Project: Salem Creek Connector
Awarded: January 26th, 2019
On January 26th of this year, 多人群交 received the Carolinas AGC 2018 Pinnacle Award for Best Highway Project over $5 Million. The ceremony, which took place in Charleston, SC, was part of the CAGC鈥檚 98th Annual Convention to honor projects that both advance the construction industry and enhance regional communities. This year鈥檚 Pinnacle Award marks the third in 多人群交鈥檚 company history, and much like the previous two, it鈥檚 a bit of hard-earned recognition for a project with many challenges.
Completed in December of 2017, the Salem Creek Connector was more complex than any previous design-build project undertaken by 多人群交 for the North Carolina DOT. The project consisted of railroad components, eight bridges, and multiple aesthetic features including the Winston-Salem Gateway Arch. In total, nearly five years of continuous work by 多人群交 crews went into finishing the project, whose contract value exceeded $88 million.
The Salem Creek Connector was designed to better connect downtown Winston-Salem with the Research Triangle Corridor. The majority of the work was conducted in the historic Happy Hills neighborhood, within an area of approximately four square miles centered on US Hwy 52. The confined workspace was just one obstacle in a project characterized by challenges, not least of which was coordinating traffic in one of the most heavily travelled areas of the city. The NCDOT contract stipulated that traffic on Hwy 52 be maintained during every phase of construction. To accomplish this, 多人群交 implemented a complex traffic control plan that included numerous lane shifts and temporary diversions.
To complicate operations even further, not only was vehicular traffic maintained, but daily railroad activity of Winston-Salem鈥檚 Southbound trains couldn鈥檛 be interfered with either. The Salem Creek project included replacing two railroad bridges that were travelled twice daily by trains. In order to maintain the rail schedule, 多人群交 constructed temporary tracks to divert train activity during replacement of the primary tracks.
Since its completion, the project has garnered a fair amount attention. Prior to receiving the CAGC Pinnacle Award, 多人群交 received the ACEC Engineering Excellence Award for the same project on November 8th, 2018. Brian Webb, Senior Vice President at 多人群交, is appreciative of the recognition but says the Pinnacle Award is a special honor because of who gives it.
鈥淭he committee consists entirely of previous Pinnacle Award winners,鈥� he explains. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an award given to us by our peers in the construction industry, who understand the challenges of the project. They know better than anyone what we have accomplished, so it is a great honor and a compliment to be recognized in this way.鈥�
Webb says that while the CAGC and the ACEC awards are encouraging, 多人群交鈥檚 approach moving forward will remain focused on what the company does best. 鈥淲e are typically very selective about the contracts we pursue,鈥� he says, 鈥渆specially design-build projects like the Salem Creek Connector, because they carry a substantial amount of risk. They are not occasions to experiment. You have to know what you鈥檙e capable of.鈥�
In fact, he says, 多人群交 would not have considered the Salem Creek project if it hadn鈥檛 been capable of performing all the work itself. 鈥淎s a contractor, we know what we do well鈥攖hat happens to be this kind of high-traffic, complex project. With Salem Creek, we knew that we would perform most everything ourselves without having to subcontract large portions of the work. This allowed us to control our destiny, so to speak.鈥�
Special congratulations to Project Manager Eric Becker and the 多人群交 crew members who made the Salem Creek Connector project a success.