North Carolina's Dept. of Transportation pushed forward to meet the needs of state construction industry stakeholders and residents alike in 2011, thus earning ENR Southeast's designation as "Owner of the Year." Whether it was the completion of the first phase of a $1-billion tollway, use of alternative-project delivery methods to accelerate several major projects or responding rapidly to the damage wrought by Hurricane Irene, NCDOT proved its mettle to North Carolinians in the past year.
"Our members feel like the management and the operations of the DOT are as good as we have ever seen," says Berry Jenkins, director of the heavy-highway division for the Carolinas chapter of the Associated General Contractors in Raleigh.