Award of Merit: Highway/Bridge: Sacaton Bridge Replacement
The Sacaton Road Bridge acts as the main outlet to the Phoenix area from the Gila River Indian Community. The old bridge, built in 1961, was frequently overtopped during rain events, and the community sought a new bridge to improve roadway safety and hydraulic capacity.
The project was originally slated as a traditional design-bid-build project. However, during the design phase, the ownership tacked toward joining the Strategic Highway Research Program, which provides grants to projects that use the Accelerated Bridge Construction toolkit and techniques.