and Barnsley Construction Group received the award in the New Building ($20 million to $75 million) category.

The $74.5 million Brookhaven City Centre is Georgia’s first mass timber municipal building and the city of Brookhaven’s first purpose-built city hall. The 58,250-square-foot facility blends exposed engineered wood with concrete to create a modern, sustainable civil landmark.

Located on a tight urban site, the project required careful coordination of large, prefabricated timber components to keep work moving efficiently. The team delivered the project on schedule, providing public gathering space and offices for city leadership serving nearly 60,000 residents.

Balfour Beatty received the award in the Construction Management New ($75 million to $125 million) category.

The $110.7 million Kinetic Student Housing Tower is a 34-story, 500,000-square-foot high-rise in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia. It includes 239 units and 752 beds for Georgia Tech and Georgia State University students, plus a rooftop pool, fitness center, and three-sports lounge.

Careful planning and phased construction allowed the team to stay on track despite working on a tight city site with tough soil conditions. They finished the project on time, within budget, and with zero punch list items.

JCCBG, a joint venture between Jordon Construction Company and Brasfield & Gorrie, earned the award in the Building, New or Renovation, category for projects between $76 million and $125 million.

The Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility is a 95,000-square-foot research building for the U.S. Geological Survey to advance national water monitoring and research capabilities. Located on the University of Alabama’s Tuscaloosa campus, the $89 million project included the installation of massive custom testing equipment that required special structural and electrical upgrades. The energy-efficient building also features 504 solar panels and recycled nearly 1,800 tons of material.

Despite the complex challenges, the team kept the job on schedule, logging more than 383,000 work hours with zero lost-time injuries.