Garver-led lighting project honored with ACEC Texas Gold Award

A Garver-led project that helped Dallas Love Field solve issues related to glare, insufficient light levels, and high maintenance costs was recognized recently as one of the top engineering achievements in the state.

The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) of Texas recently held its annual Engineering Excellence Awards Gala and the Garver-led Dallas Love Field Exterior Lighting Project earned a Gold Award in the Energy category. The award recognizes projects that demonstrate a high degree of achievement, value, and ingenuity.

“We’re honored to win this award and even prouder that our work has benefited those who utilize the airfield,” said Garver Dallas Aviation Leader Mitchell McAnally, PE, PMP. “It’s very rewarding to deliver a project that meets the twin goals of resolving safety issues and being economical and energy efficient.”

Almost a decade ago, Dallas Love Field opened a new terminal, but it was equipped with an insufficient lighting system that impacted workers and created safety hazards for pilots and air traffic controllers. Garver’s Aviation Team, led by McAnally and Texas Aviation Electrical Leader Matthew LeMay, PE, found and executed a creative solution to address those issues that ultimately made the airport safer, more efficient, and reduced energy consumption.

With an innovative yet cost-effective approach, Garver’s team was able to upgrade lighting distribution to meet industry standards, eliminate glare issues, improve insufficient light levels, and drastically reduce expensive lighting maintenance costs throughout the airport.

“We’ve had a long-term partnership working with Love Field, and we’re always proud to increase the safety for travelers, pilots, and staff,” LeMay said. “The project not only increases flying and landing safety, but these new LED systems are energy efficient as well, reducing operating costs and making it easier for these systems to be maintained.”

The solutions, coupled with utilizing Musco Lighting fixtures, have led to a 67% reduction in energy consumption, along with nearly $30,000 in annual savings in energy and maintenance costs.

“I’m so proud to have played a leading engineering role in this project because it doesn’t just improve operations and safety now, but it will for many decades to come” said Garver Aviation Electrical Resiliency Leader Vladimir Stevanovic, PE. “Our job is to help our clients find the most efficient solutions to their problems, and I can honestly say, that our team did just that in this case.”

To learn more about what Garver’s Aviation Team can do for you, visit our Aviation services page.