Two projects win ACPA Gold Awards

Aerial view of the South Lawrence Trafficway

KDOT projects continue to receive national attention. Earlier this month, the South Lawrence Trafficway (SLT) and a reconstruction project on U.S. 56 in Gray County received Gold Awards from the American Concrete Pavement Association at the Annual Excellence in Concrete Pavement Awards ceremony.

According to the ACPA, the awards program recognizes high-quality workmanship in concrete pavement project while serving to provide exposure as well as share information on highly successful projects. The program recognizes contractors, engineers, and project owners who completed the projects.

The South Lawrence Trafficway received a Gold Award in the Divided Highways Rural Division. The six-mile, four-lane freeway moved the existing K-10 onto a new alignment which has had a positive impact on travelers in Johnson, Douglas and Shawnee counties.

The $138 million project also contributed to the creation of 300 new acres of wetlands and bike paths.  Although the span of the project was only 6 miles, it was a total of 43.23 actual lane miles and the project wrapped up ahead of schedule.  The project is expected to benefit the region by $3.7 billion, the largest of any project under the T-WORKS program.

The SLT also received a Sustainable Practices Recognition award for its efforts to protect plants and animals in the Baker Wetlands. 

“Your lasting work provides a well-designed, long lasting highway while also meeting the delicate need for ecological balance in the wetlands,” according to the award.

HNTB Corp. was the engineer and Emery Sapp & Sons Inc., was the contractor on this KDOT project.

U.S. 56 in Ensign.

The reconstruction project of U.S. 56 in Gray County also won a Gold Award in the State Highway division. The project included a combined 7.6 miles of concrete reconstruction in the towns of Ensign and Montezuma.

According to the ACPA, the “Hardroaders” at Koss Construction Co. and their team of subcontractors didn’t waste time starting the project. The scope for the project was a four-phase project to be completed in 319 working days.

“With excellent communication and coordination between KDOT and the Koss team, the project was completed within the schedule, giving the owner and road users a high-quality, durable pavement.”

Transystems was the engineer for the project in Montezuma, the project in Ensign was designed by Professional Engineering Consultants and Koss Construction Co. was the contractor on this KDOT project.

The Kansas Department of Transportation takes pride in all of the projects and endeavors throughout the state and looks forward to continuing to provide these types of high-quality services to the people of Kansas.