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Bridge to equality

Isaac Newton once said, “We build too many walls and not enough bridges.”

District 3 builds walls (soundwalls) and bridges. And one of its most recent creations – The Franklin Boulevard Bridge over Interstate 84 – stands as a monument to the engineering/leadership contributions of women.

Behind the massive structure is a cadre of women engineers and professionals:

District 3, Region 2 engineer Jayme Coonce is the project manager
Former District 3 engineer Kadee Porter is the project manager for Concrete Placing Company, the general contractor
Rita Wilson, of Connecting Idaho Partners, has been the project manager in design
Rosemary Curtin, owner of RBCI Consulting, spearheads public involvement and awareness for the project

“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. 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. The $3.1 million project to reconstruct the east half of the overpass to match the newer bridge on the west side is three months ahead of schedule with completion expected in April.