Social Value and Large Project Awards
North and East Melton Mowbray Distributor Road
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The ICE East Midlands Merit Awards (EMMAs) celebrate projects of all sizes and scopes from across the region, as well as individual civil and infrastructure engineering achievements.
Our 2026 awards winners
Project awards
Ranging from a Social Value award to multi-million-pound projects, these awards celebrate innovative projects across our region.
North and East Melton Mowbray Distributor Road
The North and East Melton Mowbray Distributor Road, delivered by Galliford Try, Leicestershire County Council and AECOM, received Merit on both the Social Value (sponsored by Taylor Woodrow) and Large Project Award categories.
The scheme delivered a 7km bypass aimed at reducing congestion in the local community. The scheme also demonstrated carbon-saving initiatives including the use of cold-mix asphalt containing 92% recycled materials. Created on-site, these construction methods significantly reduced transport emissions and improved efficiency.
Highly Commended in the same categories went to Danaher & Walsh Civil Engineering and Galliford Try for their entry Ashbourne Reborn: Town Centre Transformation.
The scheme demonstrated a legacy in a town by embedding local school children’s handprints in granite walkways. Pupils from the school also created a time capsule that was placed beneath the paving of a square.
Climate Mitigation and Adaptation Award
Witches Oak Raw Water Abstraction and Wetlands
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Witches Oak Raw Water Abstraction and Wetlands
Mott MacDonald Bentley and Severn Trent Water received Merit for their entry: Witches Oak Raw Water Abstraction and Wetlands.
The scheme created 31 floating ecosystems, which mimic elements of self-sustaining, naturally occurring riparian wetlands. The addition of the floating wetlands as a water treatment solution makes this a low-carbon solution to improve river water quality.
Galliford Try, Leicestershire County Council and AECOM received Merit for their work on the North and East Melton Mowbray Distributor Road.
The Climate Mitigation and Adaptation Award was proudly sponsored by WM Plant Hire.
Innovation and Technical Excellence Award
Lincolnshire Reservoir: Remote Groundwater Monitoring
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Lincolnshire Reservoir: Remote Groundwater Monitoring
Anglian Water received the Merit for their entry Lincolnshire Reservoir: Remote Groundwater Monitoring.
This scheme replaced periodic manual data downloads with automated monitoring.
This enabled the monitoring of near real-time groundwater level and temperature data from 50 boreholes through a secure digital platform, eliminating extensive site visits and improved data readability which improved engineering decisions based on groundwater variation.
Whitehouse Construction received Highly Commended for their entry BSI Certified Property Flood Resilience Solutions. Using a purpose-built facility, featuring 21,000 litre wave simulations, they were able to test products beyond standard requirements, to ensure consistent performance and durability.
Organisation of the Year
Galliford Try
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Galliford Try
Galliford Try was named Organisation of the Year, an award given at the judges’ discretion.
Galliford Try collaborated with multiple partners across various entries at this this year’s ICE East Midlands Merit Awards.
They demonstrated exemplary stakeholder management across schemes with commitments to local communities.
Notably, even some of this organisation’s volunteers joined a local town’s fashion show.
Equality, Diveristy and Inclusion and Team Achievement Awards
Derby Mobility Schemes
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Derby Mobility Schemes
Balfour Beatty and Derby City Council received Merit in both the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion and Team Achievement Award categories for their entry Derby Mobility Schemes.
The teams worked closely with SEND schools, where activities were led by colleagues with shared experiences with disability. These interactions helped highlight to children that there is diversity and inclusion within the construction sector.
Highly Commended in the same categories went to Jackson Civil Engineering, the Environment Agency and JBA Consulting for the first year’s phase of the Debris Screen Improvement Programme.
Health and Safety Award
Hill View Road Storm Overflow Upgrade
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Hill View Road Storm Overflow Upgrade
The Merit award in the Health and Safety category was awarded to Galliford Try and GHD for their entry: Hill View Road Storm Overflow Upgrades.
This project was awarded for its proactive, evidence-based approach to hazard identification and risk management.
Virtual planning removed uncertainty and enabled risks to be addressed before arriving on site.
Highly Commended went to MWH Treatment for their entry Wanlip Water Treatment Upgrades.
People awards
ICE East Midlands organises and supports awards that showcase the outstanding achievements of ICE members in the region.
Rising Star Award
Hannah Deane
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Rising Star Award
Hannah Deane, a civil engineering degree apprentice, who works at Kier Infrastructure won the Rising Star Award.
Hannah was recognised for, who in a short time has built a reputation for their engineering judgement.
They worked independently on the design of a new contraflow cycleway within a sensitive heritage area in Northamptonshire.
Highly Commended was awarded to Michael Dixon a graduate assistant engineer at Arcadis.
Individual of the Year Award
Teresa Hylton
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Individual of the Year Award
Teresa Hylton, a regional director at Waterman Aspen was named as 2026’s Individual of the Year.
Teresa is responsible for an impressive 67 colleagues and is known for leading with empathy and purpose.
She has also been instrumental in establishing a Women in Transport Hub in the East Midlands, bringing people together from across the transport sector.
Highly Commended went Hayley Jackson, a pre-construction manager at Coffey Construction.
Regional STEM Ambassador of the Year Award
Tanya Donkon
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Regional STEM Ambassador of the Year Award
Tanya Donkon, design lead at Mott MacDonald Bentley was named as the East Midlands Regional STEM Ambassador of the Year.
Tanya was recognised for successfully leading over 40 students through placements, with design activities, site visits and presentations.
She also supported ICE at the Girlguiding Magical Midlands event last summer which attracted 6,500 Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Rangers on one of the hottest days of the year! An event to inspire girls to consider a career in civil and infrastructure engineering.
Our 2026 awards sponsors
Headline sponsor
Waterman Aspen
Waterman Aspen welcomes engineers and technical specialists to make their mark on some of the biggest infrastructure projects across the UK on a secondment basis.
Awards sponsors
Taylor Woodrow
Taylor Woodrow's vision is to engineer sustainable infrastructure for today and tomorrow. The assets we build support the UK’s Net Zero environmental transition, unlock mobility through improvements to the highways and rail networks and enhance living standards through urban realm regeneration.
WM Plant Hire
WM Plant Hire is dedicated to long reach solutions. With over 50 years of industry experience and one of the largest fleet of long reach machines in the UK, their specialist knowledge and dedication adds real value to customers, enabling efficient project delivery.
Could you be our next awards sponsor?
With local representation and multiple options from single award through to headline sponsor for all 12 regions, we have a sponsorship package tailored to you. Get in touch with the team today.