Concrete Pavement Association: Ryan Road reconstruction project wins national excellence in concrete pavement award

Madison, WI. – The American Concrete Pavement Association (ACPA) has named recipients of its 27th Annual “Excellence in Concrete Pavements” awards, which recognize quality concrete pavements constructed in the United States and Canada.  

The awards program encourages high-quality workmanship in concrete pavement projects, and serves as way to share information about challenging and highly successful projects. Projects are evaluated and voted on by judges from across the country and represent various stakeholder groups in the transportation-construction community. The program recognizes contractors, engineers, and project owners who completed outstanding projects.

The awards fall into 13 categories applicable to construction and preservation of highways, roadways, airports, and industrial pavement facilities. The program requires projects to be completed in the calendar year prior to judging (2015).  

The reconstruction of Ryan Road (State Trunk Highway 100) in Oak Creek, Wisconsin received the Gold Award in the Category of Urban Arterials and Collectors. The award ceremony was held on December 2, 2016 at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the ACPA in Austin, Texas. “This project was awarded the 2015 concrete paving award by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and it is the tradition of the Wisconsin Concrete Pavement Association to send the state award winners to the national award program. The Zignego Company, CH2MHill and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s Southeast Region should all be congratulated for delivering this complex project on time and with excellent quality construction”, said Kevin McMullen, President of the Wisconsin Concrete Pavement Association. “WCPA was honored to join the Zignego Company and CH2MHill to accept the award on behalf of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation who could not attend the award ceremony in Texas. We look forward to honoring the entire project team in the very near future”, he further added.  

Highlights from the ACPA press release on the project are as follows:

Urban Arterials and Collectors  
(Gold Award) Ryan Road (State Trunk Highway 100), Oak Creek, Wisc.
Contractor: Zignego Company, Inc.
Owner:  Wisconsin DOT
Engineer: CH2M Hill  

This project involved the reconstruction and expansion of 1.6 miles of a six lane concrete roadway with six signalized intersections in a heavily traveled corridor in Oak Creek, Wisc.

The project included removals, grading, base aggregate, select crushed material subbase; concrete pavement; concrete barrier wall; curb and gutter; and a temporary asphaltic surface. The project also included storm sewer; a storm sewer detention pond; erosion control; traffic control; and restoration and preloading of the future Interstate Highway northbound exit ramp.

Despite numerous challenges throughout construction including the requirement to maintain business, residential, and intersection access at all times; coordinating and working through unanticipated utility conflicts and delays; overcoming material shortage issues; and late season adverse weather, the Zignego Company and project staff persevered to construct an outstanding project.  

Project staff partnered with local businesses and residents to minimize pavement gaps, which in turn, improved ride quality and accelerated completion. They also worked together to revise the construction staging at a critical intersection to accommodate traffic for two truck stops.

The contractor met many challenges and paved just under 100,000 SY of 8.5 in. thick jointed plain concrete pavement on schedule, under budget, and with minimal public disruption.  As a result, the community and local stakeholders now have an aesthetically pleasing, smooth, safe, and high-quality roadway that will last years to come.