Member News 5.8.24
raSmith is pleased to announce that two of their projects have received Project of the Year Awards from the Wisconsin chapter of the American Public Works Association. Read the full press release below:
"The County S expansion project and the County EM highway resurfacing project, both located in Kenosha County, Wis., were recently honored with 2024 Project of the Year Awards from the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Public Works Association (APWA). The recognition highlights the outstanding achievements and contributions of these projects to the community.
County S Expansion Project
raSmith collaborated with Kenosha County on County S to provide transportation design services for the largest road improvement project in the County’s history. County S was an existing two-lane, rural highway that was expanded to a suburban four-lane, divided highway, including a shared-use path, new traffic signals, an at-grade railroad crossing, a bridge over the Canadian Pacific Railroad, a box culvert extension, an 18-acre stormwater pond, and 27 property relocations. This four-mile roadway reconstruction and expansion project involved extensive coordination with multiple agencies, including the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Aviation Administration, WisDOT Bureau of Aeronautics, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, local surrounding governments including the City of Kenosha and Village/Town of Somers, and numerous adjacent concurrent development projects.
The project team overcame many challenges including historical flooding issues, exhaustive utility and railroad coordination, Kenosha Regional Airport/FAA runway protection zone requirements, and the establishment of public trust and consent necessary for a local program project of this magnitude. County EM Highway Resurfacing Project raSmith provided civil engineering services for the County EM project to support the resurfacing of the 2.5- mile-long, two-lane rural road. Nestled alongside Lake Elizabeth and Lake Mary, County EM (Lake Shore Drive) serves as a vital highway for the community. The County EM highway resurfacing project, undertaken in collaboration between raSmith and Kenosha County, aimed to enhance both road quality and pedestrian safety.
Initially conceived as an off-road trail to improve pedestrian access, the project team revised the concept for the highway to a widened paved shoulder design, balancing the constraints of a narrow right-of-way, presence of existing utilities, and steep roadway embankments. This innovative solution not only prioritized pedestrian safety but also incorporated vital underground storm sewer and stormwater management. This included approximately one mile of storm sewer and seven underground concrete structures located throughout the project for stormwater quality control.
About the APWA Wisconsin Chapter Project of the Year Awards
The Project of the Year Award recognizes the alliance between the managing agency, the consultant/architect/engineer, and the contractor who, working together, effectively complete public works projects.
About raSmith
raSmith is a multi-disciplinary engineering consulting firm established in the city of Brookfield, Wisconsin, in 1978. Our services are focused on our public and private sector client needs in planning, design, and construction including site planning and design, structural engineering, municipal engineering, transportation and traffic, surveying, development management, ecology, landscape architecture, LiDAR (3D laser scanning), UAS (unmanned aircraft systems), construction services, and geographic information systems (GIS). We work on projects nationwide from our seven locations in Wisconsin, Illinois, and California. The firm employs a staff of 220. For more information about raSmith, visit www.rasmith.com."