February 9, 2026

National Platinum Award — Special Projects

Photo courtesy of ACEC

Jacobs led planning and design, and supported construction, ensuring each project within the Waterfront Seattle Program was well-integrated within the program and surrounding infrastructure.

Jacobs
Waterfront Seattle Program
City of Seattle Office of the Waterfront and Civic Projects

Removing the Alaskan Way Viaduct unlocked a historic opportunity: to reclaim the waterfront as the heart of civic life, a space that celebrates Seattle’s identity and reconnects people with the water. The Waterfront Seattle Program represents a bold reimagining of this vital corridor — transforming 26 city blocks and 1.5 miles of shoreline into a vibrant, accessible, and climate-resilient waterfront for generations to come.

As program manager and lead engineer, Jacobs guided this vision from concept to completion, uniting more than 12 integrated projects — including Alaskan Way/Elliott Way and Promenade, Overlook Walk, Pier 58 and 62, and two landmark pedestrian bridges — into a seamless civic experience that reconnects city, people, and the Sound.

In collaboration with the City of Seattle’s Office of the Waterfront and Civic Projects, Jacobs led the planning, design, and supported construction for the Waterfront Seattle Program, orchestrating multimodal infrastructure, and urban placemaking within one of Seattle’s most complex environments.

The team delivered 55,000 square yards of new and restored pavement, 16,000 linear feet of upgraded utilities, and 4.2 acres of lush landscaping with more than 150,000 native plants and trees. Together, these elements create a vibrant waterfront — one that enhances mobility, resilience and invites the community to engage with the waterfront in new and meaningful ways.

Delivering this generational transformation required deep collaboration between city and state agencies, community stakeholders, and adjacent projects and developments. Coordinating between more than a dozen contracts, featuring a wide range of engineering disciplines, Jacobs ensured that each project within the Waterfront Seattle Program was well-integrated within the program and surrounding infrastructure.

Today, the revitalized Waterfront stands as a national model of urban resilience and civic renewal.

Other Stories:

• National Gold Award — Structural Systems
  
• Best in State - Gold Award: Uniqueness and/or Innovative Application of New or Existing Techniques
  
• Best in State - Gold Award: Successful Fulfillment of Client/Owner Needs
  
• Best in State - Gold Award: Complexity
  
• Best in State - Gold Award: Social, Economic, and Sustainable Development Considerations
  
• Best in State - Gold Award: Future Value to the Engineering Profession and Enhanced Public Awareness/Enthusiasm for the Role of Engineering
  
• Best in State - Gold Award: Complexity
  
• Best in State - Gold Award: Social, Economic, and Sustainable Development Considerations
  
• National Gold Award — Studies Research, Consulting
  
• National Gold Award — Transportation
  
• Engineer of the Year