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YORK, PA. — The engineering, planning, and environmental firm of Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson Inc. (JMT) was recently honored by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and received an honorable mention for the State Route 113, Gay Street Bridge project in Phoenixville, Pa. This project was entered into the FHWA’s 2010 Excellence in Highway Design Awards in the category of Structures Costing $10 Million or More. This is a prestigious Biennial National Awards Program that recognizes outstanding highway transportation, highlighting the best in highway design across the country. FHWA only recognizes two projects every two years: the category winner and the honorable mention. The award winners showcase how innovative practices and methods have been integrated into the development and delivery of the projects with resounding success.

The Gay Street Bridge project is located within an extensive historic district. Work involved replacing a historically significant, massive concrete spandrel arch with a nine-span steel arch structure. An extensive public involvement program was implemented to provide an aesthetically pleasing structure that met the functional and cultural needs of the site, was acceptable to the local community, allowed for future site development, and provided a structure with an increased load carrying capacity. A concerted effort was made to preserve and document the history of the site and incorporated numerous context-sensitive design solutions.

The project was completed approximately three months ahead of schedule and opened to traffic on Oct. 16, 2009. JMT was recognized for its ability to work collaboratively with the community, the various regulatory agencies, and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) to design a project that captured the history of the site while providing a modern structure that allowed for safe and adequate pedestrian, vehicular, and emergency services movement between the downtown area of Phoenixville and the north side of the community. As stated in a letter from PennDOT, the owner of the structure, “this project will serve the needs of the department as well as Phoenixville Borough for many years to come ... The department was very pleased with the design and construction of the Gay Street Bridge Project.”

For more information, visit www.jmt.com.