June ribbon cuttings

June was a busy month for celebration, with five ribbon cuttings held to celebrate the completion of projects! GUY hosted one ribbon cutting in Washington County and two each in Craig County and Sequoyah County.

All of these bridges were funded by the County Improvements for Roads and Bridges (CIRB) program and will improve the safety of roadways for Oklahoma drivers.

BR #59 over Limestone Draw, Washington County
Pictured: John Blickensderfer, GUY President; Scott Hilton; Mike Bouvier, Washington County District 2 Commissioner; Susan Avery; Margaret Bouvier; Rebecca Alvarez, GUY Vice President; Kevin Paslay, Osage County District 2 Commissioner

BR #65 over Elm Creek, Craig County
Pictured: Pete Ellis, GUY Project Engineer; John Blickensderfer, GUY President; Kim Bradshaw, Craig County District 2 Commissioner's Assistant; Mike Fitzpatrick, Craig County District 2 Commissioner; Debbie Dooley field representative for U.S. Congressman Markwayne Mullin; State Senator Michael Bergstrom; Lowell Walker, Craig County District 1 Commissioner; Jerry Marquis, Craig County District 1 Foreman

BR #75 over Elm Creek, Craig County
Pictured: Pete Ellis, GUY Project Engineer; John Blickensderfer, GUY President; Kim Bradshaw, Craig County District 2 Commissioner's Assistant; State Senator Michael Bergstrom; Mike Fitzpatrick, Craig County District 2 Commissioner; Lowell Walker, Craig County District 1 Commissioner; Debbie Dooley field representative for U.S. Congressman Markwayne Mullin; Jerry Marquis, Craig County District 1 Foreman

BR # 87 over Camp Creek, Sequoyah County
Pictured: Rebecca Alvarez, GUY Vice President and Project Manager; State Representative John Bennett; Ray Watts, Sequoyah County District 1 Commissioner; State Senator Mark Allen; John Blickensderfer, GUY President

BR #88 over Rabbit Branch, Sequoyah County
Pictured: John Blickensderfer, GUY President; State Representative John Bennett; Ray Watts, Sequoyah County District 1 Commissioner; State Senator Mark Allen; Rebecca Alvarez, GUY Vice President and Project Manager

Oklahoma's largest structural plate bridge installed in Pawnee County

June saw ODOT’s largest structural plate bridge installation to date at BR #15 over Tributary to Mud Creek in Pawnee County. This 64ft-2in span x 19ft-7in rise BridgeCor Steel Plate Structure was designed by GUY and is being installed by EarthSmart Construction. With this arch design, GUY was able to minimize excavation costs in comparison to a standard PC beam bridge design.

GUY engineers Rebecca Alvarez and Chelsea Harden visit the BR #15 over Tributary to Mud Creek installation in Pawnee County. Rebecca designed the bridge, while Chelsea conducted the hydrology/hydraulics analysis.

Click to see a video of the bridge installation

Leigh and Hall Drainage Project Receives APWA Award

GUY is excited that our City of Stillwater Leigh and Hall Drainage project received a Silver Award from the Oklahoma chapter of the American Public Works Association (APWA). This project to rehabilitate 1,100 feet of drainage channel won in the Environment, Small Cities/Rural Communities division.

Before this CBDG project began, the channel was unstable in areas, with a broken concrete liner, heavy debris, and trash. In addition, it also showed signs of scour and sloughing banks, indicating insufficient channel protection. GUY's design stabilized the bank and improved the drainage while retaining a natural appearance and as many of the large trees as possible.

Pictured: Pete Ellis, GUY Engineering Project Engineer; John Blickensderfer, GUY President; Rebecca Alvarez, GUY Vice President and Project Manager; Brandon Huxford, APWA; Valerie Silvers, City of Stillwater; Paul D’Andrea, APWA; Justin, Danny Wick Excavating; and Danny Wick, Danny Wick Excavating

Leigh and Hall drainage channel - before

Leigh and Hall drainage channel - after

Envisioning the Road Ahead

Anniversaries are a time to not only celebrate past accomplishments, but to look ahead into the future. A lot can change in 30 years - how many of us had phones in our pockets in 1987? Here are a few predictions about the next 30 years from scientists, business experts, and more:

1. We will be able to control our environment just using brain signals.
2. Building materials will be as strong as steel but as light as carbon fiber.

3. The average temperature will be about 2 degrees higher.
4. A robot will be on the cover of Time magazine as the world's best CEO.

What do you think? How do you envision the world in 2047? Email your ideas to Stacey@GUYengr.com, and we will share some of them in our next newsletter.