The American Road & Transportation Builders Association has awarded the Oregon Department of Transportation its 2008 Globe Award for excellence in environmental protection and mitigation. The award honors ODOT’s work on 11 I-5 bridges between Eugene, Ore., and Roseburg, Ore., as part of the OTIA III State Bridge Delivery Program.
ODOT contractors recycled to other projects roughly 30,000 cu yards of demolition materials and 80 prestressed concrete box beams. The new bridges also include features that help protect habitats for bats and chub fish, reduce the number of water disruptions and treat storm-water runoff.
“ODOT is committed to maintaining and preserving our state’s natural beauty,” said Ron Reisdorf, ODOT construction project manager for the "I-5: Clarks Branch to Tunnel Mill Race" project. “It’s rewarding to have our work recognized by a national group like the American Road & Transportation Builders Association.”

The project required replacement of 10 bridges and repair of one other. It involved 180,000 staff hours—the equivalent of 10 people working every day for more than 20 years. It also involved laying more than 8,000 tons of aggregate base and bridge pilings, erecting 200 precast girders of various dimensions, installing 800 tons of reinforcing steel and paving roadways with more than 12,400 tons of asphalt. The concrete used—more than 6,400 cu yards—is equivalent to a football field, end line to end line and sideline to sideline, a full yard deep.
The Globe Award is presented annually to recognize agencies that excel at enhancing and protecting the natural environment during the planning, design and construction of U.S. transportation infrastructure projects.