© 1999-2021 American Council of Engineering Companies of
Oklahoma. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
2019 Engineering
Excellence Awards
Benham Design, LLC,
Honored as Engineering
Excellence Award "Grand
Conceptor" for the I-235
Broadway Widening at
50
th
Street and the BNSF
Railroad project.
2019 GRAND
CONCEPTOR
The
Oklahoma
Department
of
Transportation
(ODOT)
and
Benham
Design
partnered
to
widen
I-235
from
four
lanes
to
six
from
NW
36th
Street
to
NW
50th
Street.
The
project
included
rebuilding
NW
50th
Street,
an
entrance
and
exit
ramp,
Sewell
Avenue
and
realigning
the
BNSF
Railway.
The
existing
BNSF
bridge
was
also
replaced,
removing
a
bottleneck
to
the
widening
without
reducing
the
number
of
traffic lanes during construction.
This
was
ODOT’s
largest
construction
package
in
history,
at
a
contract
bid
price
of
$81
million.
Accelerated
Bridge
Construction
(ABC)
minimized
disruption
to
the
115,000
daily
commuters
and
BNSF
rail
traffic.
ABC
methods
also
prevented
the
contractor
from
constructing
the
trusses
over
traffic
or
reducing
the
number
of
travel
lanes
during
construction.
The
contractor
erected
the
trusses
offsite
and
moved
them
into
place
using
Self-Propelled
Modular
Transports,
avoiding
a
reduction
to
one
lane
each
way
on
I-
235
for
several
months.
Instead,
highway
closure
time
was
only
needed
for
a
single
three-day
weekend,
and
rail
for
less
than
a
day.
Implementing
ABC
greatly
improved
safety
for
workers and the public.
The
project
re-built
the
NW
50
th
Street
entrance
to
I-235
SB
and
the
exit
ramp
from
I-235
NB
to
50
th
Street
and
Santa
Fe.
The
project
extended
the
Deep
Fork
Creek
drainage
structure
and
bored
a
96-inch
storm
sewer
line
underneath
existing
50th
Street
ramps
to
alleviate
perpetual
flooding
and
closures
of I-235 after heavy rains.
Innovative
techniques
allowed
30-foot
tall
retaining
walls
to
be
constructed
adjacent
to
the
interstate
without
disrupting
utilities
or
requiring
the
relocation
of
businesses
adjoining
the interstate.
The
contract
time
of
850
days
was
reduced
to
700
days
using
A+B
bidding
and
careful
planning.
Ultimately,
the
project
finished
nearly
a
year
ahead
of
schedule,
allowing
ODOT
to
proceed
with
the
last
phase
of
widening
I-235
to
six
lanes
through this vital corridor.
2019 HONOR AWARD
Winners
GUY Engineering Services -
Bridge #15 over Mud Creek,
Pawnee County
S
3460
Rd
in
Pawnee
County
is
an
important
road
to
citizens
in
this
rural
community,
providing
a
direct
connection
from
SH-15
to
an
Arkansas
River
crossing.
Bridge
#15
over
Mud
Creek
caused
problems
and
inconvenience
to
those
using
this
roadway:
The
unsafe
and
dilapidated
40ft
single
span
pony
truss,
constructed
in
1932,
required
frequent
maintenance
and
repair
and
was
thus
often
closed
to
traffic.
When
this
happened,
drivers,
including
emergency
vehicles
and
school buses, were forced on a inconvenient detour.
GUY
Engineering
Services
(GUY)
developed
an
innovative
steel
arch
bridge
design
that
fit
the
unique
canyon-like
shape
of
the
channel.
The
new
bridge
was
the
first
ODOT-let
steel
arch
bridge
in
Oklahoma.
In
addition,
the
64ft-2in
span
x
19ft-7in
rise
steel
plate
structure
was
the
longest
steel
arch
span
available
at
the
time.
With
this
arch
design,
GUY
was
able
to
minimize
excavation
costs
and
environmental
impact in comparison to a standard PC beam bridge design.
With
a
new
bridge
in
place,
drivers
in
Pawnee
County
now
have
easier
access
to
the
Arkansas
River
crossing
as
well
as
improved
response
time
for
emergency
vehicles
.
The
new
bridge
also
provides
an
economic
benefit
to
Pawnee
County,
as
it
requires
nearly
zero
maintenance
.
In
addition,
the
aesthetic
value
of
the
bridge
has
received
positive reviews, as the fascia blends in with the scenery.
ODOT
used
the
construction
of
this
bridge
as
an
opportunity
to
provide
training
to
their
engineers
on
the
use
of
such
bridges.
In
addition,
other
counties
and
engineers
are
looking
at the design and considering its use
Cowan Group Engineering -
City of Mustang Water Reuse
Facility
Today,
very
few
municipal
wastewater
dischargers
in
Oklahoma
are
reclaiming
and
reusing
water
and
the
City
of
Mustang
is
leading
the
way
as
an
example
to
other
municipalities
for
innovative
reuse
projects.
The
City’s
vision
and
partnership
with
Cowan
Group
Engineering
made
it
possible
to
provide
an
example
to
other
municipalities.
The
Category
II
Water
Reuse
system
they
worked
to
design,
construct,
and
implement
became
an
apparent
need
to
them
in
2010
as
they
realized
that
they
were
one
of
the
number
one
users
of
potable
water
to
irrigate
City
facilities.
This
realization
brought
them
to
seek
other
sources
of
water
rather
than
well
field
water
or
purchase
water.
They
knew
that
they
had
a
reliable
source
of
water
in
the
water
reclaimed
at
the
wastewater
treatment
plant.
Rather
than
send
that
water
on
to
the
nearest
river,
they
could
augment
a
portion
of
the
discharge
to
the
irrigation
facilities
thus
saving
in
produced
and
purchased
potable
water.
This
would
provide
a
cost
savings
to
the
City
as
well
as
the
customer
base
which
pays
for
infrastructure
through
the
purchase
of
potable drinking water.
The
water
reuse
system
was
incorporated
into
a
larger
expansion
project
of
the
existing
wastewater
treatment
plant
which
increased
the
capacity
of
the
plant
from
2.0
million
gallons
per
day
to
3.0
million
gallons
per
day
and
also
allowed
the
renaming
of
the
plant
to
the
Reclamation
Facility.
Strong
partnerships
and
open
lines
of
communication
were
created
between
State
agencies,
internal
operations
staff,
the
engineering
team,
contractor,
management,
and
Parks
and
Recreation
were
instituted
early
to ensure that the project went smoothly from start to finish.
The
project
was
considered
a
success
in
that
it
will
allow
the
City
to
augment
approximately
15
million
gallons
of
potable
water
either
produced
or
purchased
for
the
irrigation
of
City
facilities.
The
payback
period
of
the
reuse
system
is
at
a
minimum
5
years
and
after
that
time
the
City
can
look
to
expand
the
system
to
provide
more
reuse
water
where
applicable.
The
City
is
very
proud
of
the
project
and
the
ability
to
provide
insight
to
other
municipalities
as
they
begin the utilization of the water reuse facility.
Garver - Del City Wastewater
Treatment Plant
Improvements
The
City
of
Del
City
(the
City)
was
in
immediate
need
of
upgrades
to
their
wastewater
treatment
plant
(WWTP)
and
processes,
some
of
which
had
gone
without
upgrades
for
over
30
years.
As
a
result,
their
Plant
struggled
to
consistently
meet
discharge
permit
requirements,
especially
during
periods
with
high
flow.
The
City
utilized
Oklahoma’s
Clean
Water
State
Revolving
Fund
(CWSRF)
to
finance
the
project,
and
Garver
worked
within
the
City’s
budget
and
requirements
of
the
CWSRF
to
prioritize
the
most
critical
elements
and
provided
a
means
to
immediately
address
potential catastrophic failures.
Due
to
the
aging
infrastructure
and
equipment
operating
beyond
its
useful
life,
the
Plant
staff
had
a
difficult
time
maintaining
compliance
with
its
Oklahoma
Department
of
Environmental
Quality
(ODEQ)
discharge
permit
requirements.
In
addition
to
a
consent
order
mandating
improvement
to
meet
discharge
requirements,
the
City
was
also
facing
a
new
regulation
for
a
minimum
of
three
basins
for
sequencing
batch
reactors
(SBR)
processes
and
the
existing Plant only had two.
Garver’s
initial
report
also
identified
the
existing
headworks
was
not
salvageable
and
would
need
to
be
replaced.
To
complete
priority
headworks
upgrades
while
maintaining
service
to
the
community,
Garver
completed
a
custom
design
to
fit
a
new
headworks
within
a
tight
footprint.
Confirmed,
careful
sequencing
allowed
construction
adjacent
to
the
old
headworks
facility,
keeping
it
operational
until
the
new
headworks could be brought online.
The
project
also
included
the
integration
of
a
non-contact
UV
system
into
an
existing
building,
replacing
a
chlorine
gas
system
and
providing
a
safer
operating
environment.
The
non-contact
system
is
one
of
the
first
in
the
state
of
Oklahoma,
requires
significantly
less
operation
and
maintenance.
During
construction,
systems
were
kept
online
to
continue
service
to
the
community.
The
SBRs
were
rehabbed
with
new
blowers
and
coarse
bubble
diffusers
to
improve
their
efficiency,
while
the
contractor
was
required
to
keep
at
least
one
SBR
in
service
at
all
times.
Utilization
of
the
Plant’s
storm
holding
pond
helped
with
receiving
the
influent
flow,
and
its
capacity
also
helped
justify
not
constructing
an
additional
SBR,
given
that
the
community
isn’t
expected
to
see significant growth for the foreseeable future.
Garver
provided
all
improvements
and
upgrades
under
loan
budget
and
helped
the
City
effectively
manage
the
construction
to
preserve
around
$1.2M.
Garver
also
assisted
the
City
with
utilization
of
available
funds
to
complete
cost
effective
implementation
of
several
upgrades
by
identifying
items City staff could complete in-house .
Garver - Claremore (GCM)
Runway & Taxiway
Rehabilitation
Claremore
Regional
Airport’s
Runway
17-35
is
the
only
runway
at
the
airfield,
so
any
construction
could
potentially
close
the
airport
and
impact
over
70
based
aircraft,
emergency
medical
services,
and
multiple
flight
schools
that
regularly
use
the
airport.
The
project
funding
had
originally
been
programmed
for
a
traditional
pavement
rehabilitation
consisting
of
milling
the
existing
bituminous
surface
and
constructing a bituminous overlay.
However, as design commenced, it was determined
that
the
existing
runway
pavement
had
been
constructed
without
a
base
course
and
was
not
adequate
to
handle
the
growing
aircraft
fleet
mix
using
the
airport.
The
necessary
pavement
design
required
an
asphalt
overlay
and
extensive
crack
repair,
but
this
was
well
beyond
the
available
budget
for
the
project.
Garver
was
tasked
with
developing
an
engineering
solution
to
improve
the
pavement
condition,
preserve
runway
capacity,
sustain
access
to
the
airport
during
construction, and maintain the project budget.
To
overcome
these
challenges,
Garver
developed
a
solution
that
had
never
been
implemented
on
an
airfield
in
Oklahoma.
The
solution
integrated
the
use
of
reclaiming
the
existing
bituminous
surface
course
to
serve
as
a
stabilized
base
course
for
a
new
bituminous
surface
course.
This
innovative
runway
rehabilitation
method
required
collaboration
with
the
FAA
to
update
an
outdated
reclamation
specification
to
include
modern
testing
standards
and
methods,
and
incorporate
the
addition
of
cement
and
asphalt
emulsion
to
the
stabilized
base
to
add
strength
while
also
staying
flexible
to
mitigate
the
development
of
large
block
cracking
in
the
future.
The
FAA
ultimately
approved
the
bituminous
pavement
reclamation
specification,
which
significantly
reduced
project
costs
and
pavement
closures.
With
the
approval
of
this
specification,
the
FAA
now
has
another
option
for
use
on
future
airfield
pavement
rehabilitation
projects that was not available prior to this project.
In
order
for
the
airport
to
remain
open
during
construction,
Garver
designed
the
use
of
the
parallel
taxiway
as
an
alternate
landing
surface
during
construction,
and
a
new
haul
road
was
built
so
that
construction
vehicles
could
access
the
runway
work
area without crossing the alternate runway safety area.
This
project
also
provided
significant
benefit
to
the
research
and
educational
community.
Faculty
and
students
from
the
University
of
Arkansas
used
this
project
as
an
opportunity
to
collect
field
data
on
workability,
compatibility,
and
cohesion
gain
of
the
reclaimed
asphalt
material
during
the
recycling
process.
This
data
collected
proved
extremely
valuable,
as
they
work
with
the
Asphalt
Emulsion
Manufacturing
Association
to
improve
mix
design procedures for Cold In-Place Asphalt Recycling.
These
innovations
resulted
in
a
project
that
significantly
improved
the
runway
pavement
condition,
maintained
access
to
the
airport
throughout
construction,
and
was
completed
below the original budget.
Craig & Keithline - Gilcrease
Expressway North Mitigation
The
Gilcrease
Expressway
North
project
is
a
new
alignment,
controlled
access,
divided
expressway
extension
located
in
Tulsa,
Oklahoma
connecting
US-75
Highway
and
the
L.L.
Tisdale
Parkway.
It
is
approximately
3.5
miles
long.
The
facility
is
located
in
a
partially
de
veloped
mixed
use
(residential
/
commercial
/
light
industrial)
area
of
the
City.
It
is
located
in
an
older,
urbanized
part
of
Tulsa
and
the
area
population
is
below
the
median
income
range.
Funding
for
the
project
is
a
mixture
of
local,
state,
and
federal
funds
accrued
and
expended
over
many
years.
This
entry
focuses
on
the
environmental
mitigation
efforts
developed
for
the
facility.
Craig
&
Keithline,
Inc.
was
selected
to
provide
the
design
services
for
the
project,
including
environmental
mitigation
a
nd
permitting.
Early
in
the
planning
process
the
mitigation
requirements
were
subdivided
into
four
categories
–
environmental,
stormwater,
regulatory
(404
permitting),
and
additional.
Environmental constraints and solutions included
Avoid
impacts
to
cultural
resources
(Community
Centers, Churches, School).
o
2
community
centers,
4
churches,
1
school
identified
and
avoided.
1
underpass
relocated
in
design
to
accommodate
projected
church
growth.
Avoid impacts to automotive salvage yards.
o
2
salvage
yards
identified
and
avoided
with
tree screening provided.
Remove
and
close
old
gas
stations,
oil
wells
and
oil
production related facilities.
o
Closed
&
remediated
3
gas
stations,
7
wells,
general oilfield cleanup.
Provide
multiple
city
street
underpasses
to
maintain
neighborhood connectivity
o
5
underpasses
provided,
each
with
decorative
sidewalks
and
underpass
lighting.
Ultimately
sidewalks
were
provided
for
9
sections
of
city
streets.
Provide
a
multi-use
trail
with
a
connection
to
the
existing “Midland Valley Trail”.
o
Included
the
“Gilcrease
Trail
Phase
1”
connecting Cincinnati to the MVT.
Stormwater
constraints
(solutions
incorporated
into
regulatory constraints)
Design
a
naturalized
regional
detention
pond
(Amos
Hall ~ 50 Acre-Feet required).
Remove
a
portion
of
Dirty
Butter
Creek
from
the
mapped
floodplain
and
provide
appropriate
compensatory storage.
Regulatory constraints and solutions
The
primary
permit
constraint
was
the
USACE
404
permit
process.
Craig
&
Keithline,
Inc.
developed
a
conceptual
“full
corridor”
mitigation
plan,
portions
of
which
were
incorporated
into
the
individual
construction projects, and included:
o
Define
and
protect
natural
areas
(woods,
wetlands and riparian habitats).
o
Establish
a
man-made
riparian
habitat
(meandering stream with plantings).
o
Establish
the
regional
detention
pond
as
a
man-made wetland habitat.
Additional
mitigation
solutions
not
required
but
provided
to
address community concerns
Compensatory
storage
area
is
wet
bottom,
contoured,
landscaped, with trail.
Detention
pond
is
wet
bottom,
contoured,
naturalized,
with trail and overlook.
Hardscaping,
vinyl
coated
fencing,
multi-use
neighborhood trails, and landscaping.
Garver - Hazardous Waste &
Spill Response Training
Garver
led
the
team
responsible
for
providing
eight,
eight-hour
Hazardous
Waste
Generator
and
Spill
Response
Training
(HWGSRT)
Courses
to
members
of
the
Oklahoma
National
Guard
(OKNG)
on
behalf
of
the
Oklahoma
Military
Department
(OMD).
The
members
of
the
OKNG
have
a
responsibility
to
stay
current
on
their
training
in
order
to
be
prepared
for
a
variety
of
situations
that may arise and need their services.
In
this
particular
instance,
the
OMD
and
OKNG
needed
to
update
training
in
regards
to
hazardous
waste
and
spill
response.
The
OMD
enlisted
the
help
of
the
Garver
Team
in
order
to
fully
train
nearly
80
members
of
the
OKNG
at
eight different locations across Oklahoma.
Garver
led
a
kick-off
meeting
with
the
client
and
team
subconsultant
Harbor
Environmental
and
Safety
(Harbor).
After
the
kick-off
meeting,
the
team
began
to
draft
the
curriculum
that
would
be
taught
to
the
OKNG
members.
Upon
course
completion,
the
Garver
Team
compiled
the
final
curriculum
and
presented
certificates
of completion to the HWGSRT Course attendees.
When
the
OMD
knew
they
needed
to
provide
more
training
for
their
soldiers,
they
knew
Garver
was
the
company
to
do
it.
Close,
constant
communication
between
key
stakeholders
the
OMD,
the
OKNG,
Garver,
and
Harbor,
allowed
the
Garver
Team
to
provide
the
needed training on budget and ahead of schedule.
Cabbiness Engineering, CEC
Corporation, Triad Design
Group - MAPS 3 Trail
Improvements at Like Stanley
Draper
For
decades,
the
City
of
Oklahoma
City
(OKC)
had
desired
to
turn
Lake
Stanley
Draper
into
an
economic
engine
for
southeast
Oklahoma
City.
Small
pockets
of
development
and
continued
recreational
opportunities
have
slowly
improved
the
area,
but
it
still
lacked
the
one
connective
component
to
tie
everything
together.
In
2015
the
Oklahoma
City
MAPS
Program
(MAPS
3)
desired
to
design
and
construct
a
new
multi-modal
trail
system
around
Lake
Stanley
Draper
in
hopes
to
kick-start
the
desired
economic
engine
and
bring
an
unparalleled
recreation
opportunity
for
all
of
Oklahoma.
In
order
to
achieve
this
goal
in
a
timely
and
efficient
manner,
the
MAPS
3
planners
ultimately
divided
the
trail
system
into
three
(3)
separate
segments
that
connect
and
create
a
continuous,
13.5-mile,
multi-modal
trail.
The
three
design
segments
were
ultimately
awarded
to
Cabbiness
Engineering,
LLC,
CEC,
and
Triad
Design
Group
(a.k.a.
the
Comprehensive Design Team).
The
Comprehensive
Design
Team’s
role
in
the
Lake
Stanley
Draper
Trail
system
was
to
analyze
and
design
a
new
interconnected
12-foot
wide,
multi-modal
trail.
As
part
of
the
design
contract,
our
Team
created
design
alternative
solutions
that
address
the
trail’s
functionality,
the
trail’s
connectivity,
and
the
trail’s
construction
feasibility.
Additionally,
included
in
our
project
design
were
utility
relocations,
right-of-way
and
easement
needs,
construction
traffic
control,
geotechnical
concerns,
trail
amenities,
permitting and estimated construction costs.
Some
of
the
challenges
and
highlights
encountered
throughout this project, include:
More elevation changes and vistas than any other trail
around the Oklahoma City Metro that cleverly winds
around and adjacent to Lake Stanley Draper.
Careful trail routing to avoid extensive tree mitigation
and protecting environmentally sensitive areas.
Addressing challenging construction conditions, while
also providing lake views—ultimately being one of the
keys to the project’s successful completion.
Maintaining the area’s scenic integrity, while
coordinating between the three design
firms—ultimately allowing our Comprehensive Team
to deliver a successful, interconnected trail.
Varying degrees of public involvement with the overall
design and effectively conveying the trails vision to
representatives and staff members of OKC, MAPS 3,
the MAPS 3 Citizen Advisory Board, MAPS 3 Trails
and Sidewalk Subcommittee, and the City Council.
Construction inspection and administration
services—throughout the construction phase, in-house
construction inspectors performed regularly scheduled
site inspections, documenting progress, deliverables,
and coordination of any field changes necessary.
The Comprehensive Design Team was able to work together
to analyze various alignments and designs. Ultimately, the
team proposed unified, innovative design and construction
solutions, and allowed the delivery of this $10-Million trail
project within its challenging construction schedule and
budget. Additionally, this project created a scenic and
sustainable lifestyle initiative for the community, that
connects to a network of 10 interconnected trails that can
take users to almost every point in the City of Oklahoma
City. This trail system will be used for generations to come
and help spark economic development for southeast
Oklahoma City and other surrounding communities.
Garver - Miami, OK (MIO)
Electrical Upgrades
Miami
Regional
Airport’s
original
lighting
system
and
NAVAIDs
were
past
their
usable
life
and
were
showing
significant
signs
of
unreliability
and
maintenance
issues.
As
a
result,
Garver
worked
with
the
FAA,
Oklahoma
Aeronautics
Commission
(OAC),
and
the
local
Owner
(Sponsor)
to
develop
a
two-year
project
to
replace
all
existing
lighting
equipment
and
infrastructure
as
well
as
add
additional
equipment
to
improve
nighttime
and
low-
visibility
use
of
the
airfield.
The
project
was
designed
in
year
one
and
constructed
in
year
two.
This
allowed
the
airport
to
provide
better
cash
flow
for
the
project
from
both
their
FAA
entitlement
funds
as
well
as
local
matching
funds.
The
project included
the
following scope:
•
replacement
of
existing
stake-mounted
and
direct-
buried
incandescent
runway
lights
with
new
base-
mounted
can and
conduit
LED
runway lights;
•
addition
of
LED
guidance
and hold
signs;
•
replacement
of
existing
failing
airport
rotating
beacon
with new high
intensity rotating beacon;
•
replacement
of
unreliable
2-box
incandescent
Precision
Approach
Path
Indicator
(PAPI)
system
with
more
precise
4-box
LED
PAPI
systems
for
both
runway
approaches;
•
installation
of
new
Runway
End
Identifier
Light
(REIL) system
for the
south runway approach;
•
installation
of
new
Omni-Directional
Approach
Lighting
System
(ODALS)
for
the
north
runway
approach;
•
installation
of
new LED wind
cone;
•
installation
of
new
Automated
Weather
Observation
System
(AWOS-IIIPT)
complete
with
precipitation
indication
and
thunderstorm detection;
•
installation
of
new
airfield
electrical
vault
to
house
the
power
and
control equipment;
•
and
installation
of
a
new
airport
access
gate
complete
with
keypad access control.
All
of
these
modifications
and
additions
provided
the
airport
with
more
reliable,
energy-saving,
and
maintenance-
friendly
equipment.
Prior
to
this
project,
the
airport
did
not
have
certified
weather
reporting
on
the
airfield—this
addition
is
extremely
beneficial
to
transient
pilots
as
they
fly
long
distances
into the
airfield.
With
a
project
attempting
to
complete
this
extensive
list
of
improvements,
funding
was
the
pinnacle
concern.
In
order
to
ensure
the
project
could
be
awarded
on
bid
day
as
well
as
maximize
the
scope
awarded,
it
was
determined
that
a
base
bid
of
the
runway
lighting
system
and
vault
building
coupled
with
additional
alternatives
for
the
other
equipment
was
the
best
way
to
achieve
this
goal.
This
allowed
the
most
imperative
item
to
be
awarded
first
and
the
alternatives
to
be
awarded
as
the
budget
allowed.
The
contractor’s
bids
came
in
below
anticipated
cost,
so
all
alternatives
were
awarded.
The
alternatives
also
allowed
the
components
of
the
project
to
be
divided between
the FAA
grant
and the OAC
grant.
Garver - U.S. 77 Bridge over
South Canadian River and
BNSF Railroad
The
US-77
Bridge
over
the
Canadian
River
and
BNSF
Railroad,
also
known
as
the
James
C.
Nance
Bridge,
connects
Purcell
and
Lexington,
and
was
originally
built
in
1938
as
a
deck
truss
two-lane
bridge.
It
serves
as
a
lifeline
between
the
two
cities
which
function
as
one
community.
The
originally
constructed
bridge
was
listed
on
the
National
Register
of
Historic
Places
(NRHP)
and
was
regarded
as
one
of
the
most
historic
bridges
in
the
state
of
Oklahoma.
It
was
the
third
longest
bridge
in
the
state,
sat
fifty
(50)
feet
high,
and
was
the
highest
deck
truss
bridge
in
the
state
serving
over
11,000
vehicles per day.
Due
to
the
age
of
the
structure,
in
2013
ODOT
solicited
for
a
proposal
to
analyze
the
feasibility
and
assessment
of
a
3-phase
design
replacement
of
the
bridge.
Garver
responded
to
the
RFP
and
was
selected
for
the
project
with
a
5-year
design
schedule.
After
selection,
Garver
developed
plans
for
US-77
over
the
Canadian
River
in
McClain
and
Cleveland
Counties.
The
project
included
environmental,
roadway,
bridge,
traffic,
hydraulics,
preliminary
engineering
and
final
design
for
the
replacement
of
an
approximately
3,750-foot-long
bridge.
In
February
of
2014,
during
the
structure’s
fracture
critical
inspection,
significant
cracks
were
found
in
key
structural
components,
requiring
ODOT
to
close
the
bridge.
The
closure
meant
a
45-mile
long
detour
for
the
daily
commuters
of
Lexington
and
Purcell,
creating
significant
hardship
and
leading
the
Governor
to
declare
a
State
of
Emergency.
The
cities
received
state
imbursement
funds
for
incurred
expenses
and
a
shuttle
service.
The
detour
impacted
businesses,
temporarily
causing
a
loss
in
revenue
and
unforeseen
expenses
for
the cities of Lexington and
Purcell.
Garver
was
asked
to
accelerate
the
project
schedule
due
to
the
closure.
The
revised
schedule
required
performing
all
three
phases
of
the
project
concurrently
for
a
24-month
delivery.
Garver
proceeded
to
analyze
alternatives
while
simultaneously
designing
the
new
bridge, a first for ODOT and Garver.
The
environmental
NEPA
analysis
was
also
initiated
early
and
successfully
negotiated
the
complexities
associated
with
the
historic
structure
as
well
as
critical
habitat
for
threatened
and
endangered
species.
Four
months
later,
after
widespread
temporary
and
terminal
repairs
were
made,
the
bridge
was
re-opened
to
traffic
with
heavy
load
restrictions.
Staged
construction
was
utilized
to
construct
the
bridge
in
a
partial
offset
alignment
to
continuously
maintain
two
lanes
of
traffic
across the bridge at all times during
construction.
The
new
bridge
was
opened
on
July
26,
2019.
The
ribbon
cutting
celebrated
unity
for
a
common
purpose:
improving
infrastructure
of
the
communities
in
a
state
where we work and live.