Harbors and Navigation Awards

Details and application guidelines for the 2018 AAPA Harbors and Navigation Awards will be posted mid-June. 

The AAPA Harbors and Navigation Awards recognize outstanding projects conducted at public port authorities and partnership projects between ports and federal agency partners and service providers. These projects will be evaluated on the wide range of impacts that port authority projects have not only to the immediate port community but to the constituent community served by the port.

Award Categories:

1. Award of Excellence to an AAPA Corporate Member for outstanding Harbor or Navigation Project.
2. Award of Excellence for partnership with a government agency (foreign or domestic) in Canada, the Caribbean, Latin America or the United States.
3. Award of Excellence for outstanding service from an AAPA Associate or Sustaining Member (or Team) on a Harbor or Navigation port assignment.
4. Quality Partnership Award for people or teams within the Corps and a Port which serves as an outstanding example of partnership related to a Harbor or Navigation Project.

Note:  Because of the exemplary nature of its intended recipients, each award category will not necessarily be presented every year. The evaluation committee also reserves the right to (sparingly) recognize more than one submission in each category as a winning entry (which would be acknowledged as co-recipients) or utilize any or all of the following award subcategories – Award of Excellence – Award of Merit – Honorable Mention, within each category. The evaluators also, at their discretion, may use the following measures to consider a winning entry:  size, scale and/or scope of the individual submission.

Types of projects that would be of specific interest:

Harbor, navigation and/or seaport planning or development project that addresses dredging, sediment management, waterside port infrastructure development, navigation and operations technologies, demand and supply chain logistics, vessel traffic management, improving operational efficiencies in berths and federal channels.

Nine proposed general award criteria, in no particular order, are used to evaluate the entries in the competition:

1. The creativity of the solution or program.
2. The cost effectiveness of the activity or the program.
3. Sustainability of the solution from life-cycle cost, social and environmental perspectives appropriate to the local context.
4. Level of independent involvement and effort by the port (for Outstanding Harbors and Navigation Projects only).
5. The transferability of the technology, approach or idea within the port industry.
6. Economic outcome and/or long-term value of the activity/return on investment.
7. Whether the project results are apparent (the project must be complete through some beneficial increment).
8. Projects must have been completed within the last five years for consideration.
9. Appropriate stakeholder involvement.

For more information on the Harbors and Navigation Awards contact Jim Walker, Director of Navigation Policy and Legislation, at 703-706-4715 or e-mail: jwalker@aapa-ports.org.