South Dakota Highway Team Notches National Win for Teamwork

Grizzly Gulch Fire Fans Innovation, Timeliness, Quality

Austin, TX/September14, 2005 —The National Partnership for Highway Quality (NPHQ) today announced that its 2005 State Award will go to the South Dakota Department of Transportation and general contractor E. H. Oftedal & Sons, Inc. for the engineering and reconstruction of six miles of U.S. Highway 385, “a project in which a first-rate quality control/quality assurance program delivered top value to the customer who uses this newly-beautified area.”

Announcing the award was Bob Templeton, executive director of NPHQ, a partnership among federal, state, and roadway industry leaders and officials whose shared 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.

Templeton said that the plans, which called for regrading through the existing corridor—just south of Deadwood, the storied gaming town popular with tourists—specified a shift offline to provide 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.

The public's cooperation and input were key to the project's success, Templeton noted. “Weekly meetings, as well as a project specific website, helped balance and incorporate the community's needs with maintaining the progress of construction.”

Two obstacles did present themselves – one foreseen and one unforeseen. Planners knew about the Black Hills National Forest's flora and fauna, and 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. But no one could have foreseen the devastating Grizzly Gulch fire, an unforgettable test of the mettle of the South Dakota team. Though 11,500 acres were consumed in the flames, construction was delayed for only a week, while the team worked with other state and federal agencies to reduce erosion and sediment control problems caused by the fire, and to adhere to the project's original schedule.

“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.

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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