FHWA Honors Mn/DOT, TBE and CTS with Utility Award

06/15/2006

Excellence in Utility Relocation and Accommodation/Innovation Award.
Award recognizes development of new Mn/DOT utility coordination process.

CLEARWATER, FL – The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has presented the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT), TBE Group, the University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies (CTS), and Darlene Gorrill Communications with its 2006 Excellence in Utility Relocation and Accommodation/Innovation Award for projects of less than $100 million. The award was presented at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)/FHWA Right-of-Way and Utilities Conference in Baltimore on May 1, 2006.

The award, for the Mn/DOT Utility Manual and Utility Accommodation Policy rewrite and training delivery project, recognizes the team’s efforts in developing a new utility coordination process that promotes communication and strengthens relationships among all parties whose work impacts utility coordination. The result of the team’s work is a 15-step process whose goal is to minimize project delays, construction costs and contractor claims, while maximizing the number of necessary utility relocations that can occur before construction begins.

CTS selected TBE to help with the development of the new process. Seven training sessions, which included representatives from all Mn/DOT district offices, were conducted on the new policy and process. Training participants included Mn/DOT internal staff, utilities, municipalities and consultants, with TBE personnel serving as primary instructors. Now that the participants have completed their training, they are able to apply the process immediately to their projects. Mn/DOT expects to use its new utility coordination process on all of its projects by the spring of 2007.

“It was truly an honor for TBE and our project team to receive this award,” said TBE Director Jeff Sowers, Business Unit Manager for the firm’s Michigan, Minnesota and Indiana operations. “Mn/DOT assembled a very strong and capable project team, and we all worked very hard over the past two to three years to realize our goal. To receive recognition for our work on this project is extremely gratifying.”

“TBE’s technical expertise with utility policy and accommodation consulting services has afforded several DOTs across the country the opportunity to take advantage of our talented TBE team,” said TBE Senior Vice President and Utilities Division Leader Nick Zembillas. “TBE is a recognized leader in Subsurface Utility Engineering and professional utility coordination across the country, and our vast TBE team has local knowledge and expertise that many DOTs are able to benefit from. We are honored that such a highly respected agency as the FHWA has recognized the contributions of the entire team, including TBE, for such an important Mn/DOT project.”

FHWA’s Utility Relocation and Accommodation Awards recognize transportation providers, contractors and designers who have embraced the difficult challenges of providing facilities that meet transportation needs while considering the environment and local communities by providing facilities that move people and goods safely and efficiently.