Engineering Excellence & Legacy Awards

Dibble provided engineering, project management, and postdesign services for a new two-mile arterial section of Signal Butte Road from Williams Field Road to Germann Road that connects to the new SR 24 expressway. The project included regional and local stormwater conveyance, signing and pavement marking, street lighting, traffic signals, sidewalk, curb and gutter, landscaping, and retaining walls. The project team coordinated extensively with the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) Local Public Agency (LPA) Section to achieve the utility, environmental, and right-of-way clearances for federal funding. The team also coordinated extensively with the ADOT Central District during construction due to the concurrent construction of SR 24 within the project limits. The team also coordinated extensively with the Town of Queen Creek (Town), Arizona State Land Department, Maricopa County Department of Transportation, Pinal County, business owners, various utilities, and private developers throughout the project, especially with regard to a high number of concurrent roadway and development projects being constructed in the area. The project met the City of Mesa’s (City’s) goal of opening shortly after SR 24.

Sen. John S. McCain’s desire “to fully shield purchasers of closed military bases from liability for hazardous waste left by the federal government” is at the core of this environmental restoration project, which lasted a short nine months and brought a dramatic and happy end to an amazing story that began more than 80 years ago, in 1942. The well-deserved beneficiary of this project is the City of Kingman for its role and contribution to our armed forces in World War II (WW2). The project was undertaken in a 15-acre portion of the Kingman Municipal Airport (KMA) known as the dross-disposal area (DDA). The KMA assumed its current role as a civilian airport shortly after its previous two roles, initially as the Kingman Army Air Field (KAAF) during WW2 as a training base for Army Air Force aerial gunners flying on bombers. Following the end of WW2 in 1945, the War Assets Administration (WAA) turned KAAF into Storage Depot #41, a holding area for thousands of surplus military reconnaissance aircraft, fighters, and bombers.

During peak storm season, Tonto Creek is the third largest waterway in Arizona carrying up to 130,000 cfs of water from the Mogollon Rim near Payson into Roosevelt Lake. When the creek flooded, crossings became impassable and dangerous causing area residents on the east bank to be cut off from food, medical supplies, emergency service, work, and school on the west bank for up to three months. Tragically, many lives were lost as residents and visitors attempt to cross the swollen creek. Kimley-Horn, through a qualification-based process, was selected by Gila County (County) in 2009 to provide a Design Concept Report (DCR) to address the County’s goals of providing a vital, safe, allweather connection between the east and west banks of Tonto Creek; however, funding for the project became a challenge for the County for the next 10 years. In 2019, three children lost their lives when their family attempted to cross the flooded creek, further emphasizing the urgency of providing a safe connection between the east and west banks of Tonto Creek. Through a BUILD grant awarded in 2020, Kimley-Horn continued to work with the County to design and construct a new 1,980-foot-long bridge over Tonto Creek and adjacent roadway

This project allows for ADOT’s current need to be fullfilled in terms of broadband/ITS and fo r municipal broadband needs as well. We configured the project to have triple pull boxes at each traffi c interchange. One for ADOT, one for municipal, and one for future private, leasable space to build out middle-mile and last-mile connectivity to rural, underserved areas in Southern Arizona. The project used directional drilling (trenchless) non-ground disturbing installation of fiber conduits at certain locations to avoid hanging conduit on bridges where it would be seen or where it would impact the existing aesthetics such as bridge art, colored concrete, slope paving, and stamped concrete features. Additionally, our team developed plans to reduce impacts on areas that were environmentally sensitive. These included washes, box culvert crossings, and cultural locations where directional drilling and open trench methods would not meet federal, state, or tribal environmental requirements

The residents of Carefree that were being served by Cave Creek were passionate about receiving water from the community in which they lived. Many were keenly interested in the engineering approach to delivering this project. Carefree and CVL have found that as the intricacies of this project are shared with the public, their appreciation is evident for the engineering, construction and operation of infrastructure that provides vital water resources.

The current voter-approved, 20-year Pima Association of Governments (PAG) Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) plan and county-wide half-cent sales tax will expire on June 30, 2026. As there is a continual need to update and improve local infrastructure, PAG has begun to develop the RTA Next program. RTA Next is the potential extension of this program. In support of this effort, each participating member jurisdiction (Pima County, the cities of Tucson and South Tucson, the towns of Marana, Oro Valley, and Sahuarita, ADOT, and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe) was asked to submit projects for consideration by a Citizen’s Advisory Committee (CAC) and a Technical Management Committee (TMC). The jurisdictional projects were provided with overall project descriptions, limits, and preliminary cost estimates. The CAC and TMC reviewed these projects and forwarded 37 projects for consideration in the RTA Next Plan. Each of the projects forwarded had varying levels of detail from project specific DCRs to general project descriptions with rough cost estimates. As the Prime Consultant Design Team, HDR teamed with PAG to review the 37 proposed jurisdiction projects as well as four current RTA projects being deferred to the RTA Next program. HDR was tasked with working with all participating member jurisdictions to further develop and define project scopes, build an understanding of and consensus for the cost estimating approach, and methodologies. To develop these cost estimates, HDR took a holistic and mutually agreed upon approach that integrated lessons learned from the previous program development, with in-depth understanding of past and current challenges with the capabilities of the latest technology and software. HDR’s work consisted of the following: • Creating a framework to evaluate projects consistently across different jurisdictions • Developing conceptual project design models consistent with provided descriptions and unique to each jurisdiction design standards • Creating quantity and cost estimates consistent with PAG Specifications • Developing Unit Price and Master Contingency Matrix Data Sets Technical reviews of models and estimates with each member jurisdiction • Building consensus with PAG and all member jurisdictions on methodology and final delivered cost estimates

Originally constructed in 1964, Arizona’s 29-mile segment of Interstate 15 links southern Utah to Nevada. At the time of its construction, due to the rugged terrain and gorges, it was the most expensive rural interstate built per mile. Today, it’s a heavily traveled commercial and economic powerhouse, linking California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah to the Rocky Mountain region. Crossing the scenic Virgin River just outside Littlefield, Arizona, Bridge No. 1 was a five-span structurally deficient and scour-critical structure, undermined by age, increased truck use, deicing salts and erosion around the pier foundations. Moreover, the bridge was designed with specifications and standards available in the 1960s and has met its 50-year design life. Cracks in the steel girders and bracing began more than three decades ago and increased with time and, if not rehabilitated, the bridge faced a weight restriction that would divert up to 20% of the truck traffic to other routes. The Arizona Department of Transportation’s (ADOT) new $57 million Virgin River Bridge No. 1 includes Arizona’s longest steel girder span and was delivered via an innovative and collaborative construction manager at risk (CMAR) process. The team won a 5% federal innovation grant for their mobile app outreach that filled a gap in the state’s 511 system. The new bridge keeps commerce moving through the vital corridor, supports a growing community, and minimizes visual and recreational impacts in the picturesque utopia. The team curtailed impacts on historic resources and critical lands, restored and improved the site, maintained traffic throughout construction, overcame limited and challenging access, and mitigated fluctuating river flows. The new Virgin River Bridge No. 1 allows the regional corridor to safely carry commerce for decades to come.

In March 2021, the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT), along with several agencies including the City of Phoenix, Arizona State Land Department, and Maricopa Association of Governments, committed to overseeing the immediate implementation and access to the State Route 303’s Loop (SR303L) interchanges at 51st and 43rd Avenues in response to the construction of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) semiconductor plant. The project included construction of mainline SR303L and associated earthwork, two complete traffic interchanges with overpass bridges, ramps, crossroads, drainage system, supporting signals, freeway management system, and a frontage road.

This project includes 1.6 miles of new track, two at-grade stations, Valley Metro’s first elevated transit center, a parking garage, a new bridge over I-17, and the widening of two existing canal bridges. The extension runs west from 19th Avenue along Dunlap to 25th Avenue, north on 25th Avenue and then west on Mountain View Road, over I-17 terminating at the Thelda Williams Transit Center formerly Metrocenter Mall. Jacobs was the prime consultant and provided project management and engineering for track, roadway, traffic, lighting, duct bank, the I-17 bridge structures, and the elevated station structure.

Beale Street’s recent revitalization is thanks in part to a wide variety of physical enhancements to downtown infrastructure. These visual and landscaping enhancements, such as street trees, benches, trash receptacles, wayfinding, and street lighting, preserve and amplify Kingman’s unique character. Even much of the brickwork was reused historic material, not only reducing waste but also bringing Kingman’s history into the present.