ASCE has honored Daniel Heilman, P.E., D.CE, with the 2022 Orville T. Magoon Sustainable Coasts Award for excellence in the professional practice of coastal sustainability.
Heilman is a coastal engineer and the coastal restoration lead for HDR, in Galveston, Texas. He oversees the design of projects focusing on coastal ecosystem restoration, beach nourishment, flood protection, shoreline stabilization, channel improvements, scour mitigation, and other engineering challenges in the coastal zone. His experience and knowledge of coastal processes puts him in the top of his profession. Add in his knowledge of the coast's natural resources, and that puts him at the very top. Like Orville T. Magoon, Heilman has a strong interest in the coastal environment, including waves, sediment movements, and the coastal and near-shore habitat.
Although his work is over much of the U.S. coasts, a large focus has remained on the Texas coastline. This is exemplified by his many Texas GLO (General Land Office) projects on Galveston Island and other coastal areas since 1999. Many of these projects deal with habitat protection and restoration, such as Galveston Island State Park, Island Point Shoreline in Portland, and habitat restoration at Dickinson Bayou, in Texas City. In Freeport, he became involved in studying the effect of widening the deep-draft ship channel at the entrance to Freeport Harbor and the relationship to the large oil and gas facilities on land.
The Orville T. Magoon Sustainable Coasts Award recognizes individuals for outstanding contributions to sustainable engineering practices in managing shorelines and coastal infrastructure through research, design, construction, or management of the natural and built environment in the coastal zone. The award recognizes the balance of coastal values with project needs.
