Georgia Highway Team Earns Coveted National Award
Atlanta's Newest, Biggest Bridge Spans 21 Lanes
Austin, TX/September14, 2005 —The National Partnership for Highway
Quality (NPHQ) announced today that its 2005 Special Recognition for a Structure
Project award will go to the Georgia Department of Transportation, Construction
Manager James “Mickey” McGee, and to contractors APAC-Georgia, Inc. and CW
Matthews Contracting Company for the design and construction of the 17 th Street
Bridge in Midtown Atlanta.
Announcing the award was Bob Templeton, executive director of NPHQ, a partnership
among federal, state, and roadway industry leaders and officials whose advocacy
of “customer-centered” practices has produced better, safer, more user-friendly
roads and bridges that are completed faster, last longer, and minimize congestion
and inconvenience.
The new structure, Atlantic's biggest bridge, was designed to connect burgeoning
Midtown Atlanta with a Atlantic Station, a new 138-acre community, as well
as to become an east-west, multi-modal alternate through Midtown over the busy
I-75/I-85 Downtown Connector. The 830-foot long steel box girder bridge, spanning
21 interstate lanes over the Downtown Connector—and its approaches and access
lanes—was challenged to reduce congestion, improve traffic flow, and help new
development in the metro area.
Such challenges and statistics generally mean problems for motorists in the
form of work zones, but, from the start, extensive public involvement and communication
were harnessed to address public concerns and factor them into design and construction
scheduling. “All key stakeholders were in constant and cooperative contact,” said
Templeton, thus enabling the Georgia team to complete the daunting work on
time and on budget. In addition, numerous innovative approaches were set into
motion to accommodate environmental clearances, the unique set of materials,
and the traffic control plans needed to minimize delays and inconvenience to
motorists.
Templeton pointed out that “Partnering with a Purpose” became a mantra of
the Georgia DOT, primary contractors APAC-Georgia and CW Matthews, and the
many federal, state, and city stakeholders. “As a result,” he added, “final
design plans came along after just 18 months and the truly momentous construction
was complete in just two years.” Joining the Georgia team at the opening ceremony
in 2004 were Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and Governor Sonny Purdue.
NPHQ is composed of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the American Association
of State Highway and Transportation Officials (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, Kiewit Corporation, and the URS Corporation.
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