Thomas & Hutton (T&H) of Savannah, Ga., has earned a National Recognition Award for exemplary engineering achievement in the American Council of Engineering Companies’ (ACEC) 56^th annual Engineering Excellence Awards (EEA) for the Hilton Head National RV Resort in Bluffton, S.C. 

T&H helped site owner Scratch Golf turn the loss of 27 acres from its golf complex into a gain by helping repurpose the remaining 97 acres into a luxury RV resort serving visitors to nearby Hilton Head National Golf Club. The property features more than 340 unique sites and resort-style amenities, including fire pits, trails, a beach entry pool with a lazy river, restaurant, tiki bar, dog park, and playground.

Repurposing the golf property posed several challenges, including promoting drainage away from the new RV parking sites. T&H designed a storm system that incorporates existing ponds, and double as an amenity. Trees were protected to offer privacy buffers to an environment conducive to RVing. By carefully grading the site, T&H’s design team created a distinctive resort with extensive tree cover that would have otherwise taken years to mature. The site design lends itself to this goal of luxury and seclusion while providing sites that offer effortless parking and setup.

The project is among 179 EEA entries this year representing engineering excellence from throughout the nation and the world. Judging for the awards program—known industry-wide as the “Academy Awards of the engineering industry”– took place in March and was conducted by a national 27-member panel of built environment leaders, along with experts from government, the media and academia. Award criteria focused on uniqueness and originality, technical innovation, social and economic value, and generating excitement for the engineering profession. 

Recognition of all this year’s award winners, including top winners—16 Honor Awards, 8 Grand Awards and the prestigious “Grand Conceptor Award” for the year’s most outstanding overall engineering achievement—will take place at the annual EEA Gala Dinner and Awards Program, a black-tie event to be held Tuesday, June 13, 2023, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, D.C.