Members Discover Benefits from Industry’s Top Awards
With no effective alternate route to handle the 230,000 vehicles that use I-25 each day, 40% of the work was done at night to keep highway lanes open during peak travel times.
You might not know that holding the title of “AGC Award Winner” can open many doors for contractors. From the benefits of stating the successful completion of an award-winning project in proposals to increasing your bottom line, AGC continues to provide value to its members through its Aon Build America Awards, Marvin M. Black Excellence in Partnering Awards and Construction Safety Excellence Awards. “We use AGC’s awards recognition in our proposals to show how we successfully complete projects,” notes AGC’s Aon Build America Grand Award Winner and Kiewit Construction’s Tom Howell.
Howell served as a project manager on the nation’s largest multi-modal, design-build transportation project—the Transportation Expansion (T-REX) Project in Denver. Along with the rest of the Southeast Corridor Constructors, he and his team shared the project owners’ number-one goal: to minimize inconvenience to the public.
This was no small undertaking, considering that the SECC joint venture between Kiewit Construction and Parsons Transportation Group was selected to manage the $1.28-billion contract that included an $880-million light rail system with 19 miles of double track light rail; 13 light rail stations and 12 parking facilities.
With no effective alternate route to handle the 230,000 vehicles that use I-25 each day, 40% of the work was done at night to keep highway lanes open during peak travel times.
The $795-million highway component included the reconstruction and widening of 17 miles of roadway along two Interstate highways, extensive upgrades to a 40-year-old drainage system, the widening or reconstruction of 61 bridges and tunnels, and the complete redesign and reconstruction of the nation’s 14th busiest interchange. The project also included improvements to several arterial and surface streets adjacent to the project corridor.
“The I-25 corridor is the only north/south Interstate through the Denver area, and more than a quarter-million people use this stretch of highway every day,” says Joy Wasendorf, public information officer for Kiewit Western Co. Approximately 40% of the work was done overnight to keep traffic moving during peak hours.
The project owners worked with a public relations firm to create a Website outlining why the project was needed, highlight its safety aspects and how it would improve the lives of those using the road and transit upon completion. SECC worked with the owners to make sure real-time traffic updates were available on the Web and to the media at all times.
" We are very proud to be involved in this design-build project that promoted team work between design and construction. AGC’s awards recognize these efforts and provide a very high value for SECC and Parsons Transportation Group."
— Jim Klemz, T-REX Design Manager, Parsons Transportation Group
To minimize the impact of nighttime noise to adjacent residents, a noise monitoring and mitigation program was developed, with noise technicians performing more than 425 nighttime readings.
The project was divided into three segments—each with dedicated project managers and field crews, allowing work to proceed on all three segments simultaneously. This helped to accelerate the schedule and provide better coordination among subcontractors and suppliers. At the peak of construction, nearly 2,000 people performed 300 to 400 scheduled activities along the corridor.
The tight right-of-way in the "Narrows" section of I-25 made it challenging to stage the multiple operations conducted in widening the highway and building the new light rail corridor.
T-REX successfully achieved its goals of minimizing inconvenience to the public, staying within the project’s budget, designing and constructing a quality project and completing the project on or before June 30, 2008. It even received a 93% approval rating from the traveling public.
“The project has been well received because of the hard work of countless people,” says former Colorado Gov. Bill Owens. “Everyone involved helped make the largest transportation project in Colorado’s history the best transportation project in Colorado’s history. T-REX was a prime example of promises made and promises kept.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Apply today and become an Award Winner! For more information on how to submit to AGC’s award programs, contact Carla Julian at (703) 837-5348 or julianc@agc.org. Visit www.agc.org/awards for more information—the deadline of Dec. 6, 2007, will be here before you know it.
DID YOU KNOW?
AGC and the Aon Build America Awards awarded the first-ever Grand Award in 2007; the award will be an annual honor for years to come;
Over the last five years, AGC has honored nearly 100 companies with Aon Build America Awards;
AGC recognizes building projects with a category of “$5 Million or Less” to honor members’ working with smaller budgets;
AGC’s Aon Build America Award winners have performed work on projects, including: the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.; University of Virginia—John Paul Jones Arena; the Los Angeles City Hall; the U.S. Consulate Complex, U.S. State Dept. in Istanbul, Turkey; and the I-10 Twin Span Bridges over Lake Pontchartrain in Orleans and St. Tammany Parishes, Louisiana;
AGC honors environmental projects like Alberici’s corporate headquarters—8800 Page in St. Louis, Mo., that saw the transformation of a circa-1950s brick office building and large metal manufacturing warehouse into a green class-A office space and campus. Alberici achieved a platinum-certification, the highest level LEED certification offered by the U.S. Green Building Council;
The 2008 AGC/Aon Build America Awards deadline for entries is Dec. 6, 2007. Have questions about preparing your entry? Contact AGC’s staff: Carla Julian at 703-827-5348 or julianc@agc.org.
For more information about AGC’s Aon Build America Awards and Marvin M. Black Partnering Awards go to www.agc.org/awards
Awards
AGC and the Aon Build America Awards awarded the first-ever Grand Award in 2007; the award will be an annual honor for years to come;