Togwotee project honored for innovation

WYDOT’s US 26-287 reconstruction between Dubois and Moran Junction was honored for the best use of innovation in a medium-sized project at the America’s Transportation Awards western regional competition.

The award was announced on July 14 at the Western Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials annual meeting in Albuquerque, N.M. The organization includes 18 member states from Texas to Hawaii and the Dakotas to Alaska.

Bob Bonds, WYDOT Environmental Services NEPA manager, accepted the award on behalf of the department and all the personnel who worked on the project.

Mike Hancock, president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), said the Togwotee project and the other award winners reflect a commitment to the nation’s future and the need for continued investment in the transportation systems on which it depends.

“The America’s Transportation Awards competition showcases the exceptional, innovative and diverse range of transportation projects by state transportation departments that are improving travel and the quality of life in America, even during a time of funding uncertainty,” Hancock said.

The 38-mile Togwotee reconstruction began in May 2006 and was completed in July 2013 at a total cost of $146.2 million. New shoulders and eight new passing lanes were added, and substandard horizontal and vertical curves were improved. Deteriorating bridges were replaced, pullouts and recreational parking were enhanced, and under-crossings built for wildlife and snowmobilers. The project also included stabilizing 17 landslides.

Other winners for best use of innovation were the South Dakota Department of Transportation’s Cliff Avenue/I-90 Reconstruction in the small-project category, and the California Department of Transportation’s San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge East Span in the large-project category.

The America's Transportation Awards are sponsored by AASHTO, AAA and the U.S Chamber of Commerce to recognize the best in transportation projects.

The 10 projects with the highest overall scores in the regional competitions will compete for the National Grand Prize and People’s Choice Award to be announced at the AASHTO annual meeting in Charlotte, N.C. in November. The Grand Prize winner is selected by a panel of transportation experts, and the People's Choice Award is decided by online votes from the public.

AASHTO represents state transportation departments in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. It is a nonprofit, nonpartisan association serving as a catalyst for excellence in transportation.

Earlier this year, Oftedal Construction of Casper won the Associated General Contractors of America’s Alliant Build America Award for best renovation of a highway for its work as contractor on four of the five phases of the Togwotee project.

The project also has been honored by the U.S. Forest Service with an award for outstanding partnership to preserve, conserve and enhance the highway corridor’s natural, scenic, visual and wildlife resource values.

Pictured in photo from left: Bud Wright, AASHTO executive director; Brad Olson, Oftedal Construction project manager; Bob Bonds, WYDOT Environmental Services NEPA manager; and Mike Hancock, AASHTO president and secretary of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet