Member Article

Darlington Engineer scoops Prestigious Prize

Mercedes Ascaso Til, a chartered civil engineer based in Darlington, has received a national award from New Civil Engineer in the category ‘Technical Excellence’.

Mercedes, principal engineer at DLT Engineering, formerly Dorman Long Technology, and a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), received the award at a private dinner held at London’s famous restaurant, The Ivy.

The ‘Technical Excellence’ award was given to Mercedes for her work as chief engineer on a bridge gantry design on the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge in Turkey. The success on this project builds on the one achieved in the Nizhou Bridge, in China, currently the second longest suspension bridge in the world. Mercedes was the chief engineer for the design of the 500 tonne capacity deck erection gantries which, supported on the main cables, lifted 175 deck segments into position in ten weeks. Mercedes is the first author of a paper, recently submitted for publication in the ICE Proceedings Bridge Engineering, which describes the gantries and focuses on the innovative movement system.

On Mercedes, the judges commented: “Mercedes shows leadership, passion and outstanding technical ability in her work on a bridge gantry design on the Canakkale Bridge in Turkey, which will be the longest suspension bridge in the world when finished. She took an engineering solution from concept development, through detailed design testing and to operation on site.”

New Civil Engineer’s Recognising Women in Engineering awards supports female engineers’ personal development on the journey towards better gender diversity in the civil engineering sector to attract and retain more women.

Commenting on her award success, Mercedes Ascaso said: “I’m delighted to have received this award for a project I am proud of delivering. After dedicating more than 20 years to the construction engineering of bridges, tower systems and complex structures, it is an honour to be the winner in the Technical Excellence category.”

“I am grateful to the NCE and Curtins for hosting the awards and promoting the role of women in civil engineering.”

Penny Marshall, Regional Director of ICE North East, said: “Mercedes is a fantastic engineer! She is an inspiration to budding and existing engineers both in the North East and beyond. She has a remarkable track record of delivering high profile, high impact projects, and I’m sure her successes will only continue to grow.”

Photo Caption: Mercedes receiving her award

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by News Gathering .