MADISON, WI — raSmith of Brookfield, Wisconsin, has earned a National Recognition Award for exemplary engineering achievement in the American Council of Engineering Companies’ (ACEC) 59th annual Engineering Excellence Awards (EEA). The award comes for the firm’s role in the renovation of the Kohl Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
raSmith provided structural engineering services for the $46 million expansion and renovation project, which features a 55,000-square-foot, three-story addition constructed directly above the existing southwest loading dock, an area critical to daily operations. To support this elevated structure without disrupting dock access, the design team used four 120-foot-long plate girders, some reaching depths of 8 to 9 feet. These plate girders span the dock without vertical supports, preserving critical access while supporting a high-performance training facility above.
The substantial size and span of the plate girders presented challenges related to vibration and acoustic resonance, especially given the intense athletic activity occurring directly above. The project team developed a first-of-its-kind custom-engineered isolation system that integrates pre-loaded, steel coil spring isolators with built-in horizontal and vertical restraints, forming a composite steel-and-concrete inertia base that absorbs dropped weights and prevents vibration and structure-borne noise from spreading throughout the building.
Judging for the awards program was conducted by a national 32-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 excitement generated toward the engineering profession.
All 240 award winners — including 16 Honor Awards, eight Grand Awards, and the announcement of the Grand Conceptor Award for the year’s most outstanding overall engineering achievement — will take place at the 2026 EEA Gala at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C.
