NEW YORK, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire/ — McGraw-Hill Construction (MHC) is pleased to announce the winners of its first annual Best of the Best Awards, a national competition that recognizes design and construction excellence based on regional winners of MHC's 11 Regional Publications' Best of 2008 Awards. Winners will be profiled in the April 2009 issues of all 11 Regional Publications and in the March 9 issue of Engineering News-Record. A slideshow is available at ENR.com.

"The judges for our inaugural national awards were very impressed by the caliber of projects submitted," said Janice Tuchman, editor-in-chief, Engineering News-Record. "It's important for our industry to celebrate the many positive achievements accomplished in 2008, especially during the current economic times."

Out of 225 regional winners, an independent jury of construction professionals selected 70 national finalists and 23 national winners in 22 categories. Projects were judged for innovation, contribution to the community, aesthetic quality, and craftsmanship.

  McGraw-Hill Construction's 2008 Best of the Best Award Winners:
  --  Architectural Design - Cathedral of Christ the Light, Oakland, CA;
      submitted to California Construction by Webcor; and Hunt Oil Corporate
      Headquarters, Dallas, TX; submitted to Texas Construction by Beck
      Group
  --  Bridges - US 17-92 General Hutchison Pedestrian Bridge, Seminole
      County, FL; submitted to Southeast Construction by Ayres Associates
  --  Civil/Public Works - Harvey Canal Sector Gates, Harvey, LA; submitted
      to South Central Construction by Boh Bros. Construction Co. LLC
  --  Cultural - The Newseum, Washington, DC; submitted to Mid-Atlantic
      Construction by Turner Construction
  --  Government - Social Security Administration SE Payment Center,
      Birmingham, AL; submitted to South Central Construction by
      Faithful+Gould Inc.
  --  Green Building - ASU Polytechnic Academic Complex, Mesa, AZ; submitted
      to Southwest Contractor by RSP Architects and DPR Construction
  --  Health Care - Michael F. Price Center for Genetic and Translational
      Medicine/Harold and Muriel Block Research Pavilion, Albert Einstein
      College of Medicine at Yeshiva University, New York, NY; submitted to
      New York Construction by Tishman Construction Corp.
  --  Higher Education - New Library-Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD;
      submitted to Mid-Atlantic Construction by Design Collective and Hess
      Construction + Engineering Services
  --  Industrial - Western Dairies, Yerington, NV; submitted to Southwest
      Contractor by RHP Mechanical Systems
  --  Interior - Walter P. Moore Office, Houston, TX; submitted to Texas
      Construction by Gensler
  --  K-12 Education - San Ysidro High School Phase II, San Ysidro, CA;
      submitted to California Construction by Sundt Construction
  --  Landscape/Urban Design - Public Farm One, Long Island City, NY;
      submitted to New York Construction by Leslie E. Robertson Associates
  --  Office - Comcast Center, Philadelphia, PA; submitted to Mid-Atlantic
      Construction by L.F. Driscoll Co. and Hill International
  --  Project Management - Five Libraries, King County, WA; submitted to
      Northwest Construction by BNBuilders
  --  Renovation/Restoration - Utah State Capitol Restoration, Salt Lake
      City, UT; submitted to Intermountain Contractor by Jacobsen
      Construction
  --  Residential - 3344 Peachtree, Atlanta, GA; submitted to Southeast
      Construction by Hardin Construction
  --  Retail/Hospitality - Paradise Lodge, Mt. Rainier National Park, WA;
      submitted to Northwest Construction by Watts Construction/Korsmo
      Construction
  --  Small Project - Los Lunas Silvery Minnow Refugium, Los Lunas, NM;
      submitted to Southwest Contractor by HDR Engineering Inc.
  --  Specialty Contracting - The Crystals at CityCenter, Las Vegas, NV;
      submitted to Southwest Contractor by Schuff Steel Co.
  --  Sports/Recreation - College of New Rochelle Center For Wellness, New
      Rochelle, NY; submitted to New York Construction by ikon.5 architects
  --  Transportation - METRO Light Rail Line Section 5, Tempe/Mesa, AZ;
      submitted to Southwest Contractor by Sundt/Stacy & Witbeck
  --  Worship - Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Houston, TX; submitted to
      Texas Construction by Linbeck

  Best of the Best Panel of Judges:
  --  Wink Ames, principal, Minard-Ames Insurances Services, Phoenix, AZ
  --  Wayne Crew, executive director, Construction Industry Institute,
      Austin, TX
  --  Jim Duncan, chairman and chief engineer, Sparling, Seattle, WA
  --  Lauren Evans, president, Pinyon Environmental Engineering Resources,
      Lakewood, CO
  --  Aleisha Jaeger, project manager, Opus North Corp., Indianapolis, IN
  --  Ken Levien, president, Levien & Co., New York, NY
  --  Diane Miller, vice president, Shaw Construction, Denver, CO
  --  Richard Sliwoski, director, Va. Department of General Services,
      Richmond, VA
  --  Tim Snyder, construction manager, The Trump Organization, Chicago, IL
  --  Tom Sofranko, interim dean, LSU School of Architecture, Baton Rouge,
      LA
  --  Matthew S. Stevens, president, Stevens Construction Institute, Winter
      Park, FL
  --  Hans Van Winkle, president, program management group, Hill
      International, Marlton, NJ
  --  Hraztan Zeitlian, vice president & director of design, Leo A. Daly,
      Los Angeles, CA

  About McGraw-Hill Construction

McGraw-Hill Construction connects people, projects and products across the design and construction industry. For more than a century, the Company has remained North America's leading provider of construction project information, plans and specifications, product information, industry news, and industry trends and forecasts. In print and online, the Company offers a variety of tools, applications, and resources that easily integrate with its customers' workflows. Backed by the power of Dodge, Sweets, Architectural Record, Engineering News-Record (ENR), GreenSource, HQ and 11 regional publications, McGraw-Hill Construction serves more than one million customers within the $4.6 trillion global construction community. To learn more, visit http://www.construction.com/.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies

Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE:MHP) is a leading global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands including Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, BusinessWeek and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2007 were $6.8 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/.

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