Two Iowa highway projects are national award winners
Two projects, one on Interstate 280 in Scott County and the other on U.S. 30 in Linn County, received accolades Dec. 1 at the 27th Annual National “Excellence in Concrete Pavement” awards program held during the 53rd American Concrete Pavement Association’s Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas.
In early 2016, the Iowa Concrete Paving Association held a state conference where they awarded honors to the Iowa Department of Transportation and other project designers in various categories. These state winners were then forwarded for consideration to the ACPA. On the national level, two awards are given out in each category; gold and silver. The Iowa DOT brought home one of each with a project on U.S. 30 winning the silver in the Divided Highways (Urban) category which means that it was the second best project in the country in that category. A concrete construction project on I-280 won the gold award in the Divided Highways (Rural) category which means that it was the best project in the country in that category.
The I-280 project included the reconstruction of the westbound lanes of I-280 in Scott County from U.S. 6 to the Mississippi River. Most of the project was completed during the 2015 construction season. All of the existing pavement was recycled and reused on the project.
Mark Brandl, resident construction engineer in Davenport, was the Iowa DOT engineer in charge of the I-280 project. Cedar Valley Corp., of Waterloo, Iowa, was both the prime contractor and paving contractor on the nearly $17.8 million project. Manatts Inc., of Brooklyn, Iowa, was the subcontractor that performed the pavement removal and recycling.
On U.S. 30, the pavement was reconstructed in both directions between Stoney Point Road and Edgewood Road. The project was completed during the 2014 and 2015 construction seasons with the eastbound reconstruction occurring in 2014 and the westbound reconstruction in 2015.
John Vu, District 6 field engineer, was in charge of the U.S. 30 project for the Iowa DOT. Peterson Contractors Inc. (PCI), of Reinbeck, Iowa, was the prime contractor and the company who completed the removal and recycling of old pavement on the $6.5 million project. Cedar Valley Corp. was the concrete paving subcontractor.
For a complete list of the 27 award-winning national projects, go to www.acpa.org/2016-exellence/.
According to ACAP, “The ACAP ‘Excellence in Concrete Pavement’ awards have honored quality concrete pavements constructed in the United States and Canada. The awards program encourages high-quality workmanship in every concrete pavement project and serves as a forum for sharing information about highly successful projects. The awards program recognizes contractors, engineers, and project owners who completed outstanding projects. Winning an Award for Excellence in Concrete Pavement provides the contractors, engineers, and owners with a level of prestige that can assist them in the development of future projects.”