ADOT projects recognized at ACEC Engineering Excellence Awards

PHOENIX – Three highway projects by the Arizona Department of Transportation, including two major northern Arizona projects, won Engineering Excellence Grand Awards presented by the American Council of Engineering Companies of Arizona earlier this year. Two other projects received Honor Awards.

The winning projects were the Interstate 17/State Route 69 Cordes Junction Traffic Interchange, the US 89T Interim US 89 Detour and a topographical survey on the State Route 89A improvement project through Oak Creek Canyon.

HDR Engineering, Inc., won a Grand Award for the I-17/SR 69 Cordes Junction traffic interchange project. This project was ADOT’s first federally funded highway project to be built under the construction manager-at-risk (CMAR) method in Arizona. The CMAR concept is an innovative contracting method that involves pairing a design team with a construction team to create one, coordinated entity that delivers a freeway project from beginning to end. This method can save time and money by overlapping the design and construction phases.

The US 89T project, built to serve as a detour to the landslide-damaged US 89, received the award for AZTEC Engineering Group’s coordinated effort to produce roadway plans and get environmental clearance in less than two months. This process normally takes one to two years to complete.

ADOT, the Federal Highway Administration, the Navajo Nation, Navajo Division of Transportation and Bureau of Indian Affairs worked together to accelerate the process in order to open the temporary route as soon as possible. US 89T cuts the original detour route via US 160 and SR 98 nearly in half, saving time and mileage.

The SR 89A improvement project, which will include repaving the roadway, replacing guardrail, repairing the bridge deck at Pumphouse Wash and mitigating rock falls in the area, received the award for David Evans and Associates’ innovative use of laser imaging technologies to conduct a topographical survey. The use of laser imaging resulted in fewer lane closures and significant savings in time and cost. Topographical surveys are a part of the design phase of a roadway project.

Honor Awards were received by URS Corporation for the redesign of the Interstate 10/State Route 90 interchange to solve safety and traffic capacity issues, and by Parsons Brinckerhoff for the Avenue 3E widening project from Gila Ridge Road to 24th Street in Yuma to provide better connectivity through the community.

The American Council of Engineering Companies of Arizona Engineering Excellence Awards competition recognizes engineering firms for projects that demonstrate an exceptional degree of innovation, complexity, achievement and value.

American Council of Engineering Companies of Arizona is a member organization under the American Council of Engineering Companies, and is devoted exclusively to the business interests of engineers in private practice.