Manhattan Construction Company receives National Excellence in Construction Award from Associated Builders and Contractors for United Technical Operations Center

HOUSTON, TEXAS—Manhattan Construction Company today announced work on the United Technical Operations Center at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas has earned a national Excellence in Construction® (EIC) Pyramid Award, presented during the ABC Convention 2021 in Grapevine, Texas, on March 10. The EIC awards program is the industry’s leading competition that honors both general and specialty contractors for world-class, safe and innovative construction projects.

“The completion of Hangar X at the United Technical Operations Center presented a unique set of challenges that all project stakeholders worked collaboratively to effectively and creatively solve,” said Jason Fuller, Manhattan Construction Company vice president. “Our Manhattan family of builders shares this national recognition with United Airlines, Houston Airport Systems, our trade partners, and the design and project management teams.”

Completed in early 2020, the $122-million United Technical Operations Center (UTOC) Hangar X project encompasses 250,000 square feet of building space on a 32-acre development. Construction included a 2.5-wide plane body hangar and a 25,000-square-foot engine build-up area. The hangar included a standard coverage sprinkler system and a foam generator sprinkler system. Work also included roughly 13 acres of new hardstand and taxi lane paving and the renovation of existing Hangar E and the United Stores Facility. The project also incorporated a new 52,000-square-foot Shops Facility addition to the existing Hangar E Engine Build-Up facility. For the UTOC project, Manhattan Construction Company served as the general contractor, VRX, Inc./JLA Construction-Joint Venture served as the program manager, and FSB Architects & Engineers served as the design team.

“For more than 30 years, ABC has honored award-winning construction projects like United Technical Operations Center because the work by the team at Manhattan Construction Company exemplifies excellence in our industry,” said 2021 ABC National Chair of the Board of Directors Steve Klessig, vice president of architecture and engineering, Keller Inc., Kaukauna, Wisconsin. “This world-class construction project is a vital part of our economic engine, built safely, on time and under budget, and it is an honor to congratulate Manhattan Construction Company for their commitment to setting the standard for excellence in construction.”

The EIC award honors all construction team members, including the contractor, owner, architect and engineer. The winning projects, selected from entries across the nation, were judged on complexity, attractiveness, unique challenges overcome, completion time, workmanship, innovation, safety and cost.

This year’s panel included representatives from Building Owners and Managers Association International, Smithsonian Facilities Construction Division, Construction Management Association of America, Engineering News-Record, Design-Build Institute of America and various construction-related firms nationwide.

PeopleReady Skilled Trades is the presenting sponsor of the Excellence in Construction® Awards.