|
NPHQ > Awards & Success
Stories > 2006 Make a Difference Award Winners
State Highway Teams Win National Quality Awards
New Orleans, LA/November 14, 2006 – An association of Federal and State highway officials and private industry leaders, the National Partnership for Highway Quality (NPHQ), has announced the winners of its National 2006 “Making a Difference” Awards. The awards recognize innovations, practices and teamwork that raise the bar for roadway performance, safety, and environmental stewardship. . Entries are judged by a panel of transportation industry leaders who serve on the NPHQ Steering Committee.
“The Making a Difference Awards recognize innovators who take calculated and beneficial risks, people who make ‘partnering’ more than a word,” said NPHQ’s Executive Director Bob Templeton. “These are teams of professionals who jump outside the box of traditional practice to deliver even higher levels of customer satisfaction.”
The states of the winning highway teams are:
Breaking the Mold
Gold – Minnesota
Silver – Georgia and Texas (a tie)
Bronze – Washington State
Partnering
Gold – Louisiana
Silver – Virginia and West Virginia (a tie)
Bronze – Montana
Public Communications
Gold – Georgia
Silver – Michigan
Bronze – Kansas
Risk Taking
Gold – Washington State
Silver – Texas
Bronze- Louisiana
State Quality Partnership
Gold – Utah
Minnesota
The Minnesota Department of Transportation captured the Gold Award in the Breaking the Mold category for the development of a computer model that quantifies the economic benefits of accelerating projects, specifically for the Design/Build contacting method. This contracting method was used on an 11-mile stretch of U.S. 52 in Rochester. The model will help Minnesota, and ultimately other departments of transportation, evaluate future projects, weighing the extra costs of speeding up a project as it relates to economic benefits and convenience to the community.
Georgia
Georgia’s transportation teams collected Gold and Silver Awards for their transportation innovations. First, NPHQ chose Georgia for a Gold Award in the Public Communications category for a “Construction Jam” campaign. The campaign raised awareness for an upcoming, heavier than usual construction season and provided up-to-date information so drivers could better plan their trips around the construction.
A Silver Award in the Breaking the Mold category was earned for using a nontraditional method and new material to reconstruct shoulders along 35 miles of Atlanta’s Interstate 285. Instead of asphalt or conventional concrete, Georgia used roller-compacted concrete. This material allowed quicker and easier reconstruction of the shoulders and has an expected longer-life span and reduced maintenance.
Washington State
Two awards also went to Washington State, including a Gold in the Risk Taking category. The Washington Department of Transportation and their contractor, the Gary Merlino Construction Company, avoided a massive traffic backup when repaving a section of Interstate 5 in downtown Seattle. Aggressive construction schedules and traffic management, along with an extensive outreach program, averted a potential 12-mile backup over a four- weekend period. As a result, traffic decreased by more than half from the same time period a year earlier.
In addition, the state captured the Bronze Award in the Breaking the Mold category for its unique methods in replacing a bridge deck on the historic Lewis and Clark Bridge. Over 100 panels, using pre-cast concrete and an innovative Panel Transport System, were put in place under extremely limited bridge closure hours. This was complicated by the precision required for the fitting of the panels. The project was completed six months early and $5 million under budget.
Texas
Texas won the Silver Award in the Breaking the Mold category for unique construction methods on the Dallas High-five interchange, which is navigated by more than 500,000 vehicles a day. Construction was finished in four years rather than the five-year contract period and under the original eight-year estimate. Innovative construction methods, including on-site staging and concrete work, financial incentives and disincentives, “rental fees” for lane closures and a unique custom-made, remote-control erector for bridge placement segments contributed to the time-savings and quality of the project.
Additionally, Texas won a Silver Award in the Risk Taking category for a one-stop shopping, streamlined process for more than 10,000 Texas-based motor carriers. A project team developed a web-based application to synchronize Federal and State carrier data and automate the process of a Single-State Registration System credential. The benefits of this program are improved efficiency for the businesses and safety assurance of trucks traveling Texas roadways.
Louisiana
In the Partnering category, the Gold Award went to Louisiana for a partnership that led to a successful evacuation of more than one million people using contraflow, (all lanes converted to one direction), in preparation for Hurricane Katrina last year. The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development also won a Bronze Award in the Risk Taking category for its agency-wide change management program. The goal of the ongoing program is to streamline existing processes and improve effectiveness and efficiency.
Virginia
A Silver Award in the Partnering category went to Virginia for its management of the U.S. 1 Interchange Advanced Bridge project. The project includes 11 bridges and 3.33 miles of roadway that connects a system of interstate highways and local roads and is integral to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge project, one of the largest in the U.S. Only with extensive partnering could this portion of the mega project be possible. The quality project was constructed in two years - on time and under budget.
West Virginia
Another Silver Award in the Partnering category went to the West Virginia Department of Transportation’s Division of Highways and Premium Energy, a coal company. Without this unique partnership, construction of a section of the 93-mile King Coal Highway could not have moved forward. This partnership involved using the excess material from the mountaintop coal mining operation to construct the highway fills. The partnership showed a potential cost savings of millions of dollars, while providing motorists with a new highway years earlier than anticipated and improving the economy of the region.
Montana
A Montana transportation team earned a Bronze Award in the Partnering category for restoring, in record time, the Beartooth Highway, a scenic route that begins at the northeast entrance of Yellowstone Park. The highway was damaged by mudslides in 13 locations along a nine-mile stretch. Due to a short construction season and a negative impact on tourism, quick turn around time was needed. A team of agencies took risks and set a new standard for emergency road repair. The project was completed in less than five months.
Michigan
A “Line Drive Home” campaign earned Michigan a Silver Award in the Public Communications category. The purpose of the campaign was to shift traffic to alternate routes, away from a major construction zone on Interstate 73 and U.S. 23 near Flint. Using a baseball theme, the campaign capitalized on the excitement of a Major League baseball game held in Detroit and used the Detroit Tiger Radio Network and its 30 affiliate stations to expand broadcast coverage. As a result, a significant amount of traffic avoided the construction areas, reducing delays for motorists.
Kansas
The Bronze Award in the Public Communications category went to Kansas for its outreach and education program, which involved a new traffic management system, the Kansas City Scout. Unique to the communications effort is a media partnership governed by a legal agreement that gives local television stations access to the 75 cameras for traffic reporting. In exchange, the television stations must provide the DOT’s with a minimum of 72, 30-second commercial spots within a six-month period during prime weekday air time. The renewable two-year agreement was specifically designed with public service in mind.
Utah
The State Quality Partnership Gold Award went to Utah for its initiative to take partnering to a higher level. A formal partnership process between the Associated General Contractors and the Utah Department of Transportation was established that resulted in a paradigm shift for how UDOT employees approached construction projects. 10 projects that used the new partnering process were compared to 10 projects that did not. The findings show that the process resulted in a significant decrease in the number of cost increases and changes to projects.
About NPHQ
The Making a Difference Award program is sponsored by the National Partnership for Highway Quality, which combines public and private highway expertise to deliver quality highways for the safety and mobility of the traveling public. NPHQ members include:
|
