2/23/2009
Franklin Bridge - A Monument to the Advancement of Women in Transportation
BOISE - Franklin Bridge may look like any other bridge under construction along I-84. The orange cones are the same, as are the matching orange hard hats and safety vests worn by the workers. However, the $3.1 million project to reconstruct the east half of the overpass has the distinction of being the first road project overseen primarily by women -- a first for the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD).
ITD's project manager for the bridge is Jayme Coonce. Former ITD engineer Kadee Porter is the project manager for the general contractor, Concrete Placing Company, of Boise. Also, Rita Wilson, of Connecting Idaho Partners, has been the project manager in design.
"This project has been very rewarding to work on," said Coonce, who stumbled on her career in transportation while on a post-graduate internship in Minnesota working with a road survey crew. She decided to go back to school and earn an engineering degree.
"I absolutely love my job," she said. "You literally get to witness the fruits of your endeavors from the ground up. There's a lot of personal satisfaction that goes along with seeing hard work and determination result in a structure that ultimately benefits so many people."
In the construction industry, where less than 10 percent of the workforce is composed of women, the Franklin Bridge story stands out. So does ITD's commitment to encourage women in seeking jobs within the transportation industry. The ITD Web site has links for women who seek engineering degrees, scholarships, and for anyone who wishes to apply for ITD's Engineer In Training (EIT) program. Among them are engineergirl.org and constructmyfuture.com. Both Coonce and Porter are graduates of ITD's Engineer-In-Training program.
Beyond engineering, the transportation industry offers a range of careers, from design, safety, project managers, estimators and schedulers to contract officers, surveyors and material technicians, among others.
The jobs that form the backbone of the transportation industry, skilled labor, also offer a variety of occupations including carpenters, concrete workers, equipment operators, teamsters, electricians, pipe fitters, etc. There's also the Division of Motor Vehicles, transportation planning, consulting, contracting and public transportation.
There are a lot of women on the design side. And there are a lot of women-owned contracting companies, said Wilson, who has 30 years of experience in construction.
"I encourage both women and men to open their eyes to opportunities in transportation planning, design and construction," Wilson said. "This is a growing industry, and with the potential for increases in federal funding, transportation and the construction industry in general is a good place to be."
The Franklin Bridge is due to be completed in April, a few months ahead of time.