Ironbridge Gorge Restoration wins at 2025 ICE West Midlands Awards

On Thursday 1 May 2025 the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) held their annual West Midlands Awards and Gala Dinner in Birmingham.

Sponsored by Taylor Woodrow, the ICE West Midlands annual awards were held on 1 May 2025 in Birmingham. Guests were joined by ICE President, Professor Jim Hall and guest speaker was Professor Turi King, Director of the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath, known for her work leading the genetic analysis for the identification of King Richard III.

The Ironbridge Gorge Upper Furnace Pool Restoration project won the Heritage Award, delivered by WM Longreach and Balfour Beatty Living Places for Telford & Wrekin Council.

Dating back to 1658, the Upper Furnace Pool formed part of the Ironbridge watercourse network used to power the blast furnaces of Coalbrookdale and became the most important iron production centre in the world during the industrial revolution.

Working at the World Heritage Site, the project team needed to consider various challenges, including extensive silt accumulation in a live watercourse set below a historic railway viaduct and within a residential area.

In conferring the award, the judges were impressed with the management of silt removal, by using long reach excavators, which provided safer working whilst restoring the local waterways. The area is now a popular walking location and school children have visited the site to learn about the engineering process.

In the same category the Radford River Bridge Refurbishment, delivered by Amey for Staffordshire County Council, was Highly Commended.

The judges applauded the project team’s use of approved locally-sourced stone, which was shaped using milling and hydro-jetting equipment, creating a high-quality finish to match the existing column geometry.

Commenting on this year’s awards, ICE East and West Midlands Regional Director, Jo Barnett, said:

“Our judges had a diverse range of projects to consider from all sectors of the industry, drawn from right across the region. Many entries this year also highlighted the sustainable benefits civil engineers in the region are bringing to our everyday lives and these particular projects are both a great example of that.

“Our annual awards are important in not only demonstrating the importance of civil engineers, whose hard work and dedication can often go unnoticed, but in also celebrating the positive impact that civil engineering has right across the region.”