UCA honours William “Bill” Edgerton with Lifetime Achievement Award

During his 50-year career Edgerton has made significant contributions to the underground construction industry and inspired engineers with the philosophy that constructability should be considered throughout the design of all underground works.

He has dedicated his career to improving productivity by developing contract documents that fairly allocate risk, and his communication skills and ability to engage people across multiple organisations comprising multiple disciplines has created a legacy of excellence within the industry.

As president of Jacobs Associates (now McMillen Jacobs Associates) from 1999-2011, Edgerton guided the firm through a period of significant geographical expansion. He remains a principal in the firm and continues to mentor leaders both in the company and the underground design and construction industry.

Edgerton’s expertise includes hands-on field construction experience and a wide range of project team roles including field engineering, design, construction management, and dispute resolution. During his time at McMillen Jacobs he has contributed to many of the company’s signature projects such as DC Water’s Combined Sewer Overflow Program, the Los Angeles Metro-Rail system, Narragansett Bay CSO Phase I Program, King County’s Brightwater Conveyance Tunnels, San Bernardino’s Inland Feeder Arrowhead Tunnels, and Puerto Rico’s Tren Urbano subway.

He has also made significant contributions to the industry. In 2021 he was president of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME), the first SME president to come from the UCA, a division of SME. He is UCA’s lead member to the ITA Working Group 3 (Contractual Practices in Underground Construction) and since 2001 has also served as a program evaluator for civil and construction engineering programmes on behalf of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET).

Edgerton has also served on the executive committee of the UCA of SME and the board of directors for SME, acted as the education and training committee chairman for the UCA of SME, and is a member of the Moles and the National Academy of Construction.

He received his BSc in civil engineering from Tufts University in 1970 and his MBA in procurement and contracting from George Washington University in 1979. He is a registered professional engineer in five states. Edgerton has already received several industry awards, including the 2002 North American Tunneling Conference Outstanding Individual in the Underground Industry, the 2010 Outstanding Achievement Award from Tufts University’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, and the 2012 Golden Beaver Award for Engineering.

The 2022 UCA Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented on June 20 at the awards session of the 2022 North American Tunneling Conference in Philadelphia.