The National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) has announced that Rea Construction Co., of Charlotte, NC, has won its Workzone Safety Innovations Award. The company received its award at a special ceremony at the association’s 48th Annual Convention in San Diego, CA.

This is the first year for the award, which recognizes companies who have used innovative ideas that lead to improved worker safety in workzones and whose overall safety practices are outstanding.

Rea Construction Co. won the award for its plan to handle truck traffic carrying asphalt for the widening of Interstate 77, north of Charlotte. Trucks needed to make 250 trips a day from the nearby asphalt plant to the median of I-77 near the construction sites. The heavy, constant traffic in the area, however, made it difficult for trucks to get on and off the median safely.

With the approval of state’s Department of Transportation, Rea constructed, in the median, a 28-ft. (8.5 m) ramp of dirt that reached up to an interchange. They removed the bridge’s outside rail and repainted the bridge lane stripes to make narrower lanes. That made room for a special “truck only” lane on the bridge that allowed trucks to drive to the nearby asphalt plant. This innovative design helped ensure the safety of both the truck drivers and the motoring public.

The National Asphalt Pavement Association represents the interests of the Hot Mix Asphalt producer/contractor on the national level with Congress, government agencies, and other national trade and business organizations. NAPA supports an active research program designed to improve the quality of HMA pavements and paving techniques used in the construction of roads, streets, highways, parking lots, airports, and environmental and recreational facilities. The association provides technical, educational, and marketing materials and information to its members, as well as product information to users and specifiers of paving materials. The association, whose members number more than 1,000 companies, was founded in 1955.

For more information, call 704/394-8354 or visit www.hotmix.org.

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