The Wisconsin Chapter of the American Public Works Association recently announced the selection of MSA Professional Services, Inc. (MSA) and the City of Janesville, Wisconsin, as winners of a Public Works Project of the Year Award in the Small Cities/Rural Communities category for the West Milwaukee Street Bridge project.

The APWA Public Works Project of the Year Award for Small Cities/Rural Communities recognizes projects within populations of 75,000 or less. The award was established “to promote excellence in demonstrating creativity, ingenuity, and efficiency in the delivery of public works projects that have a profound impact on the community.”

The new West Milwaukee Street Bridge in the City of Janesville replaces a severely deteriorated 1913 structure over the Rock River in the community’s downtown district. The project accomplished goals of maximizing safety for vehicle, pedestrian and boat traffic, structural design to withstand seasonal high water levels, and tying into a variety of existing and forthcoming community infrastructure and trail projects. The new bridge is a four-span, concrete haunched slab bridge with decorative arch-shaped façade beams, widened bridge deck with 11-foot travel lanes, 2-foot curbs and 10-foot sidewalks, with a lower approach profile and updated ADA-compliant access points.

Award recipients were chosen based on submittals detailing project needs and challenges, use of alternative methods or materials, unique and unusual accomplishments under adverse conditions, community economic challenges pertaining to project selection, creative use of municipal resources, construction processes, demonstration of environmental preservation, and exceptional quality control.

A qualified panel of judges appointed by the chapter Awards Committee cast the deciding votes on the selection of the 2021 award winners, which were publicly announced by Tim Barbeau, APWA-Wisconsin Chapter Awards Chair, on April 30 during the opening session of the 2021 Virtual Spring Conference.