Illinois Agencies Present
Contractor of the Year Awards at IRTBA Ceremony
ROSEMONT - The Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association (IRTBA) hosted the 2018 Contractor of the Year Awards Thursday, the state's largest gathering of transportation design and construction industry professionals.
"The ceremony gives agencies and industry colleagues an opportunity to recognize companies who have achieved particular success in 2018. Award winners have shown adaptability, innovation, cooperation and teamwork, economy, quality of work, and creativity" said
Mark Barkowski, vice president of F.H. Paschen and chairman of IRTBA
.
Five major transportation agencies -- the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), the Illinois Tollway, Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT), Metra, and the Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) -- along with five county departments of transportation -- recognized companies that have given taxpayers an exceptional return on their investment by exceeding project expectations.
Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT)
gave away several awards, including the
Hot Mix Asphalt Award
to
Gallagher Asphalt Corp.
, of Thornton. The award was in recognition of the resurfacing of Williams Street, from Main Street to Marion Street, in the Villages of Glenwood and Thornton. IDOT also bestowed the
New Bridge Construction Award
to
Dunnet Bay Construction Company,
of Glendale Heights, for constructing a new flyover bridge from Eastbound I-90 -- which spans the CTA Blue Line and Eastbound I-190 -- and a new Eastbound collector distributor roadway, exiting to southbound Cumberland Avenue.
ICC Group
, of Elburn, was honored with IDOT's
Bridge Rehabilitation Award
, in recognition of bridge repairs to SN 099-9901, carrying Illinois 53 over the Des Plaines River in the City of Joliet.
D Construction
, of Coal City, was given the
Urban Improvement Award
in recognition of HMA resurfacing and the construction of ADA ramps on U.S. 6 / Illinois 53, from I-80 to Washington Street, in the City of Joliet. IDOT's
Small Construction Project Award
was given to
Arrow Road Construction Company
, of Mount Prospect, for their resurfacing and pedestrian ramps on Tower Road, from West Frontage Road to Forestway Drive. A
Special Recognition Award
was presented to
Kenny Construction, a Granite Construction Inc. company
, located in Northbrook, for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Westbound I-290, rehabilitation of a portion of the Congress Viaduct, reconstruction of Westbound I-290 over I-90/94, and the reconstruction of the Westbound Canal Street in Chicago.
RoadSafe Traffic Systems, Inc.,
of Romeoville, was awarded the
Work Zone Traffic Control Award
for their traffic control and replacement of SN 099-0080, carrying Illinois 171 over Long Run Creek at the 135th Street and Illinois 171 intersection, located in Homer Glen.
The
Illinois Tollway
honored a
joint venture
between
Curran Contracting Company
, of Crystal Lake, and
Geneva Construction Company,
of Aurora, with their
Contractor of the Year
Award
. This award was presented to the firm or firms that best exemplify professionalism, perform the highest quality work, while adhering to Illinois Tollway policies and procedures for their roadway and bridge rehabilitation work on the Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88), from Annie Glidden Road in DeKalb to Illinois Route 56 in Sugar Grove. The Illinois Tollway also presented a
Bridge Contractor of the Year Award
to
Lorig Construction Company
, of Des Plaines, for their commitment to quality, teamwork, and identifying solutions to complex scheduling issues on the $7 million Bradley Road Bridge Reconstruction Project over the North Tri-State Tollway (I-94).
Acura Construction Inc.
, of Bensenville, and their material subcontractor,
K-Five Construction Company
, of Westmont, were honored with a
Special Recognition Award
by the Illinois Tollway, for their teamwork and innovative use of materials to successfully complete necessary repairs on the southbound Mile Long Bridge on the Central Tri-State Tollway (I-294), near the villages of Hodgkins and Willow Springs.
The
City of Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT)
bestowed the
Outstanding Bridge Contractor of the Year Award
to
F.H. Paschen,
of Chicago, for their outstanding work, professionalism, and efficiency in the completion of the 41st Street Pedestrian Bridge over South Lake Shore Drive.
Acura, Inc.
, of Bensenville, was honored as CDOT's
Outstanding Minority Contractor of the Year
for the Lake Shore Drive over LaSalle Drive Bridge Rehabilitation project.
Outstanding Roadway Contractor of the Year
was given to
Bigane Paving Company,
of Chicago, for their work on the Arterial Street Resurfacing Project 80 - Central Area, including work on northbound and southbound Lake Shore Drive, between Grand Avenue and Monroe Drive.
Cook County Department of Transportation & Highways
awarded
Lorig Construction Company
, of Des Plaines, their
Contractor of the Year Award
in recognition of their fine work on the Central Road project, from Ela Road to Roselle Road.
DuPage County Division of Transportation
presented their
Contractor of the Year Award
to
Martam Construction, Inc.
, of Elgin, for successfully navigating challenges involved in the County's 2018 Retaining Wall Repair and Replacement Program.
Lake County Division of Transportation
bestowed their
Contractor of the Year Award
to
Peter Baker & Son Co.
, of Lake Bluff, for their successful completion of several 2018 contracts within the county, including Gelden Road Resurfacing (Deep Lake Road to Grass Lake Road); Almond Road Resurfacing (Washington Street to Fairfield Lane); Kelsey Road Resurfacing (Illinois 22 to Illinois 59); Kilbourne Road Resurfacing (Illinois 173 to Russell Road); 9th Street Resurfacing (Illinois 131 to Lewis Avenue) & Kenosha Resurfacing & Culvert (21st Street to Illinois 173).
Will County Division of Transportation
granted a joint venture between
Herlihy Mid-Continent Company
, of Romeoville, and
Continental Land Infrastructure
, of Romeoville, with the
Contractor of the Year Award
for their work on the reconstruction of 95th Street at Plainfield-Naperville Road.
Metra
bestowed their
DBE Prime Contractor of the Year Award
to
Era Valdivia Contractors, Inc
., of Chicago, for the Metra Electric District Rehabilitation of bridges over 63rd and 64th Streets -- this difficult project repaired two deteriorating bridges and their surrounding infrastructure, and was completed with no disruption to Metra's operations. Metra awarded their
Prime Contractor of the Year Award
to
John Burns Construction Company
, of Orland Park, for the Healy Station Rehabilitation project, which allowed the station to now be fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), among other major improvements. Metra also honored
Protemp of Illinois
, of Westchester, with the
DBE Prime Contractor of the Year Award
, for their work removing 30-year-old, failing, underground diesel fuel lines, and replacement with overhead fuel lines, including a leak detection system, at Metra's 47th Street Yard.
V3 Companies
, of Woodridge, was awarded Metra's
Construction Management Award
for their work which included rebuilding 11 bridges along the Union Pacific North Line, from Grace Street to Balmoral Avenue, as well as rebuilding the Ravenswood Station.
LiveWire Construction
, of Calumet Park, was honored with Metra's
DBE Subcontractor of the Year Award
, for the Metra Calumet Station project.
The
Chicago Department of Aviation
awarded their
Contractor of the Year Award
to
Walsh Construction Company II, LLC
, of Chicago, for the Runway 9C/27C east project, which is the latest installment in the transformative program to completely reconfigure O’Hare’s airfield into a modern set of parallel runways. While not completed, this airfield program has already significantly increased the Airport’s capacity in all weather conditions. Runway 9C/27C will continue O’Hare International Airport's original goal, to maintain its global competitive edge by offering a reliable and efficient platform for the airlines to operate.
IRTBA also presented internal awards to multiple members of the association.
Christpher B. Burke Engineering, Ltd.
,
of Rosemont, was granted the
Sustainability Champion Award
by
IRTBA's Sustainability Council
, for their continuous recognition of the importance of promoting sustainability within their company and community. They are the first, second-time winner of the
Sustainability Champion Award
it it's 10-year history.
Dunnet Bay Construction
, of Glendale Heights, was was honored as this year’s recipient of the
Golden Hard Hat Award for Safety
. Dunnet Bay Construction has placed a high priority on meeting and exceeding all industry requirements in very difficult -- and sometimes dangerous -- work environments. Dunnet Bay’s safety program has shown the full commitment of the owners and the cascading effect to all employees to touch every facet of the work they perform.
Rick Sniegowski,
vice president of
K-Five Construction Company,
of Westmont, was honored with IRTBA's
Friend of the Industry Award
, for his over 40 years of legendary leadership, knowledge, passion, volunteerism, and comprehension of the road construction industry. Over the decades, Rick has mentored many colleagues within the K-Five family, as well as countless contractors and suppliers within the industry.
IRTBA granted the
Recruiter of the Year Award
to
Jeff Ciecko
of
Gallagher Insurance
, in Rolling Meadows. Jeff has served on IRTBA’s Membership Committee for two years and is always willing to invest his time volunteering to recruit new members and has shown leadership through his insightful contribution of ideas that have grown and retained membership, and also positively impacted IRTBA member relationships.
The winner of the
Road Builder Charities’ Champion Award
is someone who has supported the
Make-A-Wish Foundation
for many years and has chosen to remain anonymous.
Road Builder Charities
will be donating $1,000 to Make-A-Wish on behalf of their 2018 Champion.
Additional awards were given to contractors in a number of categories. For a full list of award recipients and details on the featured projects, visit our website at
www.irtba.org
.
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About Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association
The Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association (IRTBA) has spent 80 years as the leading transportation industry trade association in Illinois. IRTBA member firms design, build, and maintain the state highways, transit systems, railways, and aviation systems. The core purpose of IRTBA's existence is to advance and promote the transportation design and construction industry in Illinois.
