Ulteig Wins Two ACEC North Dakota Engineering Excellence Awards

Two of Ulteig’s transportation projects have received Engineering Excellence Awards from the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) in North Dakota for 2023. These projects received top honors in two out of the seven total categories. The ACEC annual competition recognizes engineering firms for projects that demonstrate an exceptional degree of innovation, complexity, achievement and value.

We are incredibly proud of the collaboration between our team members and the client: the North Dakota Department of Transportation. Read more about each project to understand the value and success Ulteig was able to bring to communities and travelers in North Dakota.

Heart River Bridge Rehabilitation Project

Dickinson, North Dakota –Ulteig’s Bridge Team designed a plan to rehabilitate an aging bridge in collaboration with the North Dakota Department of Transportation.

The 157-foot long, 58.4-foot wide bridge (deck width, edge to edge) was originally built in 1931 and reconstructed in 1967. With daily average traffic of 9,940 vehicles, the bridge was last inspected in September 2020, which noted “numerous spalls on the deck” and “pier 2W cracking/disintegration at the waterline on both original pier columns.” Beyond a deck overlay, upgrading the bridge rails, and replacing the expansion joint, the NDDOT needed a less invasive approach to pier repair. After meeting with NDDOT, as a team Ulteig developed a suitable repair method: using a new product called PileMedic to repair one of the bridge’s deteriorating piers. The use of this product would lead to a better end product during construction, and this project represented the first time it was used for a bridge rehabilitation project in the state. NDDOT engineers have been interested in testing it out as a possible solution for other bridge rehabilitation projects across the state.

U.S. 52 Passing Lanes

Carrington, North Dakota – Heavy-duty truck traffic and agricultural equipment traffic has increased along U.S. 52, and the NDDOT turned to Ulteig to design passing and turn lane improvements along the 36-mile stretch from Carrington to Fessenden. The project:

• Improved the flow of traffic;
• Increased efficiency for drivers;
• Reduced the hazard of slower-moving ag equipment;
• Stabilized transportation speeds; and
• Made the transportation route accessible and efficient for all vehicles by considering vehicle size and speed of traffic.

The first of five segments to be constructed in this multi-year project began with planning, environmental and field studies began in June 2021. Ulteig’s Environmental Team performed on a tight timeline and secured a Documented Categorical Exclusion (CATEX) along with other surveys, delineations, reviews and assessments which evaluated both the current highway landscape and the effects of the proposed passing lanes project.

Construction was completed in 2022.