Completed four months ahead of schedule, in time to carry the Olympic torch over Greece's Gulf of Corinth toward Athen, the Rion-Antirion Bridge was named the 2005 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement (OCEA) by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Presented this evening at the sixth annual Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) awards gala in Tysons Corner, Va., the award recognizes the project's significant contribution to the civil engineering profession and its local community. The longest cable-stayed bridge in the world was chosen from a field of five finalists, which were selected from the 22 nominations.

Spanning the Gulf of Corinth from Rion to Antirion, the bridge was completed in August 2004. Extreme environmental conditions, including deep waters, high seismicity and constant winds, were only a few of the challenges that had to be overcome to make this century-old vision a reality for Greece.