AASHTO 2016 Awards Recognize Outstanding Work of State DOTs, Individuals

AASHTO recognized dozens of officials from state departments of transportation for special service with an array of 2016 awards.

On Nov. 14 at its annual meeting in Boston, the association presented its top honor – the Thomas H. MacDonald Memorial Award – to Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department Director Scott Bennett.

The association says the McDonald award goes to someone who has “rendered continuous outstanding service over an extended period of time or have made some exceptional contribution to the art and science of highway engineering.”

 Bennett

Bennett, the awards program said, as AHTD director has been “a respected liaison” between that agency and elected officials in his state and at the national level, and “has been successful in getting much-needed legislation passed for AHTD during the past three state legislative sessions.” It also cited his work in building strong working relationships with various industry groups.

AASHTO gave its Alfred E. Johnson Achievement Award – for a middle manager who has made an outstanding contribution in engineering or management – to Earle “Jock” Freedman, a bridge specialist with the Maryland Department of Transportation. Freedman headed the Office of Structures from 1975 until his retirement last summer, as part of a transportation career lasting more than 65 years.

The Francis B. Francois Award for innovation, which is a $10,000 state prize to fund a graduate fellowship, went to the Missouri DOT for a project that provides access to live traffic data on over 11,000 miles of roads in the state without the DOT having to install and maintain roadside sensors.

Programs, teams or individuals from eight state DOTs captured 10 president’s awards for 2016, one each in the areas of administration, environment, highways, highway traffic safety, performance excellence, planning, transit and water transportation, and two in research.

And AASHTO recognized 46 individuals for 25 years of meritorious service to a member state DOT.

Here is the complete list of 2016 AASHTO award winners.