The National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) announced the winner and finalists for the 2011 Sheldon G. Hayes Award for excellence in construction of an asphalt pavement. The companies were recognized at a special ceremony during the association’s 57th Annual Meeting in Palm Desert, Calif.
The winner of the Sheldon G. Hayes Award is S. T. Wooten Corp. of Wilson, N.C., for the rehabilitation of I-795 in Wayne and Wilson Counties.
Finalists for the award are Norris Asphalt Paving of Ottumwa, Iowa, for its work on U.S. 63 in Mahaska County, Iowa, and Northeast Asphalt Inc. of Greenville, Wis., for the rehabilitation of U.S. 45 in Eagle River, in Wisconsin’s Vilas County.
The Sheldon G. Hayes Award winner and finalists are determined through a two-year process. Highway pavement projects using more than 50,000 tons of asphalt are eligible for consideration. Initially, they must win a Quality in Construction (QIC) Award, which is determined by numerical scores given by pavement engineers at the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) on the basis of how well the contractor met the specifications and achieved density on the finished pavement. All the pavements that meet a benchmark figure are given the QIC Award.
The year after a project wins a QIC Award, it may be considered for the Sheldon G. Hayes Award. The top-ranked projects from each year are tested for smoothness, then visually inspected by an independent pavement consultant with many years of experience in the industry. This year, the evaluators praised the contestants for high-quality construction practices resulting in smooth, safe and durable pavements.
