Tarlton Corp. won a 2019 Construction Keystone Award from the Associated General Contractors of Missouri for its work on the pedestrian bridge at Washington University in St. Louis.
The firm was among 10 winners chosen from a highly competitive field of 27 finalists at the
22nd Annual Construction Keystone Awards held Nov. 4. The AGC of Missouri Keystone Award competition began in 1998 and recognizes contractors who meet and successfully resolve challenges on construction projects through innovative methods and ingenuity.
Tarlton, which served as construction manager on the complex pedestrian bridge project, was tapped for the award for its carefully crafted, well-sequenced plan that included construction over a busy commuter traffic corridor, with vehicular traffic on a major arterial roadway and MetroLink urban rail service below. Work was scheduled to accommodate the university’s academic schedule and to result in as little disruption as possible on the busy Danforth Campus. In addition, the firm was recognized for its successful collaboration on the project with multiple municipal entities and residents in adjacent densely populated neighborhoods.
Washington University looked to Tarlton to deconstruct and replace an outdated, narrow pedestrian bridge to improve navigation for students and cyclists that make an estimated 600,000 trips annually across the span. Due to the many entities impacted by the project, deconstruction, not heavy demolition, was a key factor in the project’s success. Tarlton carefully picked off precast side panel sections of the bridge before removing beams and then piers. The construction team placed two new 21-foot-wide steel bridge spans – each measuring 90 feet long and weighing more than 50 tons – in less than two days over a single weekend.
The new pedestrian bridge provides enhanced safety and access for the university’s students, faculty, staff and visitors, as well as area pedestrians, cyclists and residential neighbors. Those with accessibility needs or strollers also find the new bridge easier to navigate. Clearly marked paths give pedestrians and bicyclists separate lanes atop an 18-foot-wide deck – nearly twice as wide as the previous bridge. A new switchback ramp slows the descent of bicycle traffic.
The Tarlton team on the project included John Doerr, executive vice president; Sondra Rotty, project director; Nick Eshelman, project manager; Elizabeth Barton, Patrick Murphy and Eric Nichols, project superintendents; and Kevin Oakley, estimating/preconstruction. Ayers Saint Gross was the project architect.
