The Tamworth Sports Dome’s builders, Hines Construction, earnt a merit for sporting facilities up to $50 million, and John Holland won the Excellence in Construction Award for civil engineering projects over $50 million for the Keepit Dam safety upgrade.

The awards are the culmination of 14 judges travelling around the state visiting constructions from the 22 project divisions that are available for entry.

The Keepit Dam safety upgrade saw the John Holland company perform vital safety upgrades to the dam including spillways, a saddle dam and two sealed roads, meaning the dam can now cope with extreme flooding and earthquakes, protecting the towns of Gunnedah, Wee Waa, Narrabri and Walgett.

NSW/ACT general manager for infrastructure at John Holland, Rob Monaci, said it was challenged to showcase itsentrepreneurship, innovation, and commitment to continuous improvement on itsprojects.

“It’s a great achievement for the team at Keepit Dam, and recognises the hard work and commitment they have put into the project,” Mr Monaci said.

John Holland won three other awards as well: for the Australian Army Infantry Museum in Singleton, the Cessnock Correctional Facility, and an award for reuse of an historic building for the Equinix in Sydney.

While the Sports Dome won a merit for  outstanding building, another major regional and Tamworth builder, National Buildplan,  won the category for the Margaret Whitlam Recreation Centre and Waverley Park in Bondi.

The awards have been running for 25 years, with the top gong being the award for outstanding construction.

This year that award went to Brookfield Multiplex Constructions for its amazing Tyree Energy Technologies building on the University of NSW Kensington campus, which has a six-star green star design for its sustainability.

The building is self- sufficient in power, harvests rainwater for consumption, and recycles bore water through the cooling system.