DBIA Mid-America Region announced their 20th Annual Design-Build Award winners on Thursday (November 12, 2020). The following is a list of the Honor Award recipients. For the complete list of winners, CLICK HERE.
Schedule Excellence in Civil Infrastructure: Champ Clark Bridge Replacement
The new Champ Clark bridge replaced a structurally deficient and functionally obsolete crossing of the Mississippi River that opened in 1928. Since the project crossed state lines, a federal TIGER grant was given in recognition of its critical importance to the region. This five-span steel plate girder bridge overlooks the Mississippi River, with key improvements being made on each state’s side as well doubling the existing bridge’s width. On the Illinois side, work included reconstruction and raising of a critical levee, and on the Missouri side, the rehabilitation and expansion of the adjacent intersection, which included drainage improvements and enhanced lighting. This project is the first time the design-build delivery method has been used to cross the Mississippi River in an eight-state region and the first design-build project for IDOT.
Design Excellence in Education: Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena
The Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena provides 30,000 square feet of new space for the University of Kansas’ nationally ranked volleyball program, simultaneously improving the student athlete and visitor experience. An expanded two-story lobby, which includes one competition court with a state-of-the-art playing surface and two practice courts. Expanded team amenities include custom hardwood lockers with digital signage, expanded showers, a team lounge with a tiered film-viewing area, integrated AV, storage, and a kitchenette. Visitors have access to 2,100 seats and an approximately 2,500-square-foot hospitality mezzanine with loge seating that overlooks center court and provides a direct connection to historic Allen Fieldhouse. The visitor experience is further enhanced by a new Hall of Fame corridor, expanded ticketing and merchandising, integrated graphics, and a new video board and audio system. Athletic department officials hope the new arena will be able to meet that demand better and they said the new arena has plenty of features that will appeal to players and fans alike.
Horizontal Project Honor Award in Civil Infrastructure: South Liberty Parkway Phase II Design-Build
This long-awaited extension completes an east/west connection in the southern portion of the city between I-35 and MO Route 291. Passing through previously undeveloped real estate primarily used for small farming operations, this crucial multi-modal connection provided alternative access to the southern parts of the fast-growing Liberty community - alleviating congestion and opening up more than 1,000 acres for development. This would bring affordable housing options, as well as opportunities for commercial development that will bring more diverse jobs to the city and surrounding areas, further driving the economic impact of the project.
The city determined that the most appropriate delivery system for the project would be design-build, they developed RFQ and RFP processes using DBIA’s “best practices” as a foundation. They delivered a parkway that enhanced economic development throughout the corridor while incorporating community values.
Vertical Project Honor Award in Institutional: Fleet Maintenance Facility | Lenexa, Kansas
In 2017, the City of Lenexa decided to try a design-build approach to see if they could find a partner to design and construct a new fleet maintenance facility. The new facility sits on a 2.6-acre site and features an updated 18,000 square foot facility constructed with innovative sustainable features. The facility is designed to handle all of the maintenance and repair for the City’s entire fleet including police patrol cars, fire apparatus, tractors, trailers, loaders, cars, trucks, vans, public works maintenance vehicles and specialized equipment. In addition to the maintenance bays, interior spaces include offices and breakrooms, storage areas, welding shop and an automotive body shop. The McCownGordon and Finkle + Williams team completed the project on a fast-track construction schedule in just nine months.
Design-Build Project of the Year in Civil Infrastructure: I-435 South Loop Link
I-435 from the Kansas-Missouri state line to the interchange of I-470, I-49, and US 71 (the Three Trails Crossing Interchange) carries over 155,000 vehicles per day, and any incidents would routinely cause significant backups. The road needed capacity improvements to relieve congestion and improve the reliability and safety of the connection. Most of the bridges in the corridor were in poor condition and required rehabilitation or replacement. MoDOT, the project owner, set the ambitious challenge of completing a major rehabilitation to the pavement and bridges while improving capacity within a fixed $64.5 million budget and a two-season construction timeframe. After experiencing the benefits of design-build, they chose this method to strengthen the owner and design-build team relationship and share ownership of the I-435 project goals. Using a two-phase procurement approach, MoDOT selected the Radmacher-Wilson team after reviewing their concept to meet every need for this corridor while increasing the pavement’s lifespan.
Design-build delivery was key to the incredible success of the I-435 South Loop Link project. The approach allowed the innovative ideas that delivered the most valuable infrastructure with minimal impacts to the public. This team operated with a spirit of collaboration, overcoming challenges as a team, and keeping the project on schedule.
2020 Leadership Award: Bob Lindeblad
Bob is the Business and project development manager for BHC Rhoades and has served as the sponsorship chairman on the regional board for over six years and has made the sponsorship portion of DBIA-MAR what it is today. The well-deserved award speaks volumes to not only Bob’s character and his ability to generate interest, but his diligence in putting in the hard work every day.
For the complete list of winners, CLICK HERE.