WVDOT Sweeps Three out of 10 Categories in 2024 America’s Transportation Awards Competition

The West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) took home three out of 10 regional awards in the 2024 America’s Transportation Awards, in competition with 13 other southeastern states. The awards were presented at the Southeastern Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (SASHTO) Annual Meeting on Tuesday, August 20, 2024, in Arkansas.
Sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), AAA, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the America’s Transportation Awards competition was created almost two decades ago to showcase the tremendous projects delivered by state DOTs each year to tell the broader story on the importance of transportation. The projects nominated in this competition are making people safer, our communities stronger, our economy more efficient, and our quality of life better, all while utilizing the most innovative technology to get these projects done better and faster.
The WVDOT won the award for Quality of Life/Community Development, Medium Project for a project to replace the Grant Street Bridge in Bluefield, which reunited two sections of town that had been separated by closure of the bridge. The award for Best Use of Technology & Innovation, Large Project went to the WVDOT for the Wellsburg Bridge project, which entailed floating the main span of the massive bridge downstream on barges and lifting it into place. The WVDOT won the award for Safety, Medium Project with the US 340 Rock Fall Mitigation project, which installed safety barriers and removed dangerous rocks and debris high above US 340 near Harpers Ferry.
Among the projects that helped the WVDOT earm these awards was the Wellsburg Bridge.
In September 2021, residents of the towns of Wellsburg, West Virginia, and Brilliant, Ohio, met with local, state, and federal officials for a massive celebration on the Wellsburg Bridge connecting the two communities. It was a project that had been discussed for 100 years.
“This is an incredible day for both Wellsburg and Brilliant because we are finally opening a bridge connecting these two communities that is long overdue,” Gov. Jim Justice said. “This bridge is going to make life better for everyone who travels through West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle. This is truly an incredible day, and I’m proud to see another bridge project across the finish line. The bridge might be in the Northern Panhandle, but this is a great day for all of West Virginia.”
Flatiron Construction, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, was awarded an approximately $131 million contract for construction of the new bridge. The 830-foot main span of the bridge was built off-site on the bank of the Ohio River just upstream from the bridge site and floated into place.
“The Ohio River separates us, and this bridge is going to connect us,” said former West Virginia Delegate Tim Ennis. “We’re going to get really close, really quick.”
“This beautiful item that we’re going to have is going to benefit both sides of the river,” said Jason Ferguson, president of Brooke County (West Virginia) Parks and Recreation. “I think it’s going to help the whole community. I’ve been in construction for 36 years. That was a massive accomplishment, what they did.”
The project had previously won a Diamond Award for outstanding engineering from the American Council of Engineering Companies.
This year, 39 state DOTs are participating in the competition. Regional winners will be considered for inclusion into the competition’s “Top 12,” which will be publicly announced in early September. These 12 projects compete for two top prizes—the Grand Prize, chosen by our independent panel of judges, and the People’s Choice Award, which is determined by the public through online voting. Both carry a $10,000 cash prize to support a transportation-related scholarship or charitable cause and will be announced at the AASHTO Annual Meeting in Philadelphia this October.