The Underground Construction Association (UCA) has revealed the winners of this year’s awards to be presented at the 2026 North American Tunnelling Conference (NAT 2026) in June.
The awards, which honour outstanding individuals and project teams across the industry, will be presented during the conference’s opening plenary on Tuesday, June 16 in Anaheim, California.
“We are thrilled to present another class of outstanding awardees as they take centre stage amongst a large contingent of their peers at NAT,” said NAT 2026 chair and principal at Delve Underground Amanda Morgan. “Their remarkable achievements reflect the vitality of the industry, which is positioned to continue driving key innovations that improve quality of life on a massive scale.”
NAT 2026, to be held from June 15-18, will be the largest tunnelling conference in North America this year. It will attract more than 1,200 professionals and students and over 165 exhibitors.
This year’s award winners are:
UCA Lifetime Achievement Award – Jerome P Shaw, president, SAK LLC
The UCA Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded to a professional who has made an indelible mark on the industry. Jerome P Shaw receives the award for his outstanding contributions to the underground and tunnelling industry, demonstrating innovation, leadership, and dedication throughout his career.
UCA Lifetime Achievement Award – Amanda Elioff, senior vice-president, National Practice Lead –
Tunnels, WSP USA
Amanda Elioff receives the UCA Lifetime Achievement Award for her enduring leadership and technical excellence that has significantly advanced tunnelling innovation, strengthened communities, and inspired future engineers and women throughout a distinguished career in underground construction.
UCA Lifetime Achievement Award – Thomas J Clemens, president of North American Tunnelling, DSI Underground (retired)
Thomas J Clemens receives the UCA Lifetime Achievement Award for his enthusiasm, extensive contributions, and dedication to the underground and tunnelling industry throughout his career.
UCA Muddy Boots Award – John Kiernan, general superintendent, Skanska Civil Northeast
The UCA Muddy Boots Award recognises field supervisors who implement efficient work operations, mentor future leaders, provide high quality work, and demonstrate a record of fostering a strong safety culture. John Kiernan receives the award for his dedication in leading his miners safely through all types of ground with pride and confidence.
UCA Outstanding Educator Award – Tom Iseley, professor of engineering practice, Purdue University
Tom Iseley has demonstrated tireless dedication as a teacher, researcher and practitioner who has been an advocate of and made significant contributions to the tunnelling and underground industry throughout his career.
UCA Person of the Year – Moussa Wone, chief engineer & vice-president, DC Water
Moussa Wone is honoured for his significant contributions and leadership in advancing the owners’ effective participation in furthering fairness among contracting parties during the construction of tunnels and underground facilities.
UCA Young Member Award – Jack Lawrence, tunnel engineer, HNTB
Jack Lawrence is recognised for implementing transformative leadership, innovative use of AI, and providing lasting impact on the UCA community.
UCA Project of the Year US$100-500m – Fermi Forward Discovery Group (FFDG), Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility Project
The Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility Project will provide the space, infrastructure and particle beam for DUNE, an experiment focused on the study of elusive particles known as neutrinos. DUNE represents the largest physics experiment in US history. The award recognises contributions from Fermi Forward Discovery Group (FFDG), Arup, Delve Underground, Kiewit Alberici JV, and Thyssen Mining Group.
UCA Project of the Year Less than US$100m – Merco Inc, Legislative Plaza Renovations Project
Skanska USA Building selected Merco for the demolition of the Motlow Tunnel, part of Skanska’s contract to renovate and rebuild the Legislative Plaza and War Memorial Building in Nashville, Tennessee.
Given the difficulty of using traditional mechanical excavation techniques, Merco designed and employed precision blasting using Dyno Nobel’s novel Digishot digital detonation system. Merco’s skilful implementation of the digital detonation system enabled the client to meet their aggressive schedule requirements safely and without incident.
UCA Technical Innovation Award – Arup, Loupe360 and Automated Tunnel Inspection Innovation
Arup, in partnership with Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario, has developed an automated tunnel inspection solution that transforms how inspections are delivered on major infrastructure projects. Deployed on the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension, the system improves safety and quality by reducing the need for inspectors to enter hazardous environments during construction and provides advanced data analytics for close-out inspection and agreement. Panoramic camera arrays mounted on operational vehicles produce high-resolution tunnel images continuously which are reviewed remotely within Loupe360, Arup’s cloud-based digital inspection platform.
For more on NAT 2026, visit natconference.org.
