Ryan Companies announces that the sustainable infrastructure at Highland Bridge has earned the Grand Award and the People’s Choice Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Minnesota (ACEC/MN). On the national stage, Highland Bridge was selected as one of only 16 projects out of 240 nationwide submissions to receive an Honor Award from the ACEC National Engineering Excellence Awards. Ryan, who collaborated with Barr Engineering Co., Kimley-Horn, and the Capitol Region Watershed District (CRWD) on the project, was recognized at the national gala on May 5, 2026, in Washington, D.C. 

While experts determine the Grand Award, the People’s Choice Award is the result of a public and professional vote, marking it as a significant honor within the engineering community. This is the second Ryan Companies project to receive this distinction, following the previous success of CHS Field in St. Paul. According to leadership at the Capitol Region Watershed District, the scale of this development serves as a new national model for how urban areas can manage stormwater more effectively. 

For decades, the 122-acre site of the former Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant stood as an industrial anchor for Saint Paul’s Highland Park neighborhood. Following the plant’s closure in 2011, the redevelopment of this massive riverfront property presented a unique engineering challenge: how to manage the intense stormwater demands of a high-density, mixed-use district while protecting the adjacent Mississippi River. 

The solution is a central water feature stretching several city blocks. This feature is not merely aesthetic; it is the visible component of a sophisticated filtration network that mimics the site’s natural hydrology. 

The filtration relies on a coordinated strategy that manages and treats runoff from the site and a 25-acre off-site drainage area through collection and pre-treatment, subsurface filtration and a nature zone. With this strategy, stormwater is routed through five dedicated rain gardens and an open pond, then into five high-capacity underground filtration systems that provide deep cleaning and remove common pollutants. Once treated, the water moves through a channel that feeds a stream connected to the headwaters of Hidden Falls, a nearby waterfall and park. 

The Highland Bridge system treats approximately 64 million gallons of rainwater annually. By filtering this volume at the source, the project prevents an estimated 28 tons of sediment and 147 pounds of phosphorus from entering the Mississippi River each year. These metrics were a key factor in the project’s recognition by the ACEC National panel, which evaluates entries based on complexity, innovation, and social value. 

The Capitol Region Watershed District (CRWD), a primary partner and regulator for the project, views Highland Bridge as a blueprint for the future of urban density. By treating water as a community asset rather than a waste product, the development proves that environmental restoration and economic growth are not mutually exclusive. 

The project was formally honored on the national stage at the ACEC Engineering Excellence Awards Gala in Washington, D.C., on May 5, 2026.