And the award goes to...
Minnesota County Engineers Association
2004 Project of the Year: The Cass County Highway Department and its county engineer, David Enblom, received this award for the total reconstruction of 7.7 miles of CSAH No. 13.
Cass County was responsible for the project design, construction supervision, and management using Mn/DOT State Aid standards. Although implemented and overseen by Cass County, the project required the cooperation and involvement of several agencies. These were Cass County, Mn/DOT, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Chippewa National Forest, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwa, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Coast Guard, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Onigum Local Indian Council, Leech Lake Heritage Sites Program, and the Minnesota Historical Society.
The project was a huge undertaking for Enblom and the Cass County Highway Department, taking more than seven years of planning, design, environmental permitting, and funding and right-of-way acquisition before being completed in 2004.
In granting this award, it was noted that this project was an excellent example of identifying and involving other agencies to put together a project that serves many users, and that without interagency cooperation and funding, the project might still be in the programming stage.
Special Project of the Year: The MCEA recognized the Central Lakes Trail project in Douglas, Grant, and Otter Tail Counties with an award for special project of the year. The location is the former Burlington Northern rail line grade between Fergus Falls and Osakis, Minnesota, traversing approximately 55 miles.
David Olsonawski, Richard West, David Robley, and Luke Hagen
The Central Lakes Trail project was a joint planning and construction effort by the three counties. The project had a total cost of approximately $2.64 million, with contributions from designated transportation-related enhancement funding from the FHWA, Minnesota DNR Regional Trails monies, and local funds.
The project consisted of subgrade preparation, aggregate base, and bituminous surfacing to 10-foot-wide lanes and 2-foot paved shoulders. Also included were pavement markings and signage.
Not only was this a joint effort by the three county highway departments, it was a community effort with the involvement of snowmobile clubs, landowners, fund-raising groups, cities along the trail, and the county boards of each county. The result is a 55-mile multiuse trail offering miles and hours of snowmobiling, cycling, and hiking through scenic west central Minnesota.
Richard West and Wayne Fingalson
Safety Award: Wright County and Wayne Fingalson were honored a second time in nine years with MCEA's Work Zone Safety Award. Wright County earned the award in part because of its excellent annual work-zone safety training of all maintenance, construction, inspection, and engineering staff including seasonal employees. Other reasons were the use of a formal accident and incident investigation and review procedure, the implementation of a Public Works Department booth at the county fair with emphasis on highway maintenance safety, the purchase of a commercial-grade washer and dryer for in-house cleaning of safety garments, and the empowerment of every employee to make traffic control changes to ensure conformance with safety standards.
City Engineers Association of Minnesota
Terry Wotzka
2004 Engineer of the Year Award: Terry Wotzka is a principal with Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc. and city engineer for Waite Park and Sauk Rapids. Sauk Rapids nominated Wotzka for his exceptional work and commitment to public involvement on a controversial bridge project that affected several communities, counties, a township, and a planning organization.
2004 Municipal Project of the Year Award: The city of Golden Valley, together with consulting engineers Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc., were awarded the 2004 CEAM Project of the Year Award for their joint effort to plan, design, and construct an $18 million road reconstruction project that calmed traffic, improved pedestrian safety, reconnected neighborhoods, and resolved drainage issues in the Brookview Neighborhood of Golden Valley.
The construction of I-394 severed the connection between former TH 12 and the Brookview area of Golden Valley that includes Winnetka and Laurel Avenues. Diverted traffic levels soared to 15,000 vehicles a day on these residential streets, creating pedestrian safety issues and causing residents and business owners to feel disconnected from the community and the city's largest park.
The project involved the large-scale use of a light-weight aggregate fill to address drainage concerns that reduced the possibility of road settlement and eliminated the need for costly utility relocations.
The project extended into adjacent Brookview Park, the city's largest and most popular. Enhancements included a new series of connecting trails, decorative lighting, a welcoming gateway, renovated shelters, new parking lots, and plant buffers around existing wetlands that helped address water quality concerns and transformed the ponds into a flourishing wildlife habitat.
"The area now feels much more like a neighborhood, and residents are truly happy," Golden Valley Director of Public Works Jeannine Clancy said. "It's better than we could have ever imagined."
Women's Transportation Seminar
Shelly Pederson
Shelly Pederson, city engineer of Bloomington and a Minnesota LTAP Steering Committee member, was named the 2005 Women's Transportation Seminar (WTS) Woman of the Year. This award is given to a woman who is a leader in transportation and has made an outstanding contribution to the transportation industry, and who has directly contributed toward the advancement of women and minorities through programs and opportunities in the transportation field.
The award was presented on April 6, 2005 at the WTS Annual Scholarship and Recognition Luncheon in Minneapolis.
Institute of Transportation Engineers—North Central Section
Wayne Sandberg
Young Transportation Professional of the Year Award: Wayne Sandberg, transportation engineer in Washington County, received this award, which is presented to an individual 35 years old or younger who has made outstanding contributions to the Institute as well as achievements in the transportation/traffic engineering profession.
Ed. note: One of Sandberg's many projects is described in the article on page 2.
Minnesota Public Works Association
Hugo G. Erickson Award: Steve Theis received this honor for his 20 years of service as an instructor of the "Technical Aspects of Public Works" at North Hennepin Community College.
Project of the Year: Wright County CSAH 42 Landslide Emergency Repairs was one of two public works projects honored by MPWA. The project was awarded for the cooperation among agencies and the fast-track process used to complete the project quickly. The 50-foot-high embankment by the Mississippi River washed out on May 22, and by October 30 the $850,000 project was completed. (See the summer 2004 Exchange for more coverage.)
Asphalt Recycling & Reclaiming Association
Charles R. Valentine Award for Excellence in Cold Recycling: Kaye Bieniek, Olmsted County, and Dan Wegman, Koch Pavement Solutions, received this award for their analysis of rehabilitation applications for engineered emulsions in Olmsted County. The goal of this effort is to better understand proper applications of new materials and rehabilitation practices in order to reduce life-cycle costs and provide added value to the taxpayers in Olmsted County.