BGE has been honored with the prestigious 2024 American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) | ACEC Texas Engineering Excellence Award Silver Medal in the Transportation category for TxDOT’s Waco District’s IH 35 4B project. BGE was the prime consultant for construction management, engineering, and inspection services.
The IH 35 Waco 4B project was a 7-mile, $341 million, complete ROW-to-ROW reconstruction of IH 35 in the heart of Texas. Considered the largest design-bid-build project in the state, TxDOT’s goals for the project included improving safety and mobility, adding capacity and reducing congestion, enhancing aesthetics, and incorporating Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technology. In addition, the project aimed to improve access and connectivity to pedestrian and bike facilities in the cities of Waco and Bellmead. This project entailed reconstructing and widening 84-lane miles of concrete pavement, 22 bridges, and 420,000 square feet of retaining walls. Additionally, 55 major water and wastewater utilities, including 13 bores across IH 35 were relocated.
With an accelerated pace of construction, BGE successfully managed challenges with a clear communication strategy and a battle-tested team of problem solvers. BGE’s utility subject matter experts provided countless solutions to complex utility relocation issues and successfully helped the client reach 95 percent completion of relocations within the first year of construction.
BGE’s state-of-the-art technology, SPYGLASS™, played a pivotal role in identifying construction phases and communicating them to the general public.
The IH 35 4B project was completed 7 months ahead of the 4-year schedule with no delays.
Images and additional information about this project are available here.