The Iowa DOT is focused on making lives better through transportation. Whether we are working to put safety first or focusing on our customers, innovation, and leadership are at the heart of the work we do. Sometimes that innovation and leadership earn us attention and accolades from our industry partners and peers. We are proud of those across our DOT team who have been recognized for the following awards.
2023 LEGACI Award
People Matter. It’s one of the core values that we live out every day around the Iowa DOT. Nowhere is this more evident than in our driver’s license service centers. Partnering with the Iowa Donor Network, we have developed ways to encourage you to consider becoming an organ and tissue donor to save lives.
As a result of this encouraging work, the Iowa Donor Network recently presented us with the 2023 Iowa Donor Network LEGACI Award for Advocacy. The award is given to organizations that demonstrate a willingness to talk with others about organ donation and organize and/or participate in events within the community to raise awareness about donation.
If you have been to one of our centers recently, you may have seen a space that tells the story of a local person who was either an organ donor or a recipient of a donation. These “donor tributes” are meant to inspire others to consider organ and tissue donation.
In February 2020, the Iowa DOT unveiled the first donor tribute plaque in Waukee. Since that first tribute in Waukee, we’ve added 14 more tribute plaques in state and county locations. Six more tributes are planned for unveiling this year.
When you come to a service center, you might see the staff wearing clothing with an organ donation awareness theme. You can walk into just about any state or county-run center on any given day and see someone, if not the entire team wearing donation awareness apparel. In 2023, 76 state and county-run centers participated in National Donate Life Month by decorating their offices in blue and green and hanging donate life month posters in their offices. A donation awareness message was also placed on the Iowa DOT’s electronic interstate signs across the state, reaching millions of people from Iowa and others from outside the state, to encourage organ and tissue donation.
Iowa DOT Wins 2022 Perpetual Pavement Award
"Safest, smartest, made to last”- that’s our 10-year target. We’re getting to that target one project at a time by keeping high standards in the design, construction, and maintenance of the roads you use every day. In Jasper County, one segment of the interstate system has recently been held up as an example of great pavement by the Asphalt Paving Alliance.
The “Perpetual Pavement Award” was given to the Iowa DOT for a four-mile segment of I-80 in Jasper County that has been in place since 1968. This four-lane road currently carries more than 31,000 vehicles each day with 36 percent of those vehicles being trucks.
To qualify for the award, a pavement must:
- Be at least 35 years old and never have had a structural failure.
- Have an average interval between resurfacing of no less than 13 years.
- Must show excellence in design, quality in construction, and value for the traveling public.
The surface of the asphalt pavement at that site was ground down and a new surface was added to the base. This saves time and money for us and means less detours and construction for you to deal with while traveling. The years between surfacing averaged 18 years with an increased thickness of only four inches, resulting in a road surface that requires little maintenance in the future.
Our Chief Engineer, Mitch Dillavou, said “This section of Interstate 80 used perpetual pavement concepts in the original design and is an excellent example of how Iowa’s long-lasting asphalt pavements provide reliable and efficient transportation.”
This is the fourth time the engineers at the National Center for Asphalt Technology have recognized us with a Perpetual Pavement Award since the program began in 2001.
American Council of Engineering Companies Honors Iowa DOT with Two Awards
I-74 Mississippi River Bridge
Our often-recognized Mississippi River Bridge project on Interstate 74, built in partnership with the Illinois DOT and constructed by general contractor Benesch, is making lives better through transportation and earning more accolades. The project was recently announced as one of eight Grand Award winners from the American Council of Engineering Companies. The Engineering Excellence Award was given to the project because it demonstrated engineering excellence in innovation, creative problem-solving, and engineering’s ability to improve our world.
This mega project provides a vital link for travelers and freight movers between Iowa and Illinois and serves as a regional and national connection for freight going throughout the United States and to nations around the world.
The highlight element of the 7.8-mile corridor reconstruction project consists of two basket-handle, through-arch structures spanning 3,300 feet across the river. The crossing’s attractiveness has an intricate foundation design that is well-suited to the area’s complex, geology. Not only does the new I-74 bridge offer four lanes of traffic in each direction, it offers a multi-use trail that gives pedestrians and bicyclists a way to safely travel across the Mississippi River between Iowa and Illinois.
U.S. 20 Swiss Valley Interchange
The Iowa DOT also took home the 2023 National Recognition Award that was presented for the engineering work done at the U.S. 20 Swiss Valley Interchange in Dubuque County. This project included the construction of frontage roads on the north and south sides of U.S. 20 from Cottingham Road to the Southwest Arterial in Dubuque.
With traffic on the western side of Dubuque increasing, this project helps move you more efficiently through the areas. It also increase the safety of travelers in the area by installing frontage roads which eliminated some driveway intersections that were a safety hazard.