June 2014 Interchange

Interchange June 2014, Vol. 42, Issue 6

Seven-year project garners award

U.S. 26-287 earns best renovation of a highway

Letters

WYDOT Driver Services receives kudos Dear WYDOT, I believe I have held a driver’s license in seven different states. I have lived in Wyoming since 2003. Upon arriving here, I acquired a Wyoming driver’s license. A few months later, I added an endorsement for passenger buses. A few more months and I added a motorcycle endorsement.

My wife, daughter and son have also held Wyoming driver licenses. Additionally, I have assisted a few other people who needed a ride out to the driver services office.

In all of our dealings with Wyoming driver services, we have found the people friendly and helpful. They have patiently explained things that they are probably tired of explaining. They have always been professional.

I have even seen them deal with people that are less than pleasant.

Today, my wife renewed her license and we both updated our address due to a recent move. I was reminded of just how pleasant your employees are to deal with, especially compared to the other six states I have dealt with.

Wyoming driver services is #1, in my opinion.

Don Ohlin Cheyenne

Highway crash made more bearable by WYDOT employee Dear Mr. Goetz (Jeff), I just wanted to contact you to express my appreciation for your well trained and generous employee, Bob Towns. On April 29, I was involved in a serious rollover accident. Both my passenger and myself were thankfully uninjured, but were both a little shaken. By the time my passenger was able to get out of the vehicle, your employee, Mr. Towns, was there to assist.

He offered to call an ambulance if we needed it (thankfully, we did not) and radioed his office. He offered us shelter from the frigid weather in his vehicle and stayed with us until we were finished with

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the trooper and had someone to come get us.

Bob Towns was very calm, caring and comforting during this entire ordeal.

I wanted to let you know that he was a Godsend. He told us how WYDOT trained all the employees to be able to handle such situations, but I doubt that the training extends to the care he showed us. It was nice to have him help us through such an awful experience. It is weird to say, but he made it just that much nicer.

Thank you also to your agency for providing such a service. I hope to never have to utilize it again, but I am glad it is available for those who will.

Sincerely, Laura McKinnon

Interchange Interchange is published for employees of the Wyoming Department of Transportation by its Public Affairs Office and a number of field correspondents.

Interchange invites submissions from all employees. Please send them to either your district correspondents or to: Carlie Van Winkle, Interchange editor, 5300 Bishop Blvd., Cheyenne, WY, 82009-3340. The Public Affairs Office may also be contacted by phoning (307) 777-4165, faxing (307) 777-4289, or sending email to carlie.vanwinkle@wyo.gov

Wyomingite thankful for interstate closures I’m sorry if you have gotten grief over keeping the highway closed (throughout winter weather conditions). Most of us totally understand, and have always understood, why you have to close the roads in winter weather situations.

I am profusely thankful to you for keeping me off I-80 in such crappy conditions. My life and health are much more important than any plans that had to fall by the wayside. (I travel in my work and ALL of my customers are fine with waiting until I can travel to them safely.)

WYDOT does an incredible job of taking care of travelers on a tough road.

Thank you again.

Bev Hempel, Saratoga resident (safe and happy at home)

Pinedale resident sends thanks for winter road maintenance Dear WYDOT employees, I wanted you to know how much I appreciate what you do. I know what kind of hours you put in to keep our roads safe.

I can always count on you clearing the roads during my early morning and late night commutes to Jackson.

Thanks for all you do!

Staff WYDOT Director: John F. Cox Public Affairs Manager: Doug McGee Editor/Art Director: Carlie Van Winkle Contributors: Bruce Burrows Public Affairs Dave Kingham Public Affairs Carlie Van Winkle Public Affairs Ross Doman District 1 Jeff Goetz District 2 Stephanie Harsha District 3 Ronda Holwell District 4 Cody Beers District 5 Sgt. Stephen Townsend Patrol Photography: Rick Carpenter Public Affairs

Megan Svalberg, Pinedale

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Also in this issue:

Contents 8

Letters.....................................2 District briefs.........................4 District news...................... 32

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Training at a Glance......... 34 Awards................................. 35 Noteworthy......................... 36 By the Numbers................ 37 Passings............................... 40

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Extra Mile Awards............. 40 WTDEA..................................41

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8 Togwotee wins prestigious award

Break Time.......................... 43

Touted as the best renovation of a highway

11 Getting the project off the ground

Pat Collins shares his story

15 A new highway comes to life

Planning and designing phases

17 Protecting a rare environment Be sure to check out the online version of Interchange at http://issuu.com/wydot.pao, or click on the link found on the employee’s internal website home page.

Wetlands and wildlife migration top priorities On the cover:

Three faces of Togwotee Pass. Inset photo depicts a pre-construction highway with narrow shoulders. Left image during construction showing wide shoulders and cleared trees. The finished highway can be seen in the right-hand photo with grassy right-of-way areas.

Photos: Rick Carpenter

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District Briefs Transportation Commission awards $34 million in highway contracts

Cheyenne – Contracts totaling $34.1 million for eight highway projects around the state were awarded by the Wyoming Transportation Commission during its May meeting in Laramie.

Oftedal Construction of Casper won the largest of the contracts with the low bid of $11.1 million for reconstruction of US 16 through Ten Sleep and adding a climbing lane for westbound traffic leaving Ten Sleep. The project also will include replacement of the bridge over the Nowood River and new sidewalk and lighting in Ten Sleep. Work on the reconstruction in town won’t begin until after the Nowoodstock Ten Sleep Music Festival Aug. 8-10. The contract completion date is Oct. 31, 2015.

Simon Contractors and Subsidiaries of Cheyenne won a $10.7 million contract for milling off deteriorating pavement on I-80 and replacing it with three inches of new pavement between the Otto Road and Roundtop interchanges west of Cheyenne.

Work is expected to begin in June and be completed by July 31, 2015.

Two miles of Robertson Road between Poison Spider Road and CY Avenue in Casper will be rebuilt under a $4.7 million contract awarded to Andreen Hunt Construction of Mills. The contract completion date is July 31, 2015.

Casper’s Knife River was the low bidder at $3.5 million for a contract for patching work on I-25, WYO 59 and other highways in Converse, Johnson and Platte counties. The work is expected to begin in the Wheatland area and is scheduled to be done by Oct. 31.

Streamline Markings of Billings, Mont. won a $1.2 million contract to install epoxy striping and other pavement markings on highways in Albany, Campbell, Carbon, Laramie, Sweetwater, Teton and Uinta counties by Nov. 30.

Cheyenne’s Reiman Corp. submitted the low bid of $1.1 million to replace the

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Sheridan County Road 1213 bridge over Little Goose Creek. The existing bridge, which was built in the 1940s, will be torn down to make room for the new bridge.

The contract completion date is Oct. 31, 2015.

Staker & Parson Cos. of Ogden, Utah was awarded a $1 million contract for improvements to nearly 1.5 miles of Wasatch Drive (I-80 service road 134) between the I-80 Business Loop and Airport Road in Evanston. The work will include milling off deteriorating pavement and replacing it with new pavement. The project is scheduled for completion by Oct. 31.

HL Construction of Billings, Mont. was the low bidder at $856,000 for replacing cattle guards and guardrail at various locations on the Chief Joseph Highway (WYO 296) northwest of Cody by Sept. 30.

WYDOT encouraged by release of draft transportation funding legislation Cheyenne – Draft legislation released by a U.S. Senate committee in May is a good start towards reauthorization of federal transportation funding, according to WYDOT Director John Cox. The legislation, titled MAP-21 Reauthorization Act, was issued May 12 by the Senate’s Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee. Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming is a leading member of the committee and a co-sponsor of the bill.

“We’ve been busy reviewing the details of the bill, but are pleased that Sen. Barrasso and his peers have made progress on the transportation funding issue,” Cox said. “The highway funding formula would be maintained in an equitable manner, and that continuity is crucial to primarily rural states such as Wyoming.”

The current MAP-21 legislation will expire at the end of September, conceivably resulting in a disruption of federal aid to the states if some sort of reauthorization or continuing resolution is not in place by then. Also on the horizon is a looming shortfall in the federal Highway Trust Fund, which as early as this summer could result in a slowdown in federal funds available to the states.

“We commend the EPW Commit-

tee and its leadership for its bipartisan approach to the need for a long-term, multi-year investment in transportation infrastructure,” said Bud Wright, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. “The nature of the projects and programs that state departments of transportation oversee requires a long-term view in order to ensure the best investment of federal, state and local tax dollars.”

“WYDOT looks forward to working closely with Sen. Barrasso and the other

511 Travel Information May 11-12, 2014

(Mother’s Day snowstorm)

Total calls = 64,455 4.21 million web hits to high-bandwidth map service (map.wyoroad.info/hi.html)

47,035 web hits to low-bandwidth map service (map.wyoroad.info/lo.html)

14.76 million web hits to our textbased pages (wyoroad.info)

Total web hits = 19 million

members of the Wyoming delegation to complete the process of reauthorization,” Cox added. “We’re grateful for their interest in preserving the elements of the MAP-21 framework that serve our transportation needs by maintaining funding levels, allowing for sensible regulatory reform, and addressing national priorities and issues.”

Record storm brings record 511 Web traffic Cheyenne – The May 11-12 storm that dumped record snowfall on areas of southeast Wyoming resulted in a record 19 million hits to WYDOT’s 511 Travel Information Service website.

The high volume of users caused slowed response times for some of the site’s pages during the storm.

“We are working to correct the problems,” said Vince Garcia, manager of WYDOT’s Geographic Information Systems/Intelligent Transportation Systems program. “WYDOT is making every effort to provide information in text, email and Web formats in an effort to save money by reducing the number of phone calls to the 511 system.”

Between 12:01 a.m. May 11 and 2 p.m.

May 12, the 511 site’s text-based pages (wyoroad.info) received 14.76 million hits.

The site’s high-bandwidth interactive map page (map.wyoroad.info/hi.html) got 4.21 million hits, and the low-bandwidth map page (map.wyoroad.info/lo.html) handled 47,035. During the same period, the 511 telephone system responded to 64,455 calls.

“The Web traffic represents a new record number of hits for a single storm, while the phone calls were about half of our peak volume, suggesting our efforts are saving taxpayers money,” Garcia said.

STIP quarterly update issued Cheyenne – An update to WYDOT’s “State Transportation Improvement Program” (STIP) for 2014 has been issued and is available for viewing on the agency’s website,www.dot.state.wy.us.

The STIP contains a listing of highway and bridge projects, and also airport improvement work, that WYDOT tentatively expects to let to contract during the

current fiscal year. The STIP is published annually and updates are issued quarterly.

The document can be found in PDF format within the “Planning/Research/ Projects” section of the website. The most recent update, titled “2014 2nd Quarter STIP Addendum,” is located under the “STIP Project Listing” tab. Printed copies of the 2014 STIP are located at WYDOT offices, libraries, and city and county government offices.

In addition to current-year projects, the STIP includes a listing of planned transportation projects slated for future years, as well as a summary of pass-through funding for public transit programs throughout the state.

Highway projects are listed as either rural or urban, and are further broken down by functional classification; namely, Interstate, arterial, collector or local. The listings also note the general character of work, such as reconstruction, resurfacing, bridge replacement, etc.

WYDOT emphasizes that the STIP project listing is tentative and is revised in accordance with changes in funding levels and other issues which may arise during the advance project design phase.

Spring snow hampers travel Laramie – WYDOT crews went out May 12 with 50 plows and other equipment in southeast Wyoming to get I-80 open for traffic.

The roadway had been shut down the length of the state and into western Nebraska due to the heavy spring snowfall.

According to District 1 maintenance engineer, Tim McGary, the main culprit for the prolonged closure was the insidious wind that hampered visibility and turned the wet spring snow into sheets of ice.

The snow drifted and froze into heavy windrows. Vehicle slide-offs and stranded travelers were many. Some drivers simply stopped their vehicles along the roadway, hampering plow movement.

Along with the plows, WYDOT utilized loaders and trucks to move the snow off the roadway. The length of interstate was open for use the afternoon of May 12.

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Snowy Range Road in Southeast Wyoming open Laramie – WYO 130 over Snowy Range Pass open at dawn on May 24.

After Memorial Day, manpower and equipment focus moved west to WYO 70 which remains impassable with snow to be cleared, equipment serviced and the path widened. There is no set opening date for WYO 70 at this time.

Shooting suspect shot by troopers Cheyenne – A suspect sought by law enforcement for a shooting in Hawk Springs in southern Goshen County led troopers on a pursuit April 26. The suspect shot at troopers once he was stopped.

The pursuit began in southern Goshen County on U.S. 85 and continued southbound into Laramie County. Troopers ahead of the pursuit laid spike strips across U.S. 85, which damaged the tires on the suspect’s vehicle, eventually disabling his vehicle.

The suspect was finally stopped 17 miles north of Cheyenne where he exited his vehicle and fired at troopers. The suspect was wounded in an exchange of gunfire.

The suspect was transported to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center where he was hospitalized. No troopers were injured during the incident.

The Wyoming Highway Patrol thanked those who responded and provided support from law enforcement and emergency response agencies, and the WHP staff for its professionalism in handling this event.

WYDOT closes roads due to explosion and fire Kemmerer – WYDOT closed U.S. 30 and WYO 240 near the Opal-Kemmerer area April 23 due to fire.

An explosion at the Williams Gas Plant caused a fire and WYDOT responded with the road closures.

Traffic was diverted at nearby ports-ofentries.

The highways

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Oversize load strikes underside of bridge Rock Springs – The Gookin overpass bridge has been closed to traffic due to damages caused by a truck carrying a track hoe on the interstate. The track hoe being transported made contact with the bridge after attempting to pass under it, damaging the girders.

The bridge will remain closed indefinitely until WYDOT crews can properly inspect and evaluate the damage.

The bridge connects the Foothill Blvd. service road to the Sunset Drive service road on the west end of Rock Springs.

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Crash near construction zone south of Gillette claims three lives Gillette – Three people were confirmed killed and at least three more injured in a crash involving eight vehicles about 10 miles south of Gillette on WYO 59 May 14.

The incident occurred near mile post 99 in a construction zone where traffic was stopped on both sides of a road repair project while a pilot car was leading groups of northbound and southbound traffic through the work zone.

According to Lt. Will Zilka of WHP, a number of northbound vehicles were stopped at the construction zone waiting to be escorted through the work area.

The area of the work zone was properly marked with signs, speed reductions, and flaggers. For reasons not yet determined, a Powder River Transport bus headed northbound collided with the line of stopped vehicles at a high rate of speed.

The collision killed one person in one of the stopped vehicles and two people in another of the stopped vehicles. None of the two dozen people on the bus sustained serious injuries. At least three people from

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Patrol car struck, trooper sustains minor injuries

Landslide east of Sheridan causes traffic re-route

Buffalo – A parked patrol car was struck by a vehicle on WYO 387 north of Midwest in southern Johnson County.

Trooper Richard Burridge, who was seated in his patrol car, sustained minor injuries when his patrol car was hit from behind by a pickup while investigating a previous crash scene.

Burridge was transported by another trooper to Johnson County Memorial Hospital in Buffalo where he has been treated and released for minor injuries.

Burridge had his overhead emergency lights activated and had traffic cones out in the southbound passing lane diverting traffic to the right lane. Additional troopers and tow trucks, all with their overhead lights activated were in the area assisting motorists from the previous crash.

The Ford F-150 pickup was passing cars that had slowed for the emergency vehicles when it drove through the traffic cones and plowed into the rear of the patrol car.

WYO 387 had just re-opened from the previous crash.

The driver of the pickup was not injured and has been cited for careless driving.

It is unknown at this time if the 2012 Dodge Charger patrol car is repairable or if it will be considered a total loss.

Sheridan – A landslide on U.S. 14 east of Sheridan at milepost 15.4 (Jim Creek Hill) forced WYDOT maintenance personnel to build a temporary traffic lane next to the highway.

WYDOT personnel noticed the slide earlier this spring and had been monitoring it to determine what the options for potential repair would be. In-house geotechnical engineers have been on-site to assess the slide area.

The slide moved significantly the last week of April and WYDOT took emergency action to move traffic away from the slide. Maintenance crews were able to move the roadway into the hillside and pave a bypass for traffic. Crews also installed barrier walls as a safety precaution. Traffic in this area has been narrowed and the speed limit has been reduced to 30 mph through the detour area.

The term ‘landslide’ describes a variety of processes that result in downward and outward movement of slope-forming materials including rock, soil, artificial fill, or a combination of these items.

This particular slide is an embankment slide which occurs under the road way.

Another slide type common to this area is a backslope failure slide. This happens when debris drops or slides onto the roadway from above.

A backslope failure slide can be found just two miles down U.S. 14 at milepost 13, just prior to the Jim Creek Slide area.

WYDOT has named this the Tiff slide The Tiff slide is scheduled for repairs later in this construction season.

Photo courtesy WHP

were opened back up mid-morning April 24. All residents and workers were accounted for and there were no reported injuries.

other stopped vehicles were transported to the hospital.

WHP car rear-ended while investigating a previous crash. Other emergency responders assisting with the previous crash were on scene to help the trooper.

Photos courtesy Ronda Holwell

Briefs continued from page 5

The Jim Creek Slide has re-routed U.S. 14.

Sign vandalism compromises roadway safety on Wind River Reservation Riverton – Wind River Reservation transportation officials are concerned about continuing vandalism of roadway signs and flashing lights.

CC&G, Inc., of Lander is the prime contractor on the Wyoming 170 bridge replacement project. The Wyoming Transportation Commission awarded the project bid to CC&G, Inc., in February.

Tharp said the contractor is scheduled to begin removing the existing bridge by mid-June, with construction of the new bridge to begin a week later. The contractor’s schedule calls for pouring the concrete bridge deck about mid-August, asphalt paving of the roadway on each side of the bridge in mid-September, and completion of the project by the end of September.

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Photo courtesy Cody Beers

Worland project scheduled for U.S. 16

Vandalism of highway signs and flashing lights cause concern for District 5 community.

Bridge replacement project begins northwest of Thermopolis Thermopolis – Replacement of the last wood timber bridge on the Wyoming highway system is underway on Wyoming 170 northwest of Thermopolis.

Construction of a one-way detour on the east side of the old Owl Creek bridge started on the $1.272 million project in Hot Springs County.

“Once the detour is built, the contractor is scheduled to begin removing the old timber bridge,” according to Kaia Tharp, Wyoming Department of Transportation resident engineer in Thermopolis. “The new bridge will be built in the same location as the old bridge.”

Worland – A $354,760 highway repair project on the east side of Worland’s main street intersection near the Washakie County Courthouse started after Memorial Day. Prime contractor for the project is McGarvin-Moberly Construction Co., of Worland. One of the subcontractors, D&A Construction of Thermopolis, is working on another WYDOT project near Manderson and needed additional days to complete work near Manderson.

McGarvin-Moberly and its subcontractors have a 30-day working day window (Monday through Friday) to complete grading, placing crushed gravel base, asphalt pavement, repairs of concrete pavement, crack sealing, sidewalk, curb and gutter and other work on .08 miles of U.S. 16 in Worland.

“During these improvements, we’re asking citizens and workers to park on 10th or 11th streets, as parking won’t be allowed on the south side of the courthouse,” according to Dan McAfee, Wyoming Department of Transportation resident engineer in Worland. “Traffic will continue to use Big Horn Avenue with two-way traffic (one lane in each direction) during this project; half of the roadway is scheduled for improvements at a time.”

Contractor working hours for the project are 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and the contractor is not currently scheduled to work weekends during the project, “unless needed,” McAfee said.

U.S. 14A spring opened May 22 Lovell – The annual spring opening of U.S. 14A between Burgess Junction and Lovell took place May 22.

“We’ve broken through to the Burgess Junction side of the mountain. We’re cleaning up the roadway, fixing the major road slide area on our side of the mountain, and we’ve been battling snow drifts on the mountain,” said Jason Fleming, WYDOT maintenance foreman in Lovell.

“We’ll have more maintenance work to do on the roadway and the slide after opening day.”

The annual winter closure of U.S. 14A, west of Burgess Junction, is at milepost 76.04 on the Lovell side of the Big Horn Mountains. The seasonal road closure at Burgess Junction is just east of milepost 98.1. WYDOT annually closes this 22-mile stretch of scenic mountain road in the Big Horn Mountains of north-central Wyoming about Nov. 30 at the conclusion of the fall hunting season. It usually opens for the summer by Memorial Day weekend.

Photo courtesy Cody Beers

“Signage of speed limits and stop signs, directional arrows and flashing lights are placed along roadways to enhance safety,” according to Big John Smith, transportation director for the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes. “When these signs get vandalized, painted, etc., highway safety takes a back seat and human lives are in danger.”

Recent vandalism of signs and flashing lights along 17 Mile Road and Yellowcalf Road are examples of compromised safety due to vandalism.

“If you see this unacceptable activity happening, please report it to the tribal transportation office at (307) 463-4443,” Smith said. “Better yet, please pass the word that this is unacceptable behavior.

We’re trying to save lives with these projects, and vandalism compromises safety.”

Maintenance crews from Lovell and Northwest Wyoming worked long hours to clear snow from U.S. 14A in the Big Horn Mountains between Lovell and Burgess Junction.

Fog seal applied to U.S. 16 east of Worland Worland – More than 17 miles of U.S. 16 received an oil fog seal east of Worland.

An oil fog seal consists of an asphalt emulsion applied to the surface of an aged road. The applied emulsion should return some of the highway’s flexibility and postpone resurfacing.

The oil fog seal of the highway is scheduled between mileposts 1.52 and 18.56 east of Worland on U.S. 16.

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Photo: Rick Carpenter

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Photo: Rick Carpenter

Togwotee project wins prestigious national award

by Dave Kingham

Photo courtesy Oftedal Construction

WYDOT’s seven-year project to rebuild US 26-287 between under-crossings built for wildlife and snowmobilers.

Dubois and Moran Junction earned Casper’s Oftedal Construc“Projects like these reflect the qualities – elite skill, diligence tion the Alliant Build America Award for the best renovation of a and resolve – that have made the construction industry successhighway. ful,” said AGCA President Paul Diederich. “These contractors are It’s the first time a Wyoming contractor has received one of setting the standard of excellence in our industry.” the prestigious awards given by the Associated General ConKaia Tharp, now WYDOT’s resident engineer in Thermopotractors of America to the nation’s best construction projects as lis, was in Dubois for nine years and worked on all five phases of selected by a panel of judges representing all areas of the conthe project. Oftedal invited her to the AGCA’s annual convention struction industry. in Las Vegas for the award presentation.

The 38-mile reconstruction was completed last year, on time “It was good to be compared to other projects and to actuand on budget. The highway, which crosses 9,548-foot Togwotee ally be recognized for all the hard work that we’ve done and the Pass, last saw major improvement work in 1958, and due to high excellent work that Oftedal did,” Tharp said. “It was a very large elevation, heavy snow, steep project and very innovaterrain and unstable geology, tive and very exciting it had experienced landslides that we actually won and roadbed failures. It also this award against so presented safety hazards due many big contractors to its sharp curves, steep hills, and big projects in short sight lines and lack of other states.” shoulders.

The recognition is The reconstruction began due in part to the many in May 2006 and was comtechnical challenges pleted in July 2013 at a total the project overcame, cost of $146.2 million. New including 17 landslide shoulders and eight new stabilizations, short passing lanes were added, and construction seasons substandard horizontal and and extensive envivertical curves were improved. ronmental concerns.

Oftedal Construction received the Alliant Build America Award for the best renovaDeteriorating bridges were reInnovative solutions also tion of a highway. Present at the awards presentation were Thermopolis Resident placed, pullouts and recreational Engineer Kaia Tharp (fourth from left) and to Tharp’s immediate left, Oftedal were required to keep Construction Project Manager Brad Olson, Oftedal Construction President Jeff parking were enhanced, and traffic and tourists flowMcDonald and Oftedal Construction CFO/Secretary Roy Thorneycroft.

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Photo: WYDOT

ing through local communities during construction.

The amount of snow and snowmelt in the area meant construction usually couldn’t begin until June and had to be finished by November. “One year we didn’t get started until August because of the snow in the high elevations,” Tharp said.

Oftedal was the contractor for four of the five projects, which provided consistency that meant WYDOT engineers didn’t have to explain the unique characteristics of the project at the beginning of each new construction season.

Jim Wilcox was Oftedal’s superintendent for the project and Brad Olson was their project manager. Tharp said their experience and expertise were keys to the project getting done well and on time.

“It was a really good partnership between WYDOT and Oftedal,” she said. “We had really good communication, and when issues came up, we got together and worked out solutions to all the problems.”

The new road is safer, easier and more enjoyable to drive, with gentler curves and grades and more room for snow storage in the winter, bicyclists in summer and tourists to pull over and enjoy the scenery year-round.

“I really enjoy driving over that road now, knowing what it looked like before and what it looks like now,” Tharp said. “It’s really nice that we could go through and make such an impact to a road and a community. I know when we started people weren’t sure if they were going to be happy with this road, but now we hear a lot of really good things. They feel safer driving it.”

In addition to building a better road, Oftedal did an excellent job of working with the U.S. Forest Service and landscape architects to finish slopes and blend them into the surroundings to make the corridor look more natural, she said.

Working on such a long project results in a level of involvement rarely experienced on smaller and less-demanding projects, Tharp said.

“You’re so focused on that job over seven seasons that it kind

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of becomes your life,” she said. “You know every component of the job and where everything is. It helped to have Oftedal with that same involvement in the job. It was very good that the AGCA awarded Oftedal this national award. In the small state of Wyoming, we don’t see very many projects that can compete on a national level.”

Photo: Rick Carpenter

Milling operations with the Grand Tetons in the background.

Traffic was ushered safely through work zones throughout the sevenyear project.

Photos: Rick Carpenter

Getting the project off the ground

Pat Collins, assistant chief engineer for planning and engineering, 2001-2010, now retired.

Photo: Rick Carpenter

The project had been hanging around in the STIP a long time, to come and talk about their experience with WYDOT construcand that probably had a lot to do with the cost. We just had to tion projects in their areas from a positive standpoint. bite the bullet and do it. But at least some of the delay was we So I think, as time went on, we built up a trust and a bit of knew it was going to be a difficult project, and we had others gorapport with them. I think it was going to be rough from the get ing too, like the Cody-Yellowstone project, and you can’t stir up go, no matter what, so eventually you get to where they know you too many hornets nests at the same time. and you know them and you can be frank with them.

The first time we met with the public was in Dubois, and I was That’s one of the keys. I think the DOT over the past 10 years surprised at how negative they were. They were actually pretty at least has built up a lot in that regard. We used to go in and try well organized too. They had super concerns about the impact on to sugarcoat things a little bit. You really tried to estimate impacts business. I think that was a really big on the low end of what you thought deal for them, not only in Dubois, but you were going to do, and that’s exalso in Riverton and Lander. The first actly 180 degrees wrong. You want to couple meetings were pretty rocky. go in and estimate things on the high You think, well, maybe we can take end. If it can happen, then you’d better the over $100 million this would cost figure that it’s going to happen and go and go build 10 pretty good projects ahead and estimate the impacts. somewhere else. But the situation was You’ve got to go in and tell them that highway needed to be rebuilt. It what’s going to happen and how long was in such poor shape that it was just it’s going to take. That was another flat going to fall apart if we didn’t do concern they had. In the STIP this was something about it. We told them that. a 10- or 12-year project. We basically I think the initial opposition was got it down to seven years, and when mostly just fear of the unknown, but you put forth those kinds of effort to there was a lot of mistrust. They just accommodate people’s concerns, I didn’t trust the DOT, but as time went think they get to where they trust you. on and we came back − they didn’t The accelerated construction run us out of town − I think they schedule was one of the things that started to trust us. Especially when we came out of the ACTT (Accelerated got to the point where we told them Construction Technology Transfer we were willing to spend a considerworkshop conducted in Dubois in able amount of money to mitigate the 2004). That probably came from Pat Collins, former assistant chief engineer for planning Galen Hesterberg (statewide operations impacts of construction. and engineering, speaking at the Togwotee grand openWe got people from Cody and Buffalo ing and ribbon cutting in August 2012. engineer for the Federal Highway AdJune 2014

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Photo: WYDOT

Numerous wetland areas were given special treatment along the construction corridor.

Photo: WYDOT

wider, and you bother more wetlands.

It terms of a well-organized and very vocal special interest ministration) and it was a great idea to bring those folks in from group, almost nobody matched the bicyclists. They knew what all over the country and kick things around. they wanted and were determined to get it. They wanted big wide The Togwotee Trail project was complex in a number of ways. shoulders. Well, that spreads out your footprint. That’s another The elevation went through I don’t know how many types of one of those competing interests. ecology as you finally get over the top, and that was a real chalI think the department did a good job (of balancing the lenge, not only in terms of the wetland issues, but in terms of the competing interests), but you pay a premium for it. The DOT has construction season. When you’re trying to speed up the conalways tried to get the most out of a construction-design dollar struction schedule and you have a real short that we can get. But up there we really paid season up on top it’s a real challenge. a premium for that project. It was in the There are acres and acres of wetlands up neighborhood of $150 million, and that’s there you have to be concerned about. You just a lot to pay for a project that length, but have to miss wetlands if you can, and if you it did turn out very well. can’t, you have to minimize the impacts and The involvement of (advertising) conyou have to mitigate whatever impact you sultant CCT, to help us out was something make. new to us also. When we did that, I think It was tough to get the Corp (of Engiwe bought a lot of goodwill with the folks. neers) permits. The Corp doesn’t put any It’s a very difficult thing to try to get across, dollar value on safety. We told them we have but I think Galen Hesterberg did a good job to do this for safety, but the Corp doesn’t of doing that because he didn’t sugarcoat it. recognize that. They’re focused on impacts Bicyclists lobbied for wider shoulders along the They actually thought we could compento wetlands. They’ll tell you OK, you can go Togwotee route to give them safer spaces to ride. sate them for loss of business. He had to ahead and widen it out, but you still have to tell them, we could spend money to try to minimize the impacts in any way that you can, and if that means minimize the impacts to business, but we can’t go in and examine that you build a retaining wall that costs $13 million dollars and your tax roles and say you lost business worth $10,000, so we’re add guardrail, then that’s what you do. going to hand you a check. That’s against the law.

We really had some almost impossible conflicts to try to reTo take on a corridor like that, it may be a long time, maybe solve. On the one hand you’re trying to minimize your footprint a generation, before the DOT can do that again, because it is a because of the wetlands, and a way to do that is to steepen slopes huge impact on the budget. It was a spectacular project, but I and put in guardrail. On the other hand, if you’re putting in have to admit I still harbor some feelings about how much it cost guardrail and retaining walls that’s a real impediment to animal the DOT to get it done. movement.

It’s a source of pride for the DOT, it’s a source of pride for the The DOT wanted more passing opportunities. That route is communities and the other agencies involved, too, because it was heavily used by tourists − motor home drivers and draggers − in really a collaborative effort. The fun thing about that project is it the summer, so it needs more passing opportunities. Not only shows that a group of folks who have very disparate interests can that, it’s a very important route in terms of cross country cycling, get together and collaborate and get a project done. and it’s also pretty heavily used by truckers hauling freight into Jackson. So to accommodate those users your footprint gets

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Photo: WYDOT

WYDOT’s federal partner on Togwotee

Photo: WYDOT

Galen Hesterberg, Federal Highway Administration Wyoming Division statewide operations engineer during the project, now retired.

Looking back, I think this project reaffirmed WYDOT’s engineering expertise, in a very short time frame, in design and construction. And it probably reaffirmed and greatly enhanced what should be a public perception of WYDOT’s commitment to communities.

Dubois is one community. I would also look at the Forest Service as a community. I think it reaffirmed WYDOT’s commitment to working with the Forest Service as a community, and understanding their needs and expectations. And then, certainly, the traveling public as a community, because there were a lot of traffic control issues.

The Forest Service came in with a lot of demands that they frankly could not totally justify. I think WYDOT took a stand on what it could deliver and what it couldn’t deliver. Not everybody was always happy, but I guess the end product probably justifies how you got there.

The terrain was a big issue on this project, going over a mountain pass, and certainly trying to minimize the realignment − using the old road, the existing road − presented a challenge in terms of meeting other needs, geometric needs.

When the ACTT (Accelerated Construction Technology Transfer workshop) was recommended, I think your Construction staff was very receptive and did a lion’s share of the logistics.

I think WYDOT overall was receptive. This was right in the

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Photo: WYDOT

Town meetings were held to make Togwotee project information available to the public.

Traffic control and safety were major factors in a project of this magnitude.

Photo: WYDOT

throes of Dubois having very real concerns about all the economic impacts of construction. It was good opportunity to say, “We’ll bring some people in from around the country to see what they have to say.” It was very well done.

You invited the town of Dubois and you invited the Forest Service. The county was invited. So it was another opportunity to draw in those communities and say, “This is our level of commitment.”

The other big thing that happened was this whole thing of marketing the project to the benefit of people there. It was new to most of us, and I think it was a positive indicator. One of the real advantages of that effort to minimize the impact was that potentially it maintained that corridor traffic to Yellowstone, which is what the town of Dubois was concerned about.

They were entrenched that the town of Dubois would no lon-

ger exist during construction. We would offer what we thought was a sound discussion and it would just be unacceptable by virtue of the source of the information. That’s always a tough situation.

I think that ACTT helped to move them to a positive discussion, and then I think the marketing effort furthered that. There wasn’t going to be a way to put a dollar value on the impact of construction, so we said, “There isn’t going to be reimbursement for something that isn’t easily identified. But what we can do is try to put in some kind of preventative measures.” That’s what was done and they were reasonably successful.

Those were before construction, and I think also the way WYDOT handled the projects during construction was also an indicator that you were going to make this work for them. Until that happens, all you can do is offer some preventive measures and say, with these in place, this is what we believe will happen during construction. Then your construction people and the contractor pick it up.

Federal funding accounted for 90 percent of the funding for the project. We were diligent in following those dollars, and as it turns out, with that seven- to eight-year schedule, Togwotee ate up a big piece of the budget for those years.

The cost goes back as much to terrain as anything. You were fighting a lot of tough terrain, and a very limited construction season, and that makes for tough construction.

Now you guys can look at it as just another job well done. I mean − Snake River Canyon, Cody to Yellowstone − you’ve had these before.

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Planning and designing the new highway

Sandra Pecenka and Dan Lyons

Sandra Pecenka: design squad leader for the Brooks Lake and Buffalo Fork projects and the beginning of the Togwotee Pass project.

Dan Lyons: design squad leader for the rest of the Togwotee Pass project and the Fourmile Meadows and Rosie’s Ridge projects.

Pecenka: I wrote the recon report for the corridor in 1995. After that we started the Environmental Impact Statement process, which took a good five years or more, and a lot of money. Once we got the EIS, the Dubois people and Fremont County, all the different areas, had concerns about losing business. And then you have the Forest Service, which didn’t want the road to be so fast that everybody zoomed through and hit the wildlife. Of course, the people who commuted from Jackson to Dubois wanted to go fast.

trying to satisfy those people.

I think once we got the EIS we were kind of rolling along. At least things were spelled out and we knew what we could and couldn’t do.

There were so many things in that EIS that laid things out.

You couldn’t deviate from it. Like the passing lanes Traffic figured out, where you had the pairs and so many on this project and that project, and sometimes you couldn’t get them to fit where they said it would be the best opportunity.

Lyons: Yeah, they wouldn’t let you shrink them down to less than a mile long, so a lot of times you’d have to shift them. And there are all those pullouts and parking areas.

Photo: Rick Carpenter

Pecenka: We created some corridor plans, which went from beginning to end. It wasn’t design quality, but it was good enough to get what we thought would be Lyons: The grizzly bears were our impacts, so we could tell the on the endangered species list Forest Service, this is the corridor at the time and they didn’t want that we’re going to design inside. to lose any more grizzly bears to If we went outside that corridor A finished section of the new highway emphasizes wide shoulders vehicles. we had to get special use permits. and unobstructed sight lines.

Pecenka: The moose down in For the most part we stayed inside the Buffalo Fork area were a concern. Then you’ve got the bicycle it pretty well, but that took a year to get all that designed in there. people who wanted to be able to ride that. That is one of their It was pretty tricky. national bicycle routes. So you had all these competing interests – Lyons: Eight foot shoulders are what we wanted originally, and you had the Greater Yellowstone Coalition and some Lander and we settled for 6 and 55 mph design speed. Then there are a group and a Jackson Hole group, and snowmobile trail people – lot of slides up there. so there was lot to consider before you even got into the design of June 2014

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Pecenka: So you’ve got a slide on one side and a wetland on the other, and you’ve got to wiggle in between. If you cut too much over here, well then a mountain’s going to fall, or if go over here into the wetlands, we’re not going to build it.

Lyons: There was also archaeological stuff, Indian sites you had to avoid, and there was also a fen (a marshy area).

Pecenka: They’re like thousands of years old, so it would be hard to recreate one, so we just stayed out of them. I don’t think we have many. These might be the only two.

At the Black Rock pit, first there was a swan pond that was created before we even got there, and I don’t think it was doing too well. So we were going to help that with our excavation and then get a wetland area. So we had to time everything so you get everything out of the pit, and when you’re done, you go back and reclaim it.

Lyons: There were plenty of rock cuts through the corridor that we had to do, and we had to satisfy the Forest Service as far as what the appearance of the cut looked like after we were done.

They didn’t want any claw marks on the rocks.

While they’re doing the biggest rock cut, we had to actually shift the alignment in design, because they did the rock cut during the Buffalo Fork section, and it wasn’t even on the Buffalo Fork section, it was away from it. So we were doing the design near the rock cut while they were doing the rock cut. We had to shift the alignment and do all kinds of changes to it. My designer had to go up there and go to the top of the rock cut and figure out how far back we needed to go to start, because you have to do it in steps coming down with benches so they could set the drill rig there.

We realigned at Wind River Lake so we could put a snowmobile underpass in. There are several of those along the route, and they had to be a certain size, because they had to be able to get grooming machines though there.

Pecenka: We did have to accommodate the trails alongside the road in places. Buffalo Fork has one pretty much all along one side of the road. You had to make sure that you had the grading out there for the trails.

Pecenka: This was the most challenging and most fun project I’ve worked on. This is the project I remember the best and enjoyed the most. When I first started working on the recons, Bob Milburn said somebody was thinking of giving it to a consultant.

I did not want that at all. I wanted to keep it, and we did keep it.

You don’t very often get something that challenging, and it’s in a beautiful setting, it’s nice to go up there and look at it. It’s a lot more fun than just a straight interstate.

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Photos: Rick Carpenter

Lyons: There were 20 mph curves out there on the old road.

We made them at least 40 mph. Even if we had made the curves 65 mph, there might be a month or two out of the year that you could actually drive that fast, because of all the RVs and the weather and the grades. Another thing they did was clear a lot of the trees out away from the road, because before they were right up along the road. Now you can see animals crossing, and it just gives you a better feel for driving.

Lyons: I loved going up there. I think its fun now, but while it was going on I didn’t. I was really stressed out. Some of the designers that worked on it were very valuable, because we usually put very experienced designers on it who could make changes very quickly.

Photo: WYDOT

Protecting a rare environment

Bob Bonds, NEPA manager, Environmental Services

so you provide a consistent driving surface as well as a snow removal surface.

We also built a fairly large arch culvert on Rosie’s Ridge. We lengthened the Black Rock Creek bridge, and in areas where we didn’t have clearance to build big enough structures but we had wetlands on both sides, we upsized our drainage culverts and buried them a little bit so there would be a natural bottom eventually for the animals to cross during lower water cycles.

The buried bridge and arch culvert are both targeted primarily to migrating elk. The Buffalo Fork area is for moose, elk and deer.

Typically you only build wildlife structures or recreational structures. However on the Togwotee and Four Mile sections wildlife are only up there in the late spring, summer and early fall and then they migrate out because it’s just too snowy. So we’re able to locate a couple of structures that wildlife will use, but in the winter are useful for snowmobile recreation.

This is a scenic byway so we want those structures to be as neutral as possible. We sprayed a very ecofriendly stain on the concrete to make them blend in better. Another concern was

Photo: WYDOT

We first developed a Wildlife Working Group comprised of WYDOT, the Forest Service, Game and Fish and FHWA, as well as some local stakeholders.

We decided on the Togwotee project we would not be fencing, because you would almost need to build new fence every year because of the snow depth problems. So we relied on under passage in areas where topography lent itself to that.

We performed a snow study and wildlife study up there for a few years prior to the project so we had information, and then we also got information from the Forest Service and Game and Fish people that were knowledgeable about the area.

From that we came up with an evaluation process that involved determining criteria including approach to and departure from the structure − could animals see through it so they didn’t seem to be looking into a cave − and then further out, topography and terrain that lent itself to animals traveling through that area. Also, if we put a structure there, what would be needed?

We had already determined we would lengthen the Buffalo Fork River bridge by 105 feet to provide passage for wildlife on both sides of the river. The first year that structure was built we had cameras set up to monitor it and they showed numerous animals going underneath it. One was a grizzly bear in December.

It’s moose habitat and cameras have caught some going through.

The Wildlife Working Group concentrated on big game, primarily because, if we addressed big game, we addressed the smaller critters. We evaluated numerous locations through the project, and came up with recommendations on 15 locations.

Nine were selected, ranging from 14 x 14-foot box culverts to a buried bridge.

The buried bridge was impressive because you don’t tend to want to build a bridge on a 6 percent slope in one of the highest snow and precipitation areas in Wyoming, due to the problems you can get with icing of the roadway. We buried it and got rid of the temperature differences and there is no variability there,

An arch placed and treated with an ecofriendly stain to blend in as well with the scenery as possible.

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A box culvert placed for wildlife migration.

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Photo: WYDOT Photo: WYDOT

Photo: WYDOT

tive site, which was a beautiful collaboration with the Forest Service. We hope it will be a showcase for what can be done to mitigate wetlands and enhance habitat for frogs and toads that are in jeopardy around the world.

Flooding in 2011 had decimated habitat for an apex community of toads and frogs.

We found all those A newly formed drainage ditch. toads and frogs had migrated to our wetland mitigation site. To show that no good deed goes unpunished, they came to us and said, you’ve created a beautiful site, give us money to monitor it. So we did. They’re in their third year and they’re seeing that this community is kind of holding its own, while communities of those species elsewhere in the region and the nation are in big decline. That was a fouracre site and the 17 acres that we just built is adjacent to it, so we could be creating a very good long-term habitat for them.

We’ll monitor (the crossings and wetlands) every other year for six years, and use those results to show whether this was effective enough to do on other projects.

I worked on Togwotee from 2001 to the present and I’m still working on it. This’ll be pretty much the final year. It’s the end of the era.

Photo: WYDOT

the metal arch could be very shiny because it’s corrugated, so it might reflect a lot of light and make animals skittish. We had the contractor spray the inside with a bonded fiber matrix. It’s a mix of water, a binding agent and cellulose medium. Local wildlife groups paid for it, and it has muted the shininess.

In the Stone Fly Creek drainage we put in a fish barrier the Game and Fish wanted to separate a pure strain of cutthroat trout in the creek above the highway from the mixed species of fish in the Wind River below. It’s worked out very well.

This project goes through more wetlands than any other project in the state, by far. There are thousands of acres of wetlands adjacent to this highway. We minimized as much as we could and affected less than 20 acres. We are hopefully going to get close to 50 acres of (wetlands built as) mitigation. In some cases we were able to restore wetlands affected by the original route.

On Rosie’s Ridge the original road went right by a fen, which is regulated by the EPA as an aquatic resource of national importance. We shifted the alignment of the road away from the fen, which allowed us to take out the original embankment and restore a section of wetland that should improve the functional quality of that fen.

We built over 17 acres of wetlands at Black Rock administra-

Photo: Rick Carpenter

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Ensuring a firm footing for the new highway

Jim Dahill, project geologist, Geology Program

The Brooks Lake Section was the first one we built and we had problems with poor soils and some groundwater issues. Most of our problems with the whole Togwotee corridor were poor soils and lots of water. That’s what drives landslides.

The west end of the corridor was the Buffalo Fork project and it was the second project done. It really went quite well. It included a lot of rock blasting that generated slide stabilization rock (SSR) that we used on later phases of the project.

The rock cut was dang near at the Continental Divide and we had to access it with our equipment via helicopter, so that was kind of cool to get our portable drill rig up there. We drilled it and blasted it and crushed all that rock. Instead of using it to build embankments, we stockpiled it for future use on our landslide stabilization projects. So it was very forward thinking and the best use of our resources. That came about from our ACTT (Accelerated Construction Technology Transfer) workshop, where we sort of brainstormed a lot of stuff.

The rock kind of looked like the Prudential Rock. It was just a massive chunk of rock, and we shaved it back. It was probably the worst curve on the corridor, if you ask the Maintenance guys. It was on a grade and it was steep and sharp and the sun doesn’t shine there much because of the shadows cast. We improved the alignment.

We combined the Fourmile Meadows and the Togwotee Pass sections. It was 16.5 miles total, and it presented us with challenges, because of the high elevation and high groundwater. Fourmile Meadows is nothing but springs and waters and a low spot for all the snowmelt to go, and you’re trying to traverse a road across there and keep the footprint minimized.

We had a couple small landslides on that section: the Wingert

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and Hickerson Curve landslides. Wingert we fixed with Styrofoam fill and at Hickerson Curve we built a big shear key. Both of them have been very stable .

The Styrofoam fill was a new application for us. Putting them below live traffic or underneath the roadway and using them to repair landslides was new for us. It was new for the contractor, too. It was like big Lego blocks or stacked hay bales.

Togwotee Pass was obviously the highest elevation, and we had a couple landslides there: County Line and Continental Divide. Then during construction, 2010 and ’11 were banner wet years, and we saw a lot of movement not only at County Line and Continental Divide, but the East Boundary slide developed. In July of 2011, after all that snow, we saw movement of a 1.5-mile landslide, from Continental Divide all the way down to East Boundary.

That was unanticipated.

Photo: Rick Carpenter Photo: WYDOT

A mountainside carved to accommodate the new highway.

We had repair efforts under way at County Line and Continental Divide. After we realized all that moved, we had to spend the next winter redesigning our efforts. So at Continental Divide we moved the alignment in and put horizontal drains in.

The horizontal drains were a new application that we had never done. There are very few contractors that do that work, but we were very successful with our horizontal drains. Some of them were drilled up to 600 feet horizontally back into the mountain to drain off water that was driving the slide.

At County Line we had a huge 60-foot soldier pile tieback designed, and we eliminated all that. It probably cut $5 million from the cost. We went back in with Styrofoam fills to eliminate that expensive high-risk structure. We were afraid the tieback anchors might be severed by this huge landslide that was now active.

At the East Boundary end, we put some more of those horizontal drains in to get the water out of the mountain. We were very successful in the change to design there, and putting in horizontal drains and Styrofoam fill at all three of those locations.

Rosie’s Ridge was the last project and it was very challenging with numerous landslides. We actually explored an alternative alignment to go around Rosie’s Ridge. I thought it was good partnering from our Forest Service people to allow us to entertain an alternative alignment, because it was going to be costly to stay on the existing alignment.

The Forest Service allowed us to take some of our equipment back there, but we weren’t allowed to do any pioneering, so we had to kind of drive between trees and watch out for wetlands and carefully work our way back there to do some early assessment of the alignment. We did fly over it with a helicopter to look at it.

The consensus was to stay on the original alignment, so then we really ramped up our investigations, and started looking at innovative solutions. We built a lot of toe berms, which widened our footprint. We needed the Forest Service’s approval for that, so there again, we partnered well with them.

Rosie’s certainly presented the most active landslides within a short space. You could hardly turn a piece of equipment around without standing on or moving from one landslide to another.

It continues to move. We’ll be back to Rosie’s. I tried to plant the seed that, by staying on alignment, we’re not fixing all of our problems there. We fixed some of the larger landslides that were affecting the roadway, and the resulting safety hazards to the traveling public. But we have a lot of debris flows in our back slopes that we didn’t do anything with because they went thousands of feet up the slope, and there’s just no way we’re going to stop those. They continue to be maintenance issues. They come down and fill up our ditch and Maintenance has to clean them out every couple of years.

We did horizontal drains at five landslides and each one consisted of about 40 drains stabbed back into the mountain. Some of them would make two gallons a minute, some would make 10 gallons a minute, some were tricklers. What I found ironic was the highest point on the mountain at Continental Divide at 9,600 feet we made the most water. We had hundreds of gallons a minute draining out up there.

We didn’t want to expose the drains to the surface for everybody to see, so then we covered the ends with SSR rock so the water can weep out of them and the drainage carries it into the Wind River eventually. The areas below the rock buttresses are pretty green.

Both the Styrofoam fill and horizontal drains have been very successful for us. We’re monitoring them. We’ve put some instruments in to monitor fluctuations in the groundwater to make sure the drains are working. They will require maintenance. You have to flush them and clean them out.

It was a great corridor to work on. It involved a lot of cooperation from Geology, Bridge, Environmental Services, Project Development and District people to tackle a big challenge. It was fun to be a part of. It really kept our program busy for the better part of five years. All the drill crews spent a lot of time up there. Cory Rinehart spent an entire summer up there with the construction crew, assisting them and identifying problem areas as they went.

Our whole program was quite heavily involved. I tried to get every geologist out here involved in one way or another, and obviously our lab tech guys spent a lot of time running tests.

There are not very many corridors left like that, that would demand those kinds of efforts. I wish we had more of it coming.

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Innovative structures for unique needs The district was worried that a bridge up there at the high elevation where they needed it for a wildlife crossing would have a freezing and ice problem. So they were hoping that, if we buried it, we’d have some kind of temperature help and it wouldn’t be as slick.

The buried bridge has pre-stressed concrete girders with a concrete deck, a membrane on top of that to protect it from water, and then up to four feet of fill over the deck with surfacing on top of that. Typically you just have traffic directly on the concrete deck.

There was a box culvert there originally. Now it’s a 110-foot bridge. It’s on a curve and a 6 percent slope, so there was some concern about the bridge deck being cold, and the buildup of ice. With the soil on top of it, you might get some heat storage underneath, and with blacktop pavement it will soak up any sun rays and keep this a little bit safer.

With the fill on top, the bridge had to be wider because, when you put the guardrail in, it has to have room to deflect. So you have to have a wider bridge and some extra parapets and girders.

There are extra girders, and they’re deeper girders than would be required for a normal bridge.

It was a new experience, and there was a lot to do to make sure we had the depth to put the guardrail in properly, and get the correct embedment.

We can’t see the top of the deck anymore to do inspections.

All we can do is come underneath and look at the bottom, so we wanted to make sure we’ll be able to inspect and see whether

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Keith Fulton, State Bridge Engineer there are any issues with extra water. There is always the chance when you have this kind of slope there could be a lot of water on the lower end, even though it’s on a nice grade. We put membranes in there and tried to make more clearances where we could with the rebar and tried to make this a relatively maintenance-free but long-term structure. Just designing for those heavier loads was something that was new for us.

It’s being used by the wildlife, so in that regard we do have a good structure for wildlife to get underneath the highway to keep both themselves and the public safe. It’s more open, so the animals have a better view up and down, and that helps them want to use this site more.

It was a lot more expensive that our average bridge. Our total cost was $1.6 million. That’s a unit cost of $240 per square foot, and typical costs are around $150.

On the maintenance side, they don’t have the joints to deal with, so even snowplows have the constant pavement over the top of it, which is easier for them.

On the Rosie’s Ridge section we have the large metal arch.

That was done about the same time as the Pinedale arches, but it was our first large steel arch for that purpose. On Rosie’s the wildlife is crossing underneath. With the road going over the top, we’re able to use that type of arch for a large opening for them.

Otherwise it would have been a very big bridge, so this is costeffective solution.

At the Buffalo Fork River bridge, we made a bigger area for moose to cross by making the bridge longer so there is more

Photo: WYDOT

Photo: WYDOT

Each of the structures found on U.S. 26-287 was specially designed to fill unique reqirements along the corridor. (Clockwise from top) Large arch culvert on Rosie’s Ridge section of Togwotee, a 14-foot square box culvert used both by wildlife and winter recreation enthusiasts, the state’s only buried bridge.

Photo: WYDOT

room on each bank of the river.

We used a lot of large 14 x 14-foot precast boxes and they are dual use, wildlife in summer and snowmobiles in winter. At the suggestion of the Forest Service, we stained the concrete on those to better match the surroundings.

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Building the new Togwotee Trail

Shelby Carlson, district engineer, Lyle Lamb, Dubois resident engineer 2005-2011, now district traffic engineer, Allen Tharp, Senior construction technician

Lyle Lamb: When we started the construction I was the resident engineer. I was there seven years. I think our biggest challenge was just the climate. You’re up close to 10,000 feet.

There were years that we didn’t get started until well into July just because of the snow level up there. In 2009 it snowed the day we were supposed to have the pre-pave meeting.

The earliest the snow came was in early September. It basically snowed for a week or a week and a half. We had three feet of snow on just crushed base. We ended up putting down temporary pavement. We kind of had to force it in. We had to provide some leniency because we knew it was temporary. They ended up bringing in huge propane-fired heaters to dry things out.

The only way to meet construction deadlines was to work nights, which is a whole different animal. We worked 23 hours a day. They’d fire up Monday morning, and they basically wouldn’t shut down until midnight on Saturday. We wouldn’t let them work Sundays.

They did a lot of operations at night, but they didn’t do any retaining walls or any of the geology fixes. They did dirt work and pipes, because they’d shut down the road and let traffic through for an hour twice a night. Productivity went up because you didn’t have these huge strings of traffic coming by every 15 minutes and have to pull everything off. You didn’t have to worry about detours except twice a night.

During the day, because this is such a tourist-heavy section of highway, we really limited the delays. I even had somebody up there timing the delays and keeping them within reason. So you get some of those bigger, deep, complex pipes, they about had to put those in at night because they could have a couple-hour window to dig it down, put a pipe in and build it back up enough to get traffic back across it. It really made a big difference in their productivity.

Photo: Cody Beers

Allen Tharp: They had huge light banks. It really lights up the job site. You still have weird shadows, but it worked out pretty good. They didn’t have any problems with it at all.

An Oftedal construction worker excavating a 20-foot deep cut for placement of a new pipeline under the new highway during a night shift.

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Lamb: Once we started on nights, the Riverton crew came to me one day and said, “We’ll make you a deal. If you keep all three of us together, we’ll do nights.” So I called Keith (Compton, district construction engineer), and said, “Keith, whatever we do, we’ve got to figure this out, because this is going to work better than anything else,” and it did. That was a lifesaver for me.

Tharp: The big night guys from our Riverton office were Kent Herren, Scott Nolting and Larry Anesi. They were doing the pipe inspections. It was great to have an experienced group of guys up there that could just take care of nights.

Photo: WYDOT

Lamb: I was beg, borrow and stealing people from wherever I could get ’em. Normally an engineer crew will have a big job one year, and then the next summer they’ll just have some overlay jobs and some simpler stuff. You’ll have some busy summers, and then you’ll have some summers where it’s not so bad. On Togwotee it was full bore and going crazy every year. Then when you keep on getting those contracts and you’re trying to finish up one contract and you let the next one, all of the sudden you get impacts from this job on the next one. They were so closely tied together it was hard to get a good clean separation between projects.

Tharp: We were fortunate that we had Using styrofoam to stabilize a landslide area on a section of U.S. 26-287. the same contractor throughout. When you wouldn’t be able to totally fix it. We were just trying to mitigate look at the logistics, if another contractor parts of it to get it to hold as best we could. We built a huge styrowould have gotten a section in the middle, they would have been foam fill to mitigate the weight and reduce the driving forces on hauling through each other’s job sites and everything else. With the slide.

Oftedal getting all the projects except for Buffalo Fork, which was on the west end, it was convenient. They knew us, we knew them, At three spots we put in six large arrays of horizontal drains and we knew what to expect from each other. to drain all the water out of the hillside. Water does two things: It adds weight to the slide and it lubricates it, so it’s easier to slide. At Shelby Carlson: If you brought a new contractor in, they Continental Divide, last time I heard, we’d pulled the water down wouldn’t know the mountain like you did and the climate. You’d 30 to 40 feet. have that learning curve for every contractor. So there was a huge benefit, I think, in Oftedal being there all the way through.

Tharp: They used a lot of GPS-controlled equipment for the grading and I think that really sped up the process. Instead of crews going out and setting up blue tops and trying to blade to those, they have the road template in there, so that blade knows where grade is, and it just finishes as it’s going. That’s kind of an exciting innovation, I think. We learned a lot about it.

Lamb: It’s a huge safety improvement, too. On some of the slides on Rosie’s Ridge, they had to cut really deep in and then fill it with rock to build a toe berm to stabilize the slide. They were just really deep, nasty, steep cuts in some bad territory. I was worried about how we were going to make sure they got deep enough.

With those GPS-controlled excavators, they knew exactly how deep they were going. We were happy, because nobody had to draw the short straw to crawl down in those holes.

That dirt up there is just clay junk. That’s why there are so many slides, and it meant you really had to keep on top of it. As soon as you got a section built you wanted to get some gravel on there because, if not, rainstorms were always coming through, and it was just was a mess in an instant if you didn’t have gravel on it.

Tharp: We had consultants who said if the drains drip it’s awesome. We were getting 75 gallons a minute from some of them.

The water was just shooting out, and those guys were dancing a jig.

Carlson: Getting aggregate is difficult sometimes in the mountains so they used the Harbell Cut, which was actually something that had to come out for some of the road bed, and it ended up being good enough material that it became our pit right in the middle of the job. So that was pretty unique.

Lamb: We rotomilled the old pavement off, and on a couple of jobs we used that for temporary traffic gravel. We also used it mixed in with crushed base so your volumes of rock needed were less. So we recycled in one way or another probably 100 percent of it for different reasons.

Tharp: To keep our footprint from going into wetlands, we ended up lowering a lot of the road, and the big challenge was digging out all the old road bed down to clay, putting down fabric up ahead of us, and just putting the base material back in. We used all that we could salvage. We used a lot of fabric. On Brooks Lake I’d say 85 to 90 percent of the road required fabric.

Tharp: The foam fills we used on some of the slide stabilization projects are really awesome. They are huge blocks, 12-feet long, 3–feet wide, and you just stack them. There was a definite pattern and rhyme and reason to how each row got stacked to make sure it all went together right.

Lamb: When we did the big Togwotee-Fourmile section, we had an acre filled with different kinds of fabric they brought in by the semi load.

Lamb: We had one foam fill in the plans, and then one spring all of the sudden there was about a foot-and-a-half displacement on the highway centerline. There was a crack across the road and it was about two miles long. The slide was so big they knew they

Lamb: We had grizzly bear restrictions. You had to keep your food out of the back of your pickups and stuff like that, but it ended up being no big deal. We never had any problems. We stressed at the beginning to the contractors and our people to just

On the challenges of working in national forests:

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Carlson: Another thing that was unique to the forests was all the equipment had to be washed before it could come onto the job, so that you didn’t spread noxious weed seeds into the forest.

Lamb: There were still a bunch of scars left up there from the old, old roadbed. We worked with the Forest Service to use dirt from this job to reclaim a whole bunch of those scars. They revegetated it so well, and they look so natural that some of those areas I actually drove by three times before I found them.

Tharp: Darin Martens was the Forest Service-WYDOT liaison, and he’s also a landscape architect. Not only was he helping us put out fires between the two agencies, but he’d also come out and help you tweak fills to make them look more natural. I ended up learning quite a bit about how to make a pile not look like a pile.

Lamb: We ended up putting in some big structures for wildlife crossings, because, with the amount of snow they get up there, it’s not feasible to fence.

One of the structures is a buried bridge we included because they were worried about the differential freezing and thawing.

From talking with Maintenance guys, they’ve never noticed a difference across that bridge.

So it’s worked perfectly. We’ve got five or six years of data now that shows it’s a success.

Carlson: It’s a 6 percent grade and it’s a curve, so the difference in icing on a bridge there was a real concern. It worked. They’re not having any issues there.

that corridor was the passing lanes we put in, because on such steep grades, a lot of those big vehicles up there can’t travel very fast. Those passing lanes allow us to mitigate those queues of traffic. It gives people an opportunity to get around slower moving vehicles, which improves the safety of the highway a lot.

On the public’s perception of the project:

Lamb: We actually had a public involvement specialist just for these contracts. We had a website just for the Togwotee corridor.

We had weekly meetings. Beforehand there was some pretty heavy public involvement even in the planning stages of this.

Carlson: We put a marketing plan against the construction, and the goal was to keep the traffic counts going over the mountain the same as they were prior to construction. The campaign was successful in that traffic over the pass actually increased during construction. Our PI person would go to all the businesses in Dubois and tell them what was going on so they could educate the people who came into their businesses that the pass was still open.

The Togwotee Trail cowboy ambassador, “Roamin’ Wyoming,” would sometimes go out to wherever the flagger station was and visit with the people in the queue.

Photo: Rick Carpenter

get in the habit of keeping food inside and keeping everything cleaned up.

Lamb: We had a meeting at the same time and same place every week and the public was always invited. The first year we had some involvement, but everybody kind of figured out we kept the same schedule going year after year. After awhile, it was very rare to see anybody come to the meeting. Being a small town, we were out and around enough that I think, if most of them had a question, they would just wait until one of us walked into their store and ask us then.

Tharp: We were imbedded in the community, and they got to know us through the years that we Lamb: If you talk to Mountains were moved in the process of rebuilding were up there, through the kids in their schools U.S. 26-287.

Maintenance guys, that little and everything else. They’d see something and stop section there was the biggest you and ask you about it, and you’d get to tell them improvement on the whole highway. You had to drive around that about stuff, the equipment we used, and it was pretty positive that big old point of rocks, and the year before we built it, one of the way, I think.” snowplows went off the edge. He’s coming around there plowing Carlson: When we did our ribbon-cutting ceremony, I actually headed west, and a car coming east was clear on the inside of the had business owners tell me they were sad to see us go, because curve on the wrong side of the road. The plow driver whipped his the construction came at a good time for them. It was during wheel and still clipped the car and went through the guardrail. the economic downturn, and it was the construction that helped The only thing that kept him from going clear to the bottom was them bridge that gap while the economy was down. They said, the guardrail caught in his rear axle.

“We really wish you were going to be up there another year or They said every time you went around that corner it was cringe two.” inducing. We really flattened that out. You can see around there Lamb: A nice thing about these corridors is seeing the public now, and they say that is the best! perception change through the years. When you first start, everyTharp: Before we got that built, there were many times I was body is apprehensive. Then you get the first section built and they cringing waiting for someone to get smacked, because it was such see what they’re getting, and it goes from, “Construction is in the a narrow, blind corner and people want to pass. They don’t want way,” to, “We can’t wait for you to get it done. When are you going to be behind a slow truck. We really improved the safety of that to do the next section?” curve.

My feeling is, over the years, as people go to Yellowstone and Carlson: The new shoulders do help accommodate bikes, start going that way, that’s going to become a more traveled route emergency vehicles and stalled vehicles. The other thing across just because it such a scenic area and a beautiful road.

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Keeping tourists coming and locals informed

Cody Beers, District 5 public involvement specialist

The key marketing word ended up being “Yellowstone,” and even during seven years of highway construction that concluded in 2013, the Togwotee Trail was truly “a vacation on your way to your vacation” and “the road that’s really a trip.”

WYDOT employees learned these and other important lessons several years into an award-winning marketing program for U.S. 26-287, the Togwotee Trail.

The goal: to keep travelers and local drivers using the highway during seven years of construction over a high-mountain pass in some of the wildest country remaining in the world.

The highway links central Wyoming to Jackson, GrandTeton National Park and Yellowstone National Park. The reconstruction over Togwotee Pass was successful in creating a better, safer road, and bringing increased business and tourism to the communities of Dubois, Jackson, Lander, Riverton and the Wind River Reservation.

To do this, WYDOT tried something new at the urging of the affected communities. With the help of Denver-based CCT Advertising, WYDOT developed a marketing and outreach program to keep visitors coming to the area through the seven-year project.

The Togwotee Trail marketing materials were designed to: n Entice prospective visitors into ranking the Togwotee Trail at the top of their travel destinations list; n Keep visitors entertained and informed once they

reached central and northwest Wyoming; and

n Join forces with local residents and business own-

ers as part of the Togwotee Trail ambassadors program to continuously update and inform visitors and residents about the road improvements.

Tactics used to accomplish these goals included:

n Hiring an on-the-ground public relations specialist, employed

by WYDOT, to work with people in the communities and provide information through an online blog, website, telephone hotline, email updates to businesses and public speaking appearances;

n Ongoing public communication with businesses, chambers of

commerce and print, radio, television and online media;

n Work with AAA and other travel clubs to ensure that visitors

were being directed to the Togwotee Trail during their travels;

n Creation of Roamin’ Wyomin’ Construction Cowboy, the

Togwotee Trail’s ceremonial real-life spokesman, who could be found along the highway in the summer handing out bottled water, a music CD and swapping stories and local folklore with tourists;

n Creation of three music CDs, using local artists and storytell-

ers to tell the Togwotee Trail story. These CDs were created using Wyoming’s rich history, poetry, music, folklore and legend. In 2008, WYDOT recreated an old-time radio hour in Lander, and much of this music and video became the basis for entertainment of tourists during the project;

n Specific materials were created to speak directly to prospec-

tive travelers (prospects), visitors (drivers on the Togwotee Trail), local residents (ambassadors), and business owners. These materials included a trail map brochure, print advertising to prospects and potential local ambassadors (tribal people and residents of all affected communities), online advertising, radio advertising, internet search engine placements and the project website. Public relations efforts were also successful in placing articles in local and regional publications about things to do while visiting the Togwotee Trail; and n Outreach to young families was

also successful, through development of coloring books and Togwotee Trail crayons. The goal was to help travelers focus on the history, wildlife and scenery surrounding them, instead of any brief traffic delays.

Research during the marketing campaign proved that use of the word “Yellowstone” grabs potential tourists’ attention, and this effort helped to bring more attention to the Togwotee Trail, its people, culture and businesses.

The marketing program was something new for WYDOT, but it was the right thing to do for the residents in this remote corner of Wyoming.

The innovative, award-winning marketing program helped to keep the visitors coming to the region, and the communities alive and growing. It also helped to showcase innovative construction techniques, the human spirit at work, and in the end, a safer road for Wyoming visitors and residents to enjoy for decades to come.

Yellowstone National Park is the hook, but you get there via Jackson, Dubois, Lander, Riverton and the Wind River Reservation.

The Togwotee Trail marketing program is still alive today, thanks to the efforts of the Wind River Visitors Council and their dedicated marketing consultant, Paula McCormick of Lander.

The trip over Togwotee is truly “a vacation on your way to your vacation,” and “the road that’s really a trip!”

Give it a look. Slow down. Enjoy.

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WYDOT personnel involved Dubois +

Riverton +

Lander +

Worland +

Afton +

Cheyenne +

Cheyenne +

Cheyenne +

Cheyenne +

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Jackson +

with the Togwotee project Basin +

Cody +

Kemmerer

Cheyenne +

Our apologies to those whose photos weren’t available.

Names follow on page 30 +

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WYDOT personnel involved with the Togwotee project All WYDOT projects require collaboration throughout the department , but the Togwotee project may have eclipsed all others in the number of people who contributed in some way. From planning to the ACTT workshop to the actual construction, here is a list of contributors, some now retired or departed, with apologies to anyone we missed.

Dubois

Paul Boedeker Jeff Corbett Jack Hoffman Sheri Howe Doug Jensen Kim Kurasz Lyle Lamb Mike Miller Jody Peck Lyle Peck Dave Reibe Beth Stiver Judy Strausburger Allen Tharp Kaia Tharp Bruce Thompson Kelly Webb Mark Weiner Jamie Welch Chad Wells Zan Zwemer

Riverton

Larry Anesi Cody Beers Kent Herren Scott Nolting

Cody

Stuart Eckhardt Randy Merrit Ben Steed Cal Wilson

Worland

Mark Schaeffer Kent Smith Bryan Strasser Rodd Webb

Afton

Von Merritt Darrin Robinson Courtney Schwab

Jackson

Kurt Anselmi Bob Hammond Dave Kaufman Don Lawless Wade Seals Wayne Tompkins Calvin Williams

Kemmerer

Kasey King

Lander

Kevin Hart Bruce Johnson Keith Poston

Basin

Shelby Carlson Curtis Clark Keith Compton Paul Koenig Wayne Riley Ben Steed

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Cheyenne

Jennie Anderson Jon Anderson Jeanneane Askey Mark Ayen Paul Bercich Steven Birdsley Bob Bonds Vicki Bonds Jeff Booher Kurtis Briggs Ray Burlew John Childers Jim Coffin Pat Collins Matt Cortez Doug Crabtree Louann Cropper Jim Dahill Holly Daniels Paul DePew Den Dudrey Mark Eisenhart Mark Falk Mick Farrell Anthony Flores Connie Fournier Keith Fulton Vince Garcia Terrence Gavagan Mike Gostovich David Graeber Zach Gutierrez Blaise Hansen Audrey Hobbs Kirk Hood Paul Huck Ladonna Hurd Chris Irwin Mark Janicek Josh Johnson Paul Jones Robert Jones Ron Kaiser

Ed Kunkel Don Legerski Andy Long Dan Lyons Anthony Mackey Eli McIrvin Joel Meena Joe Mikesell Bob Milburn Greg Miller Mike Miller Earl Montgomery Justin Mordhal Chris Munoz Jared Nuhn Sandy Pecenka Lance Purdy John Radomicki Cory Rinehart Randy Ringstmeyer Greg Ross Bob Rothwell Dale Ryden Mike Schilling Mike Schulte Jeff Sherman Matt Simpson Blaine Smith Rod Smith Ken Spear Michael Spilker Christina Spindler Tim Stark Todd Sullivan Russ Taylor Chica Thomas David Vanderveen Craig Walker Jim Whetstone Bill Whipple Troy Whorten Dana Yarger

From the point of view of our other stakeholders

Bridger-Teton National Forest Supervisor Clinton D. Kyhl

We commend WYDOT for the environmental, engineering, geotechnical, public involvement and construction management excellence it manifested in the design and construction of the roadway.

WYDOT partnered with the Forest Service to plan and construct the various corridor segments in a manner that was sensitive to the project’s context within the national forests. The natural, scenic, visual and wildlife resource values associated with the highway were effectively preserved, conserved or enhanced by the projects.

The Bridger-Teton National Forest enjoys many benefits from the quality construction of the Togwotee Corridor. We have reclaimed miles of old roadway and rehabilitated old gravel and borrow pits. We have completed a huge wetland restoration project, the first phases of which have successfully supported amphibian breeding habitat that are otherwise in decline across the West.

We built wildlife crossing structures throughout the corridor that improve animal passage while maintaining highway motorist safety. For forest recreationists, we built 16 screened parking areas to eliminate unsightly and unsafe roadside parking. These parking areas support view shed overlooks and parking and restroom facilities for skiers and snowmobilers.

Dubois Mayor Twila Blakeman

From the inception through final construction of the project, WYDOT included the local municipality and surrounding area in all facets. The local businesses were kept well informed of the various phases. The marketing campaign was superb. The Town of Dubois, which depends on the flow of tourism, appreciates the efforts of WYDOT to ensure that the flow continued.

Oftedal Construction brought workers to live in our community and hired many local residents. The company was outstanding and greatly appreciated.

The design and construction processes followed the guidelines adopted allowing the environmental beauty of our area to be preserved as well as introducing wildlife crossings and new roadside parking. As a gateway to Yellowstone, Dubois will benefit for many years to come from this beautiful new highway.

Shoshone National Forest Supervisor Joseph G. Alexander

The Shoshone National Forest has enjoyed many benefits from the construction of the Togwotee corridor. We have reclaimed miles of old roadway, and been able to rehabilitate an old gravel pit.

Substantial work went into assuring natural slope grading as well as revegetation and restoration that is aesthetically in alignment with the corridor’s scenic byway.

We commend WYDOT on this exceptional new highway. We praise WYDOT for all of the work put into the project to ensure it will provide economic, mobility, visitor access and forest management benefits for many years.

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District News Headquarters

Welcome Shane Carraher, Patrol-Safety and Training; Peter Cross,PatrolSafety and Training; Robin Grandpre, Highway Project Management Oversight; Bryan Kent Jr, Patrol-Dispatch Manager; James Petersen,PatrolSafety and Training; Remington Roberts,PatrolSafety and Training; Vanessa Romero, PlanningLocal Government Coordination; and Jaime Wingard, Patrol-Safety and Training.

Promotions and Transfers Emily Ahearn, Bridge-Engineering Design; Jason Brock, Driver Services-Policy and Records; Nicholas Hines, Environmental Services; Margaret Mordahl, Driver Services-Policy and Records; Lorraine Sopko, Port Of Entry-Cheyenne Office; and Randall Taylor, Driver Services-Policy and Records.

Service Awards

Spoonemore

Highway Safety’s Thompson completes 28-year career

Ahearn

Hamilton

Hines

Mickleson

John Puente, Facilities Management-Security – 40 years; Delbert McOmie, Chief Engineer-Adminstration – 35 years; Clifford Spoonemore, Maintenance Staff – 30 years;

District 1

Welcome Richard Bailey, Arlington Maintenance; Eric Kaiser, Cheyenne Patrol; and Edward Klinedinst, Elk Mountain Maintenance.

Promotions and Transfers Brett Baker, Laramie Maintenance; and Marshall Newlin, Laramie Design Squad-Bridge Engineering Design.

Baker

Newlin

Biamon

Bruce Morgenstern, Materials-Administration – 25 years; Darrin Hamilton, Patrol-Special Permits – 20 years; Derek Mickelson, Patrol-Safety and Training Morgenstern Manager – 15 years; and James Ridgeway, Patrol-Dispatch – 15 years.

Anna Thompson, a 28-year veteran of WYDOT’s Highway Safety Program, retired May 16.

Thompson joined the agency in 1986 as a grants program specialist and was a grants and contracts administration manager when she departed. She specialized in vehicle occupant restraint systems and was recognized throughout the state for her expertise in the proper placement and usage of car seats for infants and toddlers and booster seats for older children.

Thompson, a native of Wisconsin, earned a bachelors degree from the University of Wyoming in 1985. She also attended Michigan Technological University, University of Nebraska-Omaha, and Laramie County Community College.

On her last day at work, she was honored by friends, family and co-workers during a retirement celebration in the Planning conference room at headquarters.

Griesbach

Randall Griesbach, District 1 Traffic Staff – 30 years; Jon Olson, Rawlins Construction – 25 years; Dwight Stanfill, Laramie Construction – 20 years; and Scott Carlson, Laramie Patrol – 15 years.

Service Awards Lance Adams, Medicine Bow Maintenance – 30 years; Thomas Biamon, Medicine Bow Maintenance – 30 years;

Anna Thompson (center) celebrating with family members at a retirement party held in her honor last month.

Adams

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Olson

Carlson

Buzzed Driving IS Drunk Driving

District 2

Welcome Daniel Anderson, Casper Maintenance; and Brian Caudill, Casper Maintenance.

Service Awards Leland Hunt, Casper Maintenance – 15 years; Frank Luers, Traffic-Signing – 15 years; and Lyle Short, Torrington Traffic-Striping – 10 years.

Retirements

Short

Monte Hubbard, Chugwater Maintenance.

District 3

Promotions and Transfers Cheri Fagin, Evanston Driver Services.

Service Awards Always use a designated driver.

George Miles, Evanston Construction – 25 years; John Bundy, Rock Springs Mechanics – 15 years; and Stephen Montoya, Granger Maintenance – 15 years.

Fagin

Miles

Montoya

Bundy

Letters continued from page 2

Photo courtesy Ross Doman

WYDOT family is very generous I would like thank everyone that donated time to me while I was off of work the last couple of months. It is truly appreciated, it’s nice to know how kind and giving people can be in time of need.

I just wanted to thank you ALL from the bottom of my heart.

Yoli Pacheco, Accident Records

Chief Engineer Del McOmie (center) passing along the Wyoming Engineering Society President’s Award for Excellence for the I-25 and College Drive Interchange Diverging Diamond to District 1 resident engineer Wayne Shenefelt (left) and chief inspector George Escobedo.

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District 4

District 5

Welcome

Welcome

Derek Anton, Gillette Maintenance; Brandi Cook, Gillette Driver Services; and Troy Lynch, Reno Junction Maintenance.

Promotions and Transfers

Richard Gurney, Lovell Maintenance.

Goodvin

Markley

Duffield

Simons

Luz Craig, Gillette Driver Services; Kirby Goodvin, District 4 Maintenance Staff; and Rex Markley, Gillette Mechanics.

Service Awards

Debra Duffield, Gillette Construction – 25 years; Leo Simons, Gillette Maintenance – 20 years; and Levi Dacar, Sundance Construction – 10 years.

Promotions and Transfers David Bilderback, Basin Traffic Striping; Robert Craft, Basin Maintenance; Colton Eck, Cody Construction; Hannah O’Rourke, Thermopolis Construction; and Jacob Small, Lander Traffic Striping.

Bilderback

O’Rourke

Small

Nordwick

Service Awards

Serene Nordwick, Riverton Construction – 30 years; Stuart Eckhardt, Cody Construction – 25 years; Ronald Hoffman, Dacar Riverton Construction – 25 Eckhardt years; Gail Silcox, Sheridan/Buffalo Driver Services.

Michael Crawford, Riverton Maintenance – 20 years; Michael Stroble, Cody Maintenance – 10 years; and Here are upcoming training opportunities from WYDOT Jamie Welch, Lander University and the Transportation Learning Network (TLN) Construction – 10 years.

Date Class Location

Retirements

Crawford

Training ata Glance Jun. 3 Jun. 4 Jun. 5 Jun. 12, 19 Jun. 17-18

N EW !

(NEW) Presentation Skills (NEW) Body Language as an Art (NEW) The Work/Life Balancing Act 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Crucial Conversations

Stroble

Cheyenne Cheyenne Cheyenne TLN Cheyenne Welch

Coming up in July:

Change for Good! How to Let Go of a Bad Habit Creativity: Inspiring the AHA Experience Decision Making & Problem Solving

Cheyenne Cheyenne Cheyenne

To register, or to find out more details, call the Training Program and talk to Jim Boyd (777-4791), Rhonda DeLeeuw (777-4790) or Kurt Borgaard (777-4792).

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Photo courtesy Cody Beers

Jul. 8 Jul. 9 Jul. 10

Riverton maintenance employee Michael Crawford is joined by Riverton maintenance foreman Robin Clapp. Crawford has earned his 20-year service award.

Awards

WYDOT’S Wiseman wins

Pinedale troopers commended for efforts

Photo courtesy Lt. Jason Green

Photo courtesy Lt. Jason Green

Troopers Jeffrey Aullman and Brandon Deckert with Division T in Pinedale received awards at a division meeting held recently.

Aullman was given the prestigious Rare Breed award for his efforts in criminal interdiction.

Trooper Jeffrey Aullman.

Trooper Brandon Deckert and K9 partner Kato.

Deckert was awarded with the Colonel’s Commendation for his criminal interdiction efforts.

The awards were issued by Col. John Butler and presented by Maj. Keith Groeneweg at the Division T meeting March 20.

Noteworthy Matt Manzanares might be thought to live a double life. In one he is a 40-hour per week WYDOT sign shop employee, and in another Manzanares is the current Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) World Champion.

He won the title on April 11 with a win over Junior Maranhao in Cheyenne.

Manzanares is part of the Las Vegas based Resurrection Fighting Alliance (RFA) that hosts fights around the U.S. The RFA invites world-class athletes to fight in their matches that could lead to the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) fighting arena.

Manzanares utilizes a mix of kickboxing, boxing, ju-jitsu, taekwondo, wrestling and judo fighting styles in his MMA cagedring matches held in California, Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming. He fights in the flyweight division, which is a classification of no more than 125 pounds.

He trains locally with Jerry Davis and out-of-state with Thomas Denny, an

instructor in Colorado. His training consists of a mixed routine of running, strength and conditioning, technique work and sparring six days a week.

Manzanares started fighting when he was eight years old at the Cheyenne Boxing Club. He continued his boxing through his teen years. A fellow WYDOT employee acquainted a then 21-year-old Manzanares with a Cheyenne based martial artist.

He quickly took to taekwondo and started training regularly.

“My family goes to all of my fights – every single one. My daughters and nephew are my biggest fans,” said Manzanares with a grin. “My family is really supportive of me and that’s what pushes me and keeps me going.”

“My life consists of the three F’s – faith, family and fighting,” he said.

Manzanares has worked for WYDOT for nearly eight years. He currently works in the sign shop at headquarters.

Photo courtesy Matt Manzanares

Manzanares MMA World Champion fighter in spare time

On April 26, Toastmasters from Wyoming and Colorado converged on the WYDOT Headquarters auditorium for the District 26 Northern Division Speech Contest.

Wiseman took home the first place trophy in the International Speech competition. He will represent the Northern Division (most of Wyoming and western Nebraska) at the District 26 contest.

Should he win there, he will participate in the World Championship of Public Speaking in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in August.

WYDOT’s own Sherman Wiseman took home the second place trophy in the table topics event. Speakers were asked to deliver a one to two minute speech on a subject that was unknown to them until they were on the stage. The question for Wiseman was, “What one thing would you like others to know about Wyoming?”

Wiseman is a member of Roadmasters Toastmasters, which meets at 12:05 p.m. every Monday at WYDOT U on the second floor of the Planning Building.

Matt Manzanares awarded the flyweight world championship belt after the winning bout.

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Noteworthy

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Big John Smith and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Acting Administrator David Friedman prior to the awards presentation at the 32nd Annual Lifesavers conference held in Tennessee this April.

Photo: WYDOT

The transportation director of the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes has received a national safety advocacy award from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Safety Traffic Administration (NHTSA).

Big John Smith was one of 12 individuals and organizations to receive the NHTSA Public Service Award, the agency’s top public service award that recognizes the tireless efforts people make to advance highway safety throughout the country.

As transportation director for the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes on the Wind River Reservation, Smith was recognized “for your leadership in the area of tribal transportation safety, through policy initiatives, promoting awareness, and coordination with state and federal partners, and for bringing greater awareness to the transportation safety needs of Indian Country.”

Smith received his public service award at the 32nd Annual Lifesavers Conference in Nashville.

The Lifesavers conference is the nation’s largest gathering of highway safety professionals. NHTSA annually recognizes safety leaders and their exemplary efforts in the area of traffic fatality and injury reduction.

“We celebrate the individuals and organizations honored today and their relentless commitment to saving lives and reducing injuries on roads in states, cities and towns all across our country,” National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said NHTSA Act- Acting Administrator David Friedman (left) and ing Administrator Big John Smith at the Lifesavers conference award presentation in Nashville, Tenn.

David Friedman on Monday, who presented Smith with his award. “We appreciate their dedication and hard work in helping to improve traffic safety.”

The purpose of the NHTSA’s public service award it to recognize and honor an individual or organization who exemplifies high standards of achievements in the field of traffic safety, and through his or the group’s accomplishments, has contributed to the quality of life in the community, state or nation.

Photo: WYDOT

Big John Smith receives national public service award from NHTSA

Smith’s work on the Wind River Reservation has included: o Behavioral Transportation Safety Outreach: Smith has played a pivotal role in the development and implementation of culturally appropriate traffic safety messaging on the Wind River Reservation that addressed seat-belt use, impaired driving, and pedestrian safety. o Tribal Liaisons: Smith has served as a key point of contact between the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes and the Wyoming Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and Federal Highway Administration. Through Smith’s efforts, key highway infrastructure improvements on the Wind River Reservation has been achieved, coordination between behavioral programs and engineering initiatives has been improved, and greater awareness of the transportation safety needs of the Wind River community has been achieved. o Traffic safety plan for the Wind River Reservation. The new traffic code is part of this, with lower BAC limits for drunken driving, lower speed limits, a reservation-wide mandatory seat belt law, improved traffic signage, increased law enforcement, and more emphasis on education and prevention. o Coordination of two reservation safety conferences. These conferences brought together dozens of city, county, state, federal reservation programs to work together to improve traffic safety on and off the reservation, through shared information about programs, drug courts, DUI courts, mandatory testing programs, etc.

“Big John Smith promotes doing things the right way,” said WYDOT District Engineer Shelby G. Carlson of Basin. “Smith has traveled the country speaking to other Native American tribes and sharing best practices for improving traffic safety and saving human lives. Howard Brown is the on-the-ground worker who gets thing done on a daily basis for the Wind River tribes.”

Carlson said the best example of positive change on Wind River is what has happened on the reservation’s busiest highway when the periods of 2004-2007 and 2009-2012 are compared.

“Lives are being saved and people are making better choices.

The Joint Tribal Council’s efforts, spearheaded by Big John Smith and Howard Brown and their office, have made the difference,” said Carlson. “Fewer people are drinking and driving, more people are buckling their seat belts, and fewer people are dying on reservation roads. It’s been a combination of improved high-

Photo: Rick Carpenter

Big John Smith (fifth from left) helps with a ground-breaking ceremony for the 17-Mile Road project. Director John Cox (sixth from left) and Chief Engineer Del McOmie (second from left) also lent a hand among other dignitaries.

way engineering/construction, strong advocacy by reservation people for safer behavior on the reservation roads, and increased law enforcement.”

Wyoming 137 (17-Mile Road-east section) Fremont County Crash Comparison History

May 30, 2004 - May 30, 2007 (Prior to construction, alcohol messaging, increased enforcement): Fatal Crashes

Fatalities

Injury Crashes

Injuries

PDO Crashes

Total Crashes

4

4

25

63

36

65

Wyoming 137 (17-Mile Road-east section) Fremont County Crash Comparison History June 15, 2009 to June 15, 2012 (After construction, in-progress alcohol messaging, in-progress increased enforcement):

Fatal Crashes

Fatalities

Injury Crashes

Injuries

PDO Crashes

Total Crashes

1

1

7

10

10

18

Total number of employees: as of April 29, 2014

1,988

One month ago

1,983

One year ago

2,059

Spring skiing?

Beach vacation?

Hunt lately?

Get those photos in!

Percent change (between first and second periods): Fatal Crashes

Fatalities

Injury Crashes

Injuries

PDO Crashes

Total Crashes

- 75%

- 75%

- 72%

- 84%

- 72%

- 72%

And secondly, fatal crashes and fatalities in Fremont County (includes Wind River) … the proof is in the pudding, so to speak …

Fremont County Fatal Crashes/Fatalities: 2011 Crashes/Fatalities

2012 Crashes/Fatalities

2013 Crashes/Fatalities

11/13

9/9

3/4

July WYDOT Outdoors submission deadline:

06/20/14 carlie.vanwinkle@wyo.gov June 2014

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Noteworthy

drivers of all ages about the dangers of drinking and driving.”

Individuals honored as Champions of Change in transportation are leading the charge across the country building connectivity, strengthening transportation career pathways, and making connections between transportation and economic growth, according to The White House.

Across the federal government, there has been dedication to providing “ladders of opportunity” for all Americans, by investThe transportation director for the Eastern Shoshone and ing in connecting communities to centers of employment, educaNorthern Arapaho tribes was one of 11 local heroes honored this tion, and services, and is calling for greater emphasis on those month in Washington, D.C., by the White House as “Champions initiatives supporting this outcome. Recent research has found of Change” for exemplary leadership to ensure that transportathat social mobility varies by tion facilities, services, and geography, and poor transportajobs help individuals and their tion access is a factor preventing communities connect to 21st lower income Americans from century opportunities. gaining higher income levels John Smith received his than their parents. Transportaaward May 13 at the White tion plays a critical role in conHouse in Washington, D.C., necting Americans and commufrom U.S. Transportation Secrenities to economic opportunity tary Anthony Foxx. through connectivity, job A White House press release creation, and economic growth. says Smith’s “love for the people Recognizing social mobility of Wind River has been instruas a defining trait of America’s mental in building relationships promise, access to reliable, safe, with tribal, local, county, state and affordable transportation is and federal partners to save critical. lives.

U.S. Federal Highway Administration Administrator Victor Mendez (right) poses with Cody Beers of WYDOT and Big John Smith at the Champions The Champions of Change “For the past 25 years, Big of Change event in Washington, D.C. program was created as an opJohn Smith has served as the portunity for the White House transportation director for the Eastern Shoshone and Northern to feature individuals doing extraordinary things to empower Arapaho tribes’ Joint Business Council on the Wind River Reserand inspire members of their communities. vation. Big John is also the Rocky Mountain regional representaThe White House award is Smith’s second national award in tive on the Tribal Transportation Committee, and the executive a short span of time. On April 27, he was one of 12 individuals director of the Intertribal Transportation Association,” the news and organizations chosen to receive the National Highway Traffic release states. “Big John has succeeded in improving the reservaSafety Administration’s Public Service Award, the agency’s top tion’s transportation infrastructure (highways and bridges), and public service award that recognizes the tireless efforts people has led the effort to dramatically cut alcohol-involved crashes make to advance highway safety throughout the country. and fatalities on the Wind River Reservation. He has worked with tribal leaders to toughen tribal laws to enhance seat belt compliance, and has led the effort to use positive messaging to educate

Photo courtesy Cody Beers

Photo courtesy Cody Beers

Tribes’ Smith honored as a White House ‘Champion of Change’

Big John Smith is standing, seventh from the right, and wearing the white cowboy hat. U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx is standing, fifth from the right.

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Noteworthy

John Boltz Memorial Scholarship awarded to college-bound seniors Worland Engineering Crew 5006 awarded $3,000 in scholarships as part of the John Boltz Memorial Scholarship. The crew raised this money during last year’s John Boltz Classic golf tournament which the crew hosts each year in memory of former WYDOT Engineer John Boltz who was killed during a construction accident east of Worland in 2004.

This year’s recipients of the scholarship are John Zachary Logan and Josh Schaeffer of Worland, and Daniel Miller of Ten Sleep. Each recipient will receive $1,000 each to attend college next year. All three will be attending Sheridan College next fall.

Over $24,000 has been awarded to graduating seniors from Worland and Ten Sleep high schools over the past nine years the crew has been hosting the golf tournament.

This year’s tournament will be the 10th Annual John Boltz Classic and will be held July 12 at the Green Hills Golf Course in Worland. If you are interested in playing, assisting or helping out in this years event, contact Kent Smith in the Worland Engineers office at (307) 347-2822 or (307) 388-0168, or you can email him at kent.smith@wyo.gov for information.

Green Hills Golf Course Worland, WY

Saturday, July 12 All proceeds go to John Boltz Memorial Scholarships for graduating seniors from Worland and Ten Sleep.

For more information contact Kent Smith email kent.smith@wyo.gov

Chugwater Elementary students visit WYDOT shop

Photo: Rick Carpenter

Photo: Rick Carpenter

Chugwater Elementary kindergarten and first-grade students visited the WYDOT maintenance shop recently.

Prior to their visit, the students had been studying about different modes of transportation, equipment and safety, as well as Chugwater maintenance worker Paul Lovett giving Chugwater students a crash course on construction. plow operation inside the truck’s cab during Their teacher, their recent visit to the shop.

Cathy Metcalf, has also shown them aerial photos of Chugwater and each student has been able to see what their house looks like from the air.

Metcalf enjoys teaching the community awareness program in school, partnering with WYDOT’s Local Government Coordination contact Sara Janes who heads up the Safe Routes to School initiative.

Maintenance foreman Will Crowley and his maintenance staff asked the children questions about what they thought WYDOT does. The students were very aware of what WYDOT does – especially why they wear the high visibility vests and clothing.

“Those vests are so we can see you in the dark,” said one student.

The question and answer session ended and the students got to climb up in a plow and see how a plow operates.

The group paused for a photo. (Adults from left) Cathy Metcalf, Charlie Metcalf, Paul Lovett (in cab), Noaleen Beaver, Ed Arnett and Will Crowley, Maintenance foreman.

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Passings F. Keith Smith

AWARDS Congratulations to our April recipients!

WYDOT salutes the following Director’s Extra Mile Award recipients.

The award is presented to individuals who have traveled the “extra mile” in service to WYDOT.

Tim McGary Calvin Goddard Darrel Seifert Kit Westbrook Don Bridges Milt Poteet

Tony Avila Wes Shafer Ed McPherson Lew Fall Tegan Carter Jason Potter

For more information about the Extra Mile Award or to nominate someone, contact Janet Farrar at janet.farrar@wyo.gov or Mel Anderson at mel.anderson@wyo.gov.

le Afte yc

r Photo: Dan Lyons

ading!

Re

ease Re c Pl

Retiree F. Keith Smith, 92, died April 17 in Mesa, Ariz.

Smith worked for the old Wyoming Smith Highway Department, WYDOT’s predecessor agency, between 1949 and 1983. He started in Cheyenne as an engineering helper and then transferred to Torrington where held positions as surveyor, instrumentman and highway engineer.

In 1960, Smith transferred to Laramie as a project engineer and he subsequently became a resident engineer. In 1974, he moved again, to Cheyenne headquarters, as a transportation planning engineer.

From 1979 until his retirement, he served as an environmental engineering consultant in the Planning Program.

Smith, a graduate of old Cheyenne High School, attended the University of Washington, and he was a four-year veteran of the U.S. Navy of the World War II era.

Funeral services will be conducted at a later date in Torrington.

Extra Mile

Giddy-up. Just an ordinary day in Wyoming. Photo snapped by Highway Development employee Dan Lyons just south of Kaycee on I-25.

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District 2 WTDEA gun raffle winners announced WTDEA District 2 chapter held a gun raffle and the winners were announced on April 26.

First prize went to Sean Harris with Midwest maintenance. He chose the Remington 700 ADL Scope Rifle Combo.

Spike Smith with Casper maintenance walked away with second prize. He chose the Ruger semi-automatic handgun.

Third prize was awarded to Mike Boughton with Wheatland maintenance.

He won a $200 Visa gift card.

Congratulations to the winners and District 2 WTDEA thanks everyone for their support.

Materials employee wins Cowboy Joe package Football season may not be for a few more months, but here in Wyoming we’re always UW fans!

WTDEA recently raffled a pair of UW season tickets for the upcoming football season, along with a parking pass and a Cowboy Joe Club card.

Pat Bennett from the Materials Lab was the lucky winner of the UW package.

Bennett and her plus one will be seated on the Wyoming side of the stadium to enjoy games scheduled against Montana, Air Force, Florida Atlantic, San Jose State, Utah State, and Boise State.

The Cowboy Joe Club card allows Bennett and guest into the hospitality room at the stadium for $5 food and drinks.

All proceeds of the raffle went to the WTDEA 2014 Christmas Party fund.

Photo courtesy WTDEA

WTDEA

The next time you see Pat Bennett from the Materials Lab, give her a big ‘Pokes’ high five for winning the raffle! (And she says she never wins anything!)

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Break Time Check your answers online at: employees.dot.state.wy.us, or if not able to access the employee site: www.dot. state.wy.us/home/engineering_technical_programs/manuals_publications/ interchange.html.

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