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2016 Excellence in Transportation winners honored Nov. 17

In addition to winning an unprecedented number of national awards in 2016, ITD projects are being recognized at home. On Nov. 17, the agency held the annual awards ceremony for the Excellence in Transportation Awards, which recognizes projects in seven different categories, and three personnel categories.

This year’s winner in the Construction category is the Idaho 75, Timber Way to Big Wood River Bridge. This project rebuilt more than three miles of highway south of Ketchum. It is an important first step in reducing traffic congestion on a busy section of road in the Wood River Valley. Before the work, this section of highway could not handle projected traffic volumes and lacked many of the functional and safety improvements necessary.

Pictured below, left to right: District Engineering Managers Scot Stacey and Scott Malone, District Engineer Devin Rigby and Resident Engineer Justin Price from D4 accepted the Construction award for the project from ITD Chief Deputy Scott Stokes.

The winner in the Environmental Stewardship category is the Osprey Nesting Platforms. The project consisted of relocating four osprey nests on top of the Dent Bridge over the Dworshak Reservoir in District 2.

The Federal Highway Administration requires an inspection of the bridge every two years, but the federally protected Osprey built huge nests right over a section of the bridge that needed to be inspected. Nests had been removed when the birds left, but the Osprey returned each year and rebuilt their nests in the same spot.

To accommodate the birds and stay in compliance with federal regulations, four new aluminum platforms were built by ITD staff in District 2, and placed on the bridge. It was one of the first times in the nation that a bridge was used for raptor platforms.

Pictured at right: Melinda Lowe from ITD Environmental and Dan Gorley from ITD Bridge accepted the Environmental Stewardship award.

The winner in the Maintenance and Operations category is the Interstate 90, Pennsylvania Avenue Bridge Project. Repairs to the bridge utilized innovation to improve safety and complete repairs in just three weeks, saving about three months of closure.

The project involved shoring up the girders on the westbound approaches to the bridge. D1 Bridge and Building Foreman Gene Anderson (pictured left) and his crew came up with an innovative solution to repairs. By devising a sliding and adjustable girder installer, the crew could lift the six girders, each weighing about 300 pounds, into place three at a time instead of one at a time. The innovation saved at least $161,000 compared to a private-sector contractor.

The winner in the Large Design category is the Interstate 84, Broadway Avenue Interchange Project (pictured, left to right: Jimmy Young and Bryan Foote from Horrocks Engineers, along with District 3 Engineering Manager Amy Schroeder and Stan Crawforth of American Geotechnics). Improvements to the interchange and a section of the freeway included replacing the interchange with a Single Point Urban Interchange, rebuilding I-84 near the interchange and rebuilding and widening freeway bridges over a railroad spur. The work improved traffic flow, the condition of pavement, and increased capacity to meet current and future needs.

The winner in the Small Design category is replacement of the Owsley Canal bridge (Kade Raymond, pictured, right, with District Engineer Jason Minzghor) on Idaho 33 in District 6. When studying the water flow in the canal, engineers determined that a new bridge did not require the same span as the existing one, and a new culvert structure could be used to save $700,000. Using multiple software applications and combinations, engineers employed three-dimensional (3D) and four-dimensional (4D) modeling to better analyze options.

The winner in the Planning category is the Agricultural Freight Study project. To complete the study, COMPASS — the Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho — worked closely with agriculture and freight stakeholders to identify specific corridors used to move agricultural freight in Ada and Canyon counties. While the initial focus was on the agriculture industry, the information gathered is applicable to other freight movements.The COMPASS group is pictured above and left, accepting the award.

The winner in the Public Participation category is the Broadway Bridge Avenue Replacement project in District 3. Multiple public meetings were held with the community to gather input during the design process of the downtown Boise bridge that also included extensive outreach with business owners before and during construction. Improvements include a wider structure to accommodate six lanes of traffic, full bike lanes and sidewalks and Greenbelt improvements, in addition to upgrades along Broadway Avenue. Pictured, left to right: D3 Communications Specialist Jennifer Gonzalez, Jacksons Food Stores Regional Manager Brody Kesler-Mauch, Ram Restaurant Manager Kevin Martinez, RBCI Owner Rosemary Curtin, ITD Deputy Director Scott Stokes, RBCI Project Manager Kate Reed, D3 Designer Mark Campbell, ITD Public Involvement Coordinator Adam Rush.

The winner in the Professional of the Year category is Dave Tolman (pictured right), the department’s Controller since 2001. His efforts over the last few years have yielded significant results for ITD in the form of substantial cost savings, performance enhancements and employee engagement. Dave identified and executed the restructure of a portion of Idaho’s GARVEE bonds to more favorable rates that resulted in $12.7 million in savings.

The winner in the Career Achievement category is Engineering Manager Scott Malone (pictured below, in blue shirt, with Rigby (vest) at left in picture). Scott has spent 32 years working for ITD, and has served as an assistant district engineer and engineering manager. Scott has also served as the coordinator for Engineer-in-Training and assignment rotation. His extensive background has helped guide several young engineers through their formative years at ITD.

The winner in the Engineer of the Year category is D6 Traffic Engineer Ben Burke (pictured below, in red shirt, with Minzghor at left in picture). Ben has worked for District 6 for nine years, starting as a staff engineer in Design, then being promoted to project development engineer, where he oversaw critical designs of the Pancheri Drive Overpass on Interstate 15 and the rebuilding of a three-mile stretch of U.S. 20. Burke is the department’s 3D and 4D project modeling guru, and also has submitted more than 10 innovation ideas in ITD’s Innovate ITD program over the past year.