LIS Takes Top Honor at 2025 ACEC Engineering Excellence Awards

PARIS (December 2) — L.I. Smith & Associates (LIS) received the Grand Award in the Surveying and Mapping Technology/Large Project category at the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) Engineering Excellence Awards in November. The honor recognizes LIS’s contributions to the recently completed Crump Boulevard Interchange in Memphis and was presented during the annual gala at The Four Seasons Hotel in Nashville.

The ACEC Engineering Excellence Awards gala is an annual celebration of engineering achievements and honors projects worldwide that demonstrate innovation, creative problem-solving and engineering’s unique ability to improve our world. The Grand Award represents the highest level of recognition, highlighting projects that exemplify engineering excellence and meaningful community impact.

LIS will submit their winning project to the national competition in 2026, where it will be considered alongside top projects from across the country.

The interchange at E.H. Crump Boulevard and I-55, one of downtown Memphis’s busiest and most vital corridors, is a key Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) project that addressed long-standing traffic congestion, safety concerns and mobility challenges.

LIS served as the surveying subcontractor to Bell & Associates Construction, providing construction lines, stakes, grades and detailed 3D grading models to support the work overseen by TDOT. The 3.5-year project, completed in April 2025, transformed the interchange into a safer, more efficient roadway that will benefit commuters, freight traffic and the community for decades.

The project included multiple bridges, ramps and a modern roundabout, as well as two flyover bridges, the reconstructed Wisconsin Street Bridge, 14 retaining walls, a 2,700-foot noise wall and nearly 17,340 linear feet of new roadway. By combining precision surveying with innovative technologies such as drone surveys and 3D grading models delivered directly to field tablets, LIS enhanced project efficiency, minimized rework and ensured accuracy. Survey crews completed beam profiling, camber verification and staking for drilled shafts, geo piers, retaining walls, drainage systems and traffic signals, with all layouts verified against TDOT specifications.

Through this integration of traditional expertise and modern innovation, LIS helped TDOT deliver a safer, more efficient interchange while supporting the project’s on-time completion.

L.I. Smith & Associates is a full-service, integrative engineering and surveying company that provides services to the public and private sectors. Licensed in 12 states throughout the Central and Southeast regions, LIS has an experienced team that can provide multistate coverage for projects of all sizes in land development, infrastructure design and surveying services.

LIS combines industry expertise with new, cutting-edge technology to provide innovative solutions to real-world problems. LIS is a certified Tennessee Small Business Enterprise headquartered in Paris, Tenn., with a branch located in Nashville.