SDDOT Wins National Award for Teamwork

PIERRE, SD – The South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT) and contractor E. H. Oftedal & Sons, Inc of Miles, City, Montana have won an award for the engineering and reconstruction of six miles of U.S. Highway 385. The award was presented yesterday at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) meeting in Nashville, TN.

“The partnering between the SDDOT and the contractor were critical to completing the project on time,” says Judy Payne, SDDOT secretary. “Teamwork between the DOT and contractor kept the lines of communication open and the project moving forward despite many challenges including wet spring weather, a rock slide and the Grizzly Gulch Fire.”

The project involved re-grading the existing corridor just south of Deadwood and providing shoulders, guardrails, improvements to sight distance, and drainage. Planners also provided for an asphalt concrete product with above par values for air voids and density.

Planners worked with an environmental consultant to relocate streams and protect wildlife, allowing for the most compatible relationship of the streams, environmental integrity, and the roadway. Though 11,500 acres were burned in the fire, construction was only delayed a week. The South Dakota team worked with other state and federal agencies to reduce erosion and sediment control problems caused by the fire

Bob Templeton, executive director of the National Partnership for Highway Quality (NPHQ) presented the award. He says the project is a first-rate quality control/quality assurance program, which delivered top value to the customer who uses this newly beautified area. He also credited the team for its commitment to involve the public informed.

“This undertaking, through the use of innovative engineering and environmental principles, not only overcame all problems, but enlisted the help and support of all stakeholders, providing a national model for environmental protection and beautification,” said Templeton.

The project, lead by Steve Schelske in the Rapid City Region DOT office involved a number of SDDOT personnel, 21 subcontractors and 12 resource agencies. 

NPHQ is composed of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), AASHTO, the Texas Transportation Institute, the Foundation for Pavement Preservation, the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies, the American Highway Users Alliance, The Associated General Contractors of America, the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Peter Kiewit Sons’, Inc., and the URS Corporation. 

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