Daily Archives: February 25, 2016

Engineers Week highlights people, projects that keep Arizona moving

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PHOENIX — Whether it’s adding travel lanes to relieve congestion on a Phoenix-area freeway, building a new interstate bridge outside Tucson or reconstructing a landslide-damaged northern Arizona highway, engineers stamp their mark on the state’s transportation system each and every day.

With National Engineers Week at hand, the vision and handiwork of the Arizona Department of Transportation’s professional engineers shows in more than 100 highway improvement projects underway around the state at any given time. That’s in addition to dozens of local roadway projects ADOT develops in partnership with Arizona communities.

“Engineers are on the front lines of meeting the goals Governor Ducey has set for Arizona,” ADOT Director John Halikowski said. “Whether boosting the economy, making Arizona safer or improving the overall quality of life, our 21st-century engineers must be relationship builders, team players and partners in working with many diverse people and organizations to deliver the transportation systems of today and tomorrow.”

“The challenges are large and the days are often long, but an engineer’s job includes the reward of seeing improvements that save travel time and bolster highway safety,” said Dallas Hammit, ADOT’s state engineer and deputy director for transportation. “We know people appreciate these advances, and we want to take time to thank our staff of engineers for their contributions.”

ADOT is nearing completion of a $109 million widening project along a 20-mile stretch of the Loop 202 Red Mountain Freeway between Loop 101 and Broadway Road in Mesa. The project, which has added new freeway lanes as well as other features such as overhead message signs and closed-circuit traffic cameras, presented its share of challenges.

“It’s never easy to manage construction while also working to keep existing lanes open as much as possible,” said District Engineer Madhu Reddy of ADOT’s Central Construction District. “Our project team worked with the community to limit restrictions while adding the new lanes. That’s also part of the role of the engineer.”

When a 2013 landslide severely damaged US 89 south of Page, ADOT engineers mobilized to get the closed highway realigned, repaired and reopened as soon as possible, while also quickly paving a temporary route to Page in collaboration with the Navajo Nation. US 89 reopened last year following an accelerated reconstruction project.

Audra Merrick, district engineer for ADOT’s North Central District, called the US 89 project an enormous engineering feat.

“We had to remove about a million cubic yards of rock from the area, but our success was even more dependent on maintaining communication at all levels,” said Merrick, one of 34 women currently serving among ADOT’s 250 professional engineers. “Engineering goes beyond drawings on a plan sheet. I can’t say enough about the teamwork involved in re-establishing the primary highway between Flagstaff and Page.”

One of ADOT’s largest southern Arizona projects is upgrading 17 miles of Interstate 10 pavement between Tucson and Benson while also replacing a large bridge crossing Davidson Canyon, approximately 20 miles east of downtown Tucson.

“Our engineering staff had to take heavier interstate traffic, including commercial trucks, into account when designing and building what we call the Quad Project,” said Rod Lane, ADOT’s district engineer for the agency’s South Central District. “It’s actually four separate projects being delivered as one. The engineering and planning include working in stages and scheduling shifts in traffic when needed. We’re looking forward to completing a modern, even safer Davidson Canyon bridge for generations to come.”

The $15.1 million Quad Project is scheduled for completion this summer.

Halikowski said National Engineers Week provides a great opportunity to highlight how engineers are working to advance Arizona’s transportation network.

“Governor Ducey wants us to ‘think big,’ and our engineers will work across all disciplines to bring innovative ideas to reality,” Halikowski said.

Hopi Tribe and Kaibab National Forest recognized for partnership on springs restoration work

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hopi-1WILLIAMS — The Hopi Tribe and Kaibab National Forest were recently honored with a national-level Forest Service award for their partnership on important springs restoration work on the North Kaibab Ranger District.

The recipients of the 2015 “Rise to the Future” awards for excellence and leadership in fisheries, hydrology, soil science and air programs were announced this month and included recognition of the Hopi Tribe and Kaibab National Forest for “Tribal Accomplishment” related to the Big Springs and Castle Springs Restoration Project, which highlighted the ecological importance of natural springs as well as their cultural significance to tribes.

“I feel humbled and grateful that the partnership would be recognized for its merits and acknowledge that it is but a starting point for continued collaborative efforts in the future,” said Everett Gomez, Reed/Bamboo Clan, Paaqavi Village, and a case manager for the Hopi Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act program.

The Big Springs and Castle Springs Restoration Project was the first tribal-Forest Service collaborative project to be implemented after the 2014 publication of the new Land and Resources Management Plan for the Kaibab National Forest. This was significant because the project put into action two important goals of the newly revised forest plan.

First, it implemented desired conditions for seeps and springs that had been developed collaboratively and identified in the plan. Second, it provided a setting for exchanging information between tribal elders and youth about land stewardship and offered an opportunity for the sharing of traditional ecological knowledge between the tribe and forest, which will contribute to future management actions on seeps and springs.

Over the course of a week in 2014, Hopi elders and cultural advisors [Hopi Cultural Resource Advisory Task Team] worked with 18 tribal youth from the Hopi Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act program, Hopi cultural and natural resources staff, Kaibab National Forest leadership, and representatives from a variety of other organizations and programs to conduct key restoration actions at two natural springs sites on the North Kaibab Ranger District. Since then, additional phased restoration work has been accomplished, and annual projects are planned for the coming years.

Partners have removed graffiti at Castle Springs and eliminated a decaying corral, rusted barbed wire fence and trash in the area. They have also removed invasive vegetation encroaching in an adjacent meadow, constructed water catchments using traditional techniques for both wildlife and cattle, and built a fence to protect the spring. At Big Springs, a more visible path has been constructed in order to deter visitors from making their own paths, alleviating the spider web effect of footpaths that was damaging fragile soils. And, throughout the project area, Hopi ancestral sites have been restored and protected against potential impacts from recreation and public use.

“This work is important in many ways such as bringing our youth and elders together to promote teaching and understanding; cultural identity and survival; preserving our environment encompassing land, air and water; strong partnerships and sharing of resources between the entities involved; education and employment pathways for our youth; and, understanding better the importance of the spiritual value surrounding all these things,” Gomez said.

Prior to the implementation of the restoration treatments, technical specialists from the Kaibab National Forest, Hopi Tribe and Springs Stewardship Institute collected baseline data at both springs locations. They plan to conduct long-term monitoring at the sites to assess the potential ecological benefits of incorporating traditional ecological knowledge and techniques into other restoration efforts on the forest.

“The Hopi Tribe and the Kaibab National Forest have been working together for over 20 years, but I feel the work that’s taking place through this partnership sets a new precedent for collaborative management of the forest,” said Mike Lyndon, tribal liaison for the Kaibab. “These projects are greatly increasing the exchange of technical and traditional knowledge between the forest and the tribe while accomplishing critical restoration projects in places that are culturally important to native people. This has been, and continues to be, a valuable learning process for all of us.”

Representatives of the Hopi Tribe and Kaibab National Forest will be presented with their “Rise to the Future” award at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., in May.

View project photos at https://www.flickr.com/photos/kaibabnationalforest/albums/72157648171820197. The Kaibab National Forest and Hopi Tribe worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Communications to collaboratively produce a short video about the project, which will soon be released.

Law enforcement seeking information on suspicious fires

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Coconino_MobileForest Service law enforcement and the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office is seeking any information on a string of suspicious human-caused fires that have occurred over the last two days in Oak Creek Canyon.

On Monday (Feb. 22), from approximately 7:30 to 8 p.m., four fires—named the Briar, Snake, Rock and Switchback fires—were started in Oak Creek Canyon along Highway 89A and grew to only a tenth of an acre before they were reported and fire personnel extinguished them. The Briar fire was located on the west side of the highway, about 1.4 miles north of Midgley Bridge, near Leo Schnur Lane. The Snake fire was about a quarter of a mile south of the Encinoso Picnic Area on the east side of the highway. The Rock fire was just north of Slide Rock State Park and on the east side of Highway 89A. The Switchback fire was located near the southwest corner of the Oak Creek Canyon switchbacks on the east side of the highway.

On Tuesday (Feb. 23), at about 4 p.m. the Halfway fire was reported just south of the Halfway Picnic Area on the east side of the highway. Later that evening at about 5:20 p.m. the Creek fire was reported just below the Halfway Picnic Area on the west side of the highway.

These fires are under investigation, and anyone that may have information regarding the cause of these fires or may have observed anyone suspicious in the area at the time of the fire is encouraged to contact Forest Service Law Enforcement at 928-527-3511 or the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office at 928-774-4523. The public may also call the Coconino Silent Witness number at 928-774-6111, and if your information leads to an arrest, you will be offered a reward of up to $1,000.