Crawford, Murphy & Tilly (CMT) is humbled to receive an American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) Grand Award for the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) Runways 1-19 and 15-33 Pavement & Lighting Replacement project – placing the project among just eight Grand Award recipients nationwide. This honor was presented at ACEC’s annual Engineering Excellence Awards Gala, recognizing projects that demonstrate innovation, creative problem-solving, and engineering’s unique ability to improve the world.

Runway 1‑19 at DCA is the busiest runway in the United States, making reliability and safety paramount. To support uninterrupted operations at this highly constrained airfield, the $94.4 million project delivered critical pavement and lighting upgrades while minimizing impacts to airport users. Success was driven by innovative engineering solutions, meticulous logistics planning, and a highly coordinated construction phasing strategy.

CMT led a large, multidisciplinary team to design and execute the full rehabilitation of Runways 1‑19 and 15‑33, including associated taxiways and airfield lighting systems. All work was completed during tightly controlled overnight runway closures between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., allowing the airport to return to full operational status each morning. This approach expanded the limits of what could be accomplished in a seven‑hour work window while keeping the airport fully functional each day.