2019 TRANSPORTATION AWARDS

The 2019 ACEC/Iowa Engineering Excellence Awards winning projects in the Transportation Category:

Transportation Grand Place Award (1st Place in Category)

Firm: HNTB
Client/Owner: City of Iowa City
Project: Iowa City Gateway- Park Road Bridge and Dubuque Street
Contact: Mr. Mark Pierson
E-mail: [email protected]  ~ Phone: 816-527-2795

Dubuque Street and Park Road are key transportation links providing residents and visitors access to Iowa City’s business district and the University of Iowa campus. Dubuque Street, which runs parallel with the east bank of the Iowa River, is the main north-south corridor
connecting I-80 and Iowa City, effectively making it the “gateway” into the city. The Park Road Bridge provides an east-west link from Dubuque Street to the university campus and the new Hancher Auditorium for performing arts located west of the business district. This
corridor carries about 25,000 vehicles per day, and is a vital link for the community.

The corridor has a history of flooding due to its low elevation that results in frequent partial or full closures of Dubuque Street, disrupting accessibility for residents and visitors to the community’s businesses and recreation amenities. Most notably, historic flooding in 2008 brought complete overtopping of not only Dubuque Street but also Park Road. Park Road was closed for more than a month with Dubuque Street closed for nearly 150 days.  Additional road closures on Dubuque Street followed in the 2013 and 2014 floods. This project is part of a master plan to address the impacts of regional flooding and provide enhancements to the transportation corridor to better serve the interests and needs of the community.  The design criteria of the stakeholders and community included several key features intended to satisfy engineering needs as well as stakeholder desires. These key features:

• Reduce the frequency of closures to Dubuque Street due to flooding of the Iowa River by raising the corridor one foot above the 100-year flood elevation and the low chord of Park Road Bridge one foot above the 200-year elevation.

• Provide improved vehicular and pedestrian access/ movements and separate pedestrian and vehicular traffic on the Park Road Bridge while keeping the corridor open to pedestrian and vehicular traffic during construction.

• Provide an Iowa River crossing at Park Road that aesthetically complements the new Hancher Auditorium.

This criterion elevated the roadway approximately 8 feet at the lowest location and raised the bridge riding surface approximately 3 feet. The new bridge is built on an adjacent alignment to the south of the existing bridge to limit road closure during construction. Furthermore, Dubuque
Street had to be raised in stages to keep the corridor open throughout the project.

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Transportation Honor Award (2nd place in category)

Project: Grand Avenue Bridge over Des Moines River
Firm: Shuck & Britson, Inc.
Client/Owner: City of Des Moines

Project:  University Avenue Reconstruction
Firm:  Foth Infrastructure & Environment
Client:  City Cedar Falls 

Engineering Achievement Award

Project: Arconic Barge Ramp and Transport
Firm: Stanley Consultants
Client/Owner: Arconic

Project: 16th Avenue SE from 4th Street to 5th Street SE Pavement
Firm: Anderson Bogert
Client/Owner: City of Cedar Falls

Project: County Road G76 over I35
Firm: The Schemmer Associates, Inc.
Client/Owner: Iowa DOT

Project: Sabula- Savanna Mobility Project
Firm:  HDR
Client/Owner: Iowa Department of Transportation

Project: Stagecoach Drive Extension over Sugar Creek
Firm: Snyder & Associates, Inc.
Client/Owner: City of West Des Moines

Project: Kirkwood Blvd. Roundabout/ Hoosier Creek Culvert Replacement
Firm: Bolton & Menk, Inc.
Client/Owner: City of Cedar Rapids

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