P+D project earns 2025 Sheldon G. Hayes Award

SO SMOOTH, EVEN SNOWPLOW DRIVERS NOTICED THE DIFFERENCE

BY MARCIA DOYLE

Putting the final touches on the US-2 reconstruction project in October 2024, the Payne + Dolan (P+D) project team sensed they might have something special. “We received several comments from the public on how good the job was looking,” says Steve Bartoszek, project manager, P+D, a Walbec Group Company.

But the feedback that really put smiles on the team’s faces came from winter maintenance crews who later reported the road was so smooth that clearing snow proved less challenging than on other sections of the same route.

Project numbers underline these anecdotes and illustrate why this project won the 2025 Sheldon G. Hayes Award.

Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) Class II Ride Quality specifications required an MRI between 0-70 on the job, with a correction limit of >0.3 inch in 25 feet. Incentives kicked in for a project MRI of less than 45. P+D met and exceeded the incentive requirements with MRIs of 30 or less on each lane.

2025 SHELDON G. HAYES AWARD WINNER

PAYNE + DOLAN, A WALBEC GROUP COMPANY

US-2 in Michigan

Cold milling, crushing, shaping, and resurfacing 17.8 miles in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Project completion date: Oct. 4, 2024

Project parameters: 83,822 tons of hot mix asphalt, 107,500 square yards of cold milling, 333,000 square yards of crushing and shaping, drainage and culvert repair and replacements, guardrail and associated pavement markings.

P+D also surpassed MDOT’s percent-within-limits tolerances on the hot mix placed, earning incentives for all metrics. The company elected to pave the shoulders in Echelon, which delivered superior longitudinal joint density. Subsequent visual inspections by P+D and MDOT personnel confirmed the quality results.

A STUDY IN PREPLANNING

Starting in May 2024, more than 50 field and supervisory Walbec Group team members tackled the project, which included hot mix asphalt production, grading, milling, crushing and shaping, and paving.

The foundation for this job, however, was laid long before the May start date, according to Jon Leach, area manager, Walbec Group. “Just a few miles north we had a similar project that was around the same length,” Leach says, “so we planned to run both projects at the same time. We were fortunate to be awarded these two projects in late fall the year before, so it gave us plenty of time to plan and make sure we had considered everything. By the time it came to production, we were ready.”

Adding to the US-2’s complexity was the mixture of concrete and asphalt underneath the existing highway. “That meant we had to alternate between asphalt crushing and shaping and asphalt milling over concrete across 17 different sections – ranging from 500 feet to 2.5 miles in length,” Leach says. “And at the end of the day, no matter the original base material, we needed to bring that top surface pavement up to meet density and smoothness requirements.”

MEETING LOGISTICAL CHALLENGES

Walbec’s team self-performed all asphalt production, grading, milling, crushing and shaping, paving, and shouldering. The portable plant sat 28 miles from the project’s midpoint. Local ordinances limited both asphalt plant operation and trucking hours, while the sheer volume of material required over the 3.5-month timeline stretched available trucking capacity.

“The biggest hurdle was trucking,” Bartoszek says. “We were producing mix to send to the pavers while simultaneously hauling materials back to the plant to produce more mix.”

Two lifts were placed during paving: a 2-inch 4EML mix and a 1.5-inch 5EML mix. “We relied on consistent hot mix asphalt, real-time testing, and communication between the plant, paving, and testing personnel,” Bartoszek says.

As mentioned, P+D elected to pave the shoulders in Echelon with the adjacent lanes, which wasn’t specified in project plans. This tactic eliminated the construction cold joint between the shoulder and lane, allowing for nearly seamless joint lines. The paving operation, once set, remained relatively unchanged throughout the project.

Prior to the job, P+D developed rolling patterns to achieve desired metrics during its Initial Production Lots. “Density was controlled by monitoring rolling patterns and verifying compaction with density gauges throughout the rolling process,” Leach says.

EQUIPMENT AT THE READY

Fortunately, equipment performance wasn’t an issue. “We had no major equipment breakdowns,” Bartoszek says.

Equipment used on the job included an 8-foot Wirtgen 220FI milling machine, a Cat AP1000 paver with a 10-foot Weiler screed, a Cat AP655F paver with an 8-foot Weiler screed, two SAKAI SW770ND rollers, a Volvo DD120C roller, a Case PT240R pneumatic roller, and a Hamm HD12 roller.

A VERY GOOD YEAR

To say the 2025 NAPA Awards were good to P+D is an understatement. Not only did it win the Sheldon G. Hayes Award for the US-2 work plus top honors for its Michigan State Highway M-28 job, but the organization also nabbed this year’s NAPA Environmental Leadership Award.

“P+D was fortunate to work with MDOT, which was very open to partnering on this project,” Bartoszek remarks. “This included making real time adjustments in the field when changes were needed from the design to match field conditions, in project staging or in traffic control. This ensured the US-2 project provided everyone a safe environment as well as a quality project.”

“Everyone sees only the top layer of asphalt, and that’s what we base everything on, but this also shows how our teams came together. We have great resources within the entire Walbec Group to get assistance, technical and administrative support, and additional equipment. By working together with the same values in what we do and live each day, we were able to produce exceptional work.”

– Steve Bartoszek, Project Manager, P+D, a Walbec Group Company

“The Sheldon G. Hayes Award represents the pinnacle of asphalt paving excellence,” says Haywood Lewis, NAPA IMPACT & Awards program manager. “It signifies not just a project delivered, but an enduring commitment to world-class engineering that guarantees superior performance, long-term durability, and the highest level of drivability.”

Adds Leach: “Everyone sees only the top layer of asphalt, and that’s what we base everything on, but this also shows how our teams came together. We have great resources within the entire Walbec Group to get assistance, technical and administrative support, and additional equipment. By working together with the same values in what we do and live each day, we were able to produce exceptional work.”