Game-changing Highway Teams Win
National Partnership for Highway Quality Awards

Austin, TX/December 3, 2004 -A partnership of federal and state highway officials and highway industry leaders, the National Partnership for Highway Quality, has announced the winners of its 2004 "Making a Difference" Awards. The awards recognize innovations, practices and teamwork that raise the bar for roadway performance, safety, and environmental stewardship.

The home states of the winning highway teams are:

Breaking the Mold

Gold Award - Texas
Silver Award - Maryland
Bronze Award - Colorado

Partnering

Gold Award - Maryland
Silver Award - Texas
Bronze Award - Georgia
Bronze Award - Kansas
Bronze Award - North Carolina

Risk Taking

Gold Award - Maryland
Gold Award - Colorado
Bronze Award - Connecticut

State Quality Initiative

Gold Award - Virginia
Silver Award - Texas

"The Making a Difference Awards recognize innovators who take calculated and beneficial risks, people who make ‘partnering’ more than a word," said the Executive Director of the National Partnership for Highway Quality, B.F. Templeton, P.E. "These are teams of professionals who jump outside the box of traditional practice to deliver ever higher levels of customer satisfaction."

NPHQ encourages states and their contracting partners to adopt the principles of quality management to deliver the best possible products and services to roadway customers. "Quality projects fuel improved outcomes and streamlined construction timetables for departments of transportation and higher profitability for contractors, all the while maximizing the taxpayer’s return on investment," said Templeton.

Texas

Texas teams won three awards, including gold for "Breaking the Mold." The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Amarillo District (AMA), Panhandle Maintenance Section, sparked by the ingenuity of AMA employee Robert Hollingsworth, developed and built innovations that increase the safety of applying hot-mix to the roadway, conserve time and labor, and saved the AMA $692,486 in fiscal year 2003.

The team’s "Motor Grader Lay-down Blade and Skid Box Innovations" are modifications that allow a one-pass lay-down of hot-mix asphalt to a desired width and depth, after which it’s immediately ready for compaction. Ten yards can be dropped and spread in two minutes. The devices eliminate multiple passes by motor graders for smoothing and leveling, allow one operator to control the process, and safeguard workers from the hazards of riding on a skid box behind a moving truck.

A second Texas win was the Silver Award for Partnering. The I-10 Katy Freeway Leadership Team united to launch the largest reconstruction project in the history of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). The Federal Highway Administration, TxDOT, Harris County Toll Road Authority, Federal Transit Administration, and Environmental Protection Agency culminated 15 years of planning and meetings with businesses, community members and elected officials with the signing of the Tri-Party Agreement allowing for the operation of toll lanes on an interstate highway. The historic agreement was signed on March 14, 2003.

An estimated $1.4 billion price tag for the expansion of the Katy Freeway, which flows from the central business district of Houston, would have taken a huge bite out of all available state resources. Alternative strategies might have prolonged the reconstruction work schedule. The toll proposal allows the project to be built sooner and cheaper while releasing funds for use elsewhere in Texas. The result: a construction schedule cut from 10 years to 6 on the busiest stretch of highway in Texas; less burden for the driving public; and a landmark approach to financing and operations.

The third 2004 NPHQ honor for the Lone Star State was the Silver Award for a State Quality Initiative, which recognized the LINC Program—Learning, Information, Networking and Collaboration. LINC’s purpose: to mentor small businesses with training and information that can increase their chances of doing business with TxDOT. The program is run by the TxDOT Construction Division Business Opportunities Program in partnership with district employees and contractors.

Because of unfamiliarity with the procedures and regulations associated with the procurement process, some small businesses have traditionally been unable to compete in the state’s multi-billion dollar construction bid process. Because of LINC’s training sessions across the state, participating small businesses have transitioned from sideline observers to active players in the state’s transportation industry, accumulating over $37 million in contracts in three years.

Maryland

Maryland also swept three NPHQ Making a Difference Awards, starting with gold for "Risk Taking." The award celebrated the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project Contracting Team, which re-bid the project to stay within budget and pushed the envelope on time and political pressure. Maryland State Highway (SHA) Administrator Neil J. Pedersen said, "Many talented people from the public and private industry worked together to keep this project timely and on budget. The teamwork paid off, moving the project forward to improve safety and eliminate one of the nation’s worst traffic bottlenecks."

The challenge was that SHA received only one bid for the largest construction project in its history, the completion of twin six-lane drawbridges carrying I-95 over the Potomac River between Maryland and Virginia. The bid was $365 million over the estimate, far beyond the project budget. Through an inventive process, SHA "reengineered" the mega-project, modifying the design and making the advertisement more contractor-friendly. The team repackaged it into three segments and publicized the reconstituted project to industry. The outcome: 16 bids were submitted for three re-packaged contracts. Instead of being over budget, the three low bids combined were within the original budget.

A second Maryland team earned gold in the category of Partnering. The Maryland State Highway Administration, Facchina Construction Company, 16 subcontractors, 14 utility companies, five developers, four consultant firms, the Montgomery County Department of Public Works and Transportation and other stakeholders joined forces to shave nine months off a three-year construction project. The $25 million contract included constructing a new interchange along I-270, a major D.C.-area commuter route that carries more than 200,000 vehicles daily, as well as reconfiguring an existing I-270 interchange with MD 187.

How did the team offer customers a more efficient interchange system nine months earlier than expected? Among other factors, the partners explored every opportunity to speed up the construction schedule, reaping three Value Engineering Change Proposals with a combined shared savings of nearly $1 million dollars. The team identified potential delays and handled technical issues early. The state’s area manager and the contractor’s project manager resolved all issues at the project level and did not seek mediation from upper management or attorneys or submit formal claims for additional payment for work beyond the project scope.

A third Maryland team was recognized by NPHQ with the Silver Breaking the Mold Award for its creative efforts to protect the Potomac River fish population while completing deep water pile driving for the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge’s foundations. The Maryland State Highway Administration’s team developed a unique approach called a contained Air Bubble Curtain System (ABCS). Team members included the joint venture of Tidewater, Kiewit and Clark (TKC), Potomac Crossing Consultants, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, Maryland Departments of Environment and Natural Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service and others.

The team applied an emerging technology to protect the fish, borrowing a technique from the underwater blasting industry. The ABCS creates a curtain of air bubbles that absorb pressure waves emitted by the hammer striking the pile, reducing high energy pile driving to minimal levels. The solution protected the environment, allowed the fish population to proliferate, and more: it let the bridge foundations contract proceed on schedule, avoiding costly delays.

Colorado

One took intelligent risks to restore the habitat of a rare, protected mouse; the other broke the mold to build an entire bridge over a weekend. These were the reasons two Colorado highway teams earned 2004 "Making a Difference" Awards from NPHQ. The Gold Award for Risk Taking recognized the men and women who created the East Plum Creek Bank in the Town of Castle Rock, Douglas County, Colorado. The creek flows close to I-25 and under the highway in the middle of town. The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) had discovered a rare, protected small mammal living within their right-of-way property along the creek: the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse. In addition, the creek channel was severely downcut in this area, and groundwater levels had sunk below the rooting zone of shrub stands that were a crucial component of the mouse habitat.

As the agency looked ahead toward future I-25 construction projects, it searched for a way to avoid potentially costly purchases of off-site conservation land and project-by-project environmental consultations. The agency partnered with the Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Colorado Division of Wildlife on a novel concept. CDOT would restore the disturbed areas of the mouse habitat on CDOT property with a series of dams. The dams would trap sediment, fill up the downcut stream channel, raise the water table, and replenish streamside vegetation. The plan also involved the creation of a conservation bank that would allow CDOT to earn mitigation credits to offset impacts from future highway projects. Together, the initiatives would solve the problem of finding mitigation habitat, reduce future environmental consultation efforts, save money on land costs in a fast-growing county, and allow flexibility in project scheduling.

By spring, 2003, the partners had designed and constructed the dams and signed the first conservation bank agreement in Colorado. What of the endangered Preble’s meadow jumping mouse? Monitoring data shows increased distribution in the bank area, where the species can reside forever.

The Bronze Breaking the Mold Award went to a team that demolished a bridge and constructed its replacement in one weekend. The Colorado Department of Transportation Region 1, Wilson & Company, and Lawrence Construction partnered to build a new Mitchell Gulch Bridge on SH 86 near Denver, and do it in 48 hours. After intense planning and coordination, work began at 7:00 PM on Friday, August 23, 2002. By Sunday at 5:00 PM, the new bridge was open to traffic.

The project could have taken two or three months, but the contractors realized an opportunity to apply innovative design and construction methods and lessen inconvenience to the driving public. They used precasting to fabricate 90% of the 40-foot bridge. Steel piles to support it were readied ahead of time. The plan: close the highway and reroute traffic on a short detour. Dismantle the old structure and lower precast sections into place. Use 1200 linear feet of welding to connect the bridge together. Follow up with earthwork, compacting and filling of the approaches. Have paving machinery standing by to surface the bridge. All the while, rehabilitate the stream below.

The meticulous orchestration worked. Fast-tracking the project minimized detours, conserved labor and management time, and freed crews to tackle other projects. Most importantly, commuters were driving across the new bridge on Monday morning.

Virginia

The Quality Assurance Team of the Northern Virginia (NOVA) District of the Virginia Department of Transportation won a Gold Award for a State Quality Initiative. A first of its kind among VDOT districts, the Quality Assurance (QA) team combines outreach, training, mentoring and auditing to improve the quality of highway construction. The team’s Construction Quality Improvement Program (CQIP) scores the quality of construction projects on a scale of 1 to 100 using checklists derived from VDOT’s Road and Bridge Specifications. In the 2002-2003 time period, the NOVA district’s CQIP score rose from 87.1% to 92.1%, exceeding the state average. Elements of the QA program are now being implemented statewide.

The QA team consists of seasoned construction professionals who support inspection field staff with on-site training and mentoring, especially meaningful given the loss of a pool of VDOT senior inspectors due to retirements. The team helps continue the sharing of institutional knowledge and experience with junior inspectors; shares technical information with project staff, consultants, and contractors; selects ongoing construction projects for CQIP review; and captures best practices, lessons learned, and quality tips in newsletters and on the district’s web site.

Connecticut

The highway team that reconnected New Haven, Connecticut’s downtown area with its harbor for the first time since the mid-1800s won NPHQ’s Making a Difference Bronze Award for Risk Taking. Participants were the Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT), Federal Highway Administration, Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas, O & G Industries, the City of New Haven, Gannett Fleming, and Metro-North Railroad.

The project, which carries Church Street South over the New Haven Rail Yard, finished up five months ahead of schedule and $0.5 million under budget despite daunting challenges. One was to complete construction of the 1274-foot long, 8-span bridge over the electrified main line tracks with minimal disruption to railroad commuter services and rail yard operations. The team devised a construction sequence where the 320-foot long steel truss span was preassembled off line and placed into its final position over the tracks during a single 3-hour weekend track and power outage using one of the largest capacity cranes in the world.

The "Big Pick" required a crane capacity of 1,550 tons at the pick radius of 186 feet. As over 500 spectators looked on during the early morning hours of May 4, 2003, a single high-capacity crane lifted and walked the 1048 tons of truss and rigging about 100 feet before rotating and placing it into final position over the tracks.

Georgia

Highway planners in Georgia earned a Bronze Partnering award for undertaking a Traditional Cultural Property (TCP) Study of New Echota, the first and last capital of the Cherokee Nation, as part of their commitment to environmental stewardship in cultural heritage preservation. Their groundbreaking approach will aid in long-term planning for transportation projects near the existing historic site. Team members included Tribal Historic Preservation officers from all three federally recognized Cherokee tribes, tribal members, state park officials, New South Associates, the Federal Highway Administration, and the Georgia Department of Transportation. The study reflected the partners’ collective concern that transportation projects should involve all stakeholders from the earliest stages, fit into their physical and human environment, and preserve aesthetic, historic, and community values.

Kansas

The partnership that relocated the double mainline Union Pacific Railroad (UP) tracks from downtown Marysville, Kansas—while providing protection from recurring flooding—resolved 50 years of safety, traffic, and flood problems that had dogged the city. The team won NPHQ’s Bronze Award for Partnering, and included the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT), Union Pacific Railroad, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the City of Marysville, Federal Emergency Management Assistance, 30 separate utilities owned by 10 different private and government agencies, multiple government agencies, and several private consulting agencies headed by the firm of Kirkham Michael Consulting Engineers.

The project tackled a tricky mix of traffic and flooding problems and improved safety along the US-36 and US-77 highway corridors. The city is no longer divided by the tracks. Emergency vehicles are unencumbered by train traffic. A new levee along the Big Blue River protects the relocated tracks and removed the flood plain designation from the western section of Marysville. Railroad operations have also improved along this important coal route. Funding for the $51 million project emerged from a unique arrangement where the railroad contributed $16 million, with the rest coming from KDOT and Marysville.

North Carolina

North Carolina’s Environmentally Sensitive Design Team developed a Best Management Practices Manual for constructing and maintaining the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s (NCDOT) roadway systems while minimizing adverse impacts on wetlands, streams and land. For its successes, the team won NPHQ’s Bronze Award for Partnering.

In an unprecedented collaboration, NCDOT, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission combined forces to produce the manual. It offers guidance for construction and maintenance crews while offering flexibility in the choice of methods right for individual situations. A goal is to decrease project delivery time while maintaining stewardship of the state’s aquatic systems, which affect fishing, tourism, recreation, drinking water, and overall quality of life.
About NPHQ

The National Partnership for Highway Quality combines public and private highway expertise to keep the nation’s highway system in the highest quality condition and to improve its safety and service to the public. Partners include the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the American Highway Users Alliance (AHUA), the American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA), The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Foundation for Pavement Preservation (FP2), the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA), and the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies (NICET).