PORTLAND, ORE. — David Evans and Associates Inc. (DEA) hired four industry veterans to fill leadership positions in its Denver, Los Angeles, and Portland offices. “The last two years have been challenging for DEA and for the nation,” said Transportation General Manager Jay Lyman. “It is gratifying to be going on offense and to start growing our business again. 2011 has been a good year for DEA and we are excited to be adding key leaders to our bridge, railroad, and transit groups.”

  PHOENIX — The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) has been recognized nationally for its creative and innovative solutions on a project that makes traveling safer for motorists, while protecting wildlife and connecting ecosystems. The Federal Highway Administration awarded one of its top environmental honors — the 2011 Exemplary Ecosystem Initiative Award — to ADOT for the successful completion of the US 93 Hoover Dam to milepost 17 project, which opened to the public before Thanksgiving in 2010. The project widened US 93 to a modern four-lane divided highway and includes three wildlife crossings for bighorn sheep in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

 WASHINGTON, D.C.- America’s rural heartland is home to approximately 50 million people and its natural resources provide the primary source of the energy, food and fiber that supports the nation’s economy and way of life. But, according to a new report, the roads and bridges that serve and connect the nation’s rural areas face a number of significant challenges, including inadequate capacity to handle the growing levels of traffic and commerce, limited connectivity, the inability to accommodate growing freight travel, deteriorated road and bridge conditions, a lack of desirable safety features, and a traffic fatality rate far higher than all other roads and highways.

 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The spotlight theme for TRB’s 91st Annual Meeting is Transportation: Putting Innovation and People to Work. Spotlight sessions, workshops, and discussions at the 2012 TRB Annual Meeting will highlight how research leads to innovation in transportation services and products, and how this in turn can stimulate the economy, create jobs, and attract students to the transportation profession.

 PHILADELPHIA, PA. — Pennoni Associates announced that Lower Merion Township and Radnor Township’s Five Points Intersection Improvement project was given an Honorable Mention certificate from the Road and Bridge Safety Improvement Award program. Pennoni provided consulting engineering services for the project, which transformed the incident-prone five road intersection next to Bryn Mawr Hospital into a safe and manageable crossing.