2009 Environmental Excellence Awards

For Excellence in Ecosystems, Habitat, and Wildlife – Ecosystems (I): Innovative Topdown Construction Used on Washington Bypass Project

Agencies Awarded

North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT)

Flatiron Construction

The project design-build team used an innovative gantry design to construct a 2.8-mile bridge with minimal disturbance to the surrounding environmentally sensitive wetland ecosystem. The NCDOT Washington Bypass Project consists of a 6.8-mile bypass route around the city of Washington, North Carolina, on US 17. The team came up with the world's first erection gantry to construct the bridge from the top down. Using gantries to drive the piles that support the bridge minimizes the construction footprint and limits disturbance to the area immediately around the bridge. Compared with traditional wetland construction that makes extensive use of access trestles, barges or tugboats, and cranes, the new erectiongantry method holds great promise for minimizing construction damage to environmentally sensitive areas in the future.

Project Contributors:

NCDOT

Jackie Armstrong

Teresa Bruton

Chad Kimes

Bill Kincannon

Rodger Rochelle

Maria Rogerson

Flatiron Construction

Elie Homsi

Mark Mallett

Paul Newman

First photo illustrates NCDOT's Washington Bypass Project which used an innovative gantry design causing minimal environmental disturbance to the area. Second photo shows an aerial view of the bridge.