Mortenson Construction Wins Innovation Award for Virtual Design and Construction Technology

Minneapolis, MN -Minneapolis-based, Mortenson Construction (Mortenson) today announced that Sera Maloney, PE, of Mortenson Renewable Energy Groups was named as the winner of the Be Inspired Awards in the Innovation in Land Development, Engineering, and Management category.

Sponsored by Bentley Systems, the Be Inspired Awards program recognizes the world’s most outstanding infrastructure projects.  The projects are submitted by Bentley’s software users and judged by a jury of independent experts who select finalists that exemplify innovation, superior vision, and an unwavering commitment to exceptional quality and productivity.  Selected projects within the Innovation in Land Development, Engineering and Management  category  must demonstrate excellence in planning, engineering, analysis, design, and management of site projects for buildings, plants, environmental, commercial, or governmental campuses.

Mortenson’s award submittal was based on their ability to effectively use Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) technology to overcome  the challenges of  building on environmentally protected lands owned by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for the Spring Valley Wind project located in Ely, Nevada.  Mortenson modeled each stage of construction to optimize the layout of turbine parts and equipment. Reducing the project footprint by nearly 40 percent per turbine site, it significantly minimized the cultural, historical, and biological impact of construction.  Owned by Pattern Energy, Spring Valley is the first wind project to be built in Nevada.

“We are very proud of Sera’s accomplishments with VDC,” said Mark Ruffino, vice president of preconstruction for  Mortenson’s Renewable Energy Groups.  "Sera has been instrumental in introducing our customers within the renewable energy sector to virtual design construction technology and is considered as one of the leading experts in the industry.  We are exceptionally fortunate to have her as a key member of our team.”

VDC is a process used to enhance collaboration, reduce time and cost, and foresee project constraints before they occur.  The process uses a CAD created model—typically created in 3D— to virtually build the project before construction begins.  Mortenson is one of the few renewable energy contractors using it today as a standard pre-planning component in the preconstruction process.

Having earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from the University of Minnesota, Ms. Maloney is a professional civil engineer with over 20 years of expertise in engineering and Virtual Design Technology with an emphasis on the global implementation of high-end technical software and interstate design projects.