Three Sioux Falls Projects Win Highway Awards

PIERRE – Three projects in Sioux Falls won construction and design awards at the South Dakota Department of Transportation/Associated General Contractors Partnership for Quality Highway meeting in Pierre. SDDOT Secretary Dennis Landguth announced the award winners at a banquet on Wednesday, January 5.

Design, Structure Category

The Madison Street Interchange project in Sioux Falls recently received honors as the best designed structure in the state for the 2004 construction season. The project was also named as the best designed grading project. The pedestrian bridge over I-29 near Southeast Technical Institute was named as the best constructed structure.

Last summer and fall, construction crews built a new interchange at Madison Street, which included new bridges over the Ellis and Eastern Railroad and a box culvert under Madison Street. The project involved mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) retaining walls to accommodate ramps for the interchange. The new design widened that section of I-29 from two to three lanes. It also increased Madison Street from a two-lane highway to a four-lane highway with turning lanes. 

Designers added an aesthetic flair to the project by using a stone finish with a rose quartz color on the MSE wall to simulate the Sioux quartzite of the area. They used a tan color on the coping of the walls to add contrast and continued the color scheme on the bridges with a stripe of rose quartz on the back of the barriers and tan on all other exposed concrete.

The SDDOT Bridge Design Office was responsible for the design of the interchange bridges with help from the SDDOT Materials and Surfacing Office. 

Design, Grading Category

Road design engineers met several challenges on the I-29/Madison Street project, including the close proximity of rock quarries along the east side of the interstate and on either side of Madison Street. The quarries are nearly 200 feet deep and are actively mined. A ditch and narrow earthen berm were all that separated the interstate lanes form the quarry.

Once the interstate bridge was designed, both Madison and I-29 were realigned horizontally and vertically to fit the new interchange. Previously, Madison Street went over the interstate. With the new design, it was lowered and re-engineered to go under the interstate.

SDDOT and HDR Engineering, Inc worked extensively with private utility companies and the City of Sioux Falls to ensure that all utility locations were completed before construction began. 

Agencies responsible for the work include HDR Engineering, SDDOT Road Design Office, SDDOT Bridge Design Office, SDDOT Materials and Surfacing Office, SDDOT Geotechnical Office, SDDOT Right of Way Office, SDDOT’s Mitchell Region and Sioux Falls Area Offices.

Construction, Structures Category

The pedestrian bridge over I-29 is the only one of its kind in South Dakota. It includes a helical ramp on the east side crossing over to the large MSE wall on the west. The structure was built to provide safe transportation for people enjoying the bike trails in Sioux Falls.

The east ramp consists of two 360-degree runs that bring the sidewalk from the ground to the pedestrian bridge. Ten interior columns support the ramp. Construction of the ramp was challenging due to the sequence of the work. 

The bridge itself contains two steel structures connected together on a pier in the median of the interstate. The two structures were set in four hours on a Sunday morning.

Sioux Falls Construction, Co was the contractor on the project. The company was assisted by the SDDOT’s Sioux Falls Area Office. Subcontractors included All Phase Electric, Guardrail Enterprises, Michael’s Fence & Supply, Midwest Land Surveying, Runge Enterprises and United Rentals Highway Technologies.

Each year the SDDOT and AGC award top construction projects around the state at the annual partnering meeting. A committee made up of members from both organizations and the Federal Highway Administration evaluate the nominations and select the top winners. 

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