Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association

Late one Friday night last summer, Carl Johnson woke up in agony. “I’m on the floor on my hands and knees clutching my chest with just the worst chest pain you’ve ever felt in your life,” Johnson recalls. His wife called 911 and got him to the hospital where doctors scanned Carl’s heart and discovered something was terribly wrong. Within days, Johnson was having open-heart surgery to repair a ruptured aorta--enlarged to the size of a Coke can--and damaged heart valve. The 41-year-old father and STARK PAVEMENT CORPORATION president knows he’s incredibly lucky to be alive. “I have a brand new, mechanical carbon-ceramic titanium valve that, when it’s nice and quiet you can even hear it tick, so it’s kind of a fun party trick,” Johnson said in his trademark tongue-in-cheek style. Safe to say Johnson’s story quieted an energetic crowd of several hundred late last week enough to nearly hear that ticking. Johnson was the guest speaker at the American Heart Association-Wisconsin's “Hard Hats With Heart” event, held in the Wisconsin Aviation hangar at the Dane County Regional Airport. JT Engineering, Inc. was the presenting sponsor and WTBA is proud to have been one of several dozen additional sponsors. The annual event raises money to research heart disease and cardiovascular issues thanks to generous construction industry members’ donations and auction bidding. It also provides contractors and employers with information to provide healthy food options, promote physical activity during breaks, implement stress-reducing programs and provide CPR education and training. The AHA will get a great boost in those efforts: Hard Hats With Heart raised $117,000 (their most ever!) Thanks to all who attended and generously gave to a great cause. “I’m incredibly grateful to even be here talking to you guys… a lot of people aren’t so lucky,” Johnson said. “I really have to tip my cap and say thank you to the American Heart Association for continuing to do all this work to pour into improving the outcomes of patients like me.”

Awesome to see the concept and importance of Work Zone Safe spreading nationwide! Let us know if you want to chat about how we developed our version and got the word out, John. Happy to help!

Excellent conference. WTBA is proud to be a partner!

An awful lot of people are paying attention to a fairly small bridge in Fond du Lac County these days. The Federal Highway Administration, WisDOT’s Bureau of Structures and regional staff, even UW-Madison PhD candidates could be seen jotting down notes and taking pictures last week. They’re particularly interested in the bridge’s surface: the first of its kind ever poured in the state of Wisconsin. “That’s pretty unique in our world where you have all these plethora of folks coming out to see this new technology,” Lunda Construction Company Regional Manager Brad Diener said with a smile.  “We’re a Wisconsin-based company… We want it to be successful.” “It” is ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC), which was first commercially available in 2000.  Few states use it on transportation projects yet, but more and more are experimenting with the material and for good reason. UHPC can support up to 20,000 PSI (compared to 4,000 with traditional concrete) and reaches that strength in just 48 hours. Wisconsin Department of Transportation worked with prime contractor Lunda, concrete mixer MCC, Inc., and supplier Ductal® to prepare for last week’s bridge deck overlay on Townline Road over I-41.  WTBA was lucky enough to be there for the work and see things from the concrete plant to the pour.

Scott has been a valuable and trusted resource in the department for many years. He's been great at keeping our Board of Directors up to speed and working with our staff to problem solve. Congratulations on his new role!

WTBA functions on the core belief that we're stronger together. The late-September DBE Roundtable 4.0 offered a great chance to strengthen existing relationships and make some new ones between our contractors and DBE members. “There’s a lot of work coming,” WTBA Exec. Director Steve Baas said during his opening remarks. “We need everybody engaged to be able to do that work, to be able to do it well and be able to do it competitively… We’re all better and we all win when we have a broader talent pool, when we have more people engaged, and when we’re all working together in partnership.” Josh Wade (Arbor Green), Mike Hahn (Lunda Construction Company), and Taylor Tauer (Walbec Group/NEA) shared their advice and perspectives as part of a panel moderated by Director of Engineering Matt Grove. Integrity Grading & Excavating, Inc. Project Manager Becky Woller also provided valuable insights on a Women in Construction panel. Thanks to Joseph Davis, Sr. and the Construction Business Group for organizing this impactful full-day conference in Wisconsin Dells!

A full freeway closure usually only happens when there's a bad crash, fire, or investigation. So, when Walbec Group crews from Payne+Dolan had the rare chance to shut down I-894 on back-to-back weekends, they knew they needed to plan, prepare, and produce. Challenge accepted and challenge met. When the "paving blitz" was said and done (ahead of schedule, mind you!), crews--tip of the cap also to Mega Rentals and CORRE, INC.--could finally relax a bit, drivers could enjoy a very smooth new ride, and we were able to produce this highlight reel detailing the experience. Check it out!

Looks can be deceiving. At a glance, the Townline Bridge over I-41 in Fond du Lac appears to be a fairly simple two-lane concrete structure getting some fresh pavement. Look closer. That pavement is the first of its kind in the state… and should last up to 30 YEARS longer than usual. Lunda Construction Company worked with MCC, Inc. to lay down an Ultra-High Performance Concrete bridge deck this week. To the untrained eye, it looks a lot like your standard concrete. UHPC, however, takes much longer to mix and is a little more challenging to work with. Still, it’s STRONG – able to support up to 20,000 PSI, compared to 4,000 PSI on traditional concrete. And it reaches that strength in just 48 hours instead of 28 days. It's never been used on a Wisconsin road before. That’s why a lot of people have their eyes on this work, including WisDOT regional staff, the Federal Highway Administration, even UW-Madison PhD candidates, all wanting to understand the potential benefits to this relatively new material. “That’s pretty unique in our world where you have all these plethora of folks coming out to see this new technology put down for the first time,” Lunda Regional Manager Brad Diener said. “We definitely did rehearsals for the rehearsal, sent folks out to jobs to get familiar with the product because we want it to be successful.” MCC mixed seven loads of the UHPC at its permanent plant less than two miles away from the bridge. “That’s why I like it, because it is a challenge,” MCC Concrete Division Manager Berl Bolle said. “Inherently, there’s nerves on any concrete pour you do, but it’s kind of the territory with the job. I think if we do everything right it’s going to perform very well.” We’ll take a closer look at the product and project in a video next week – and you’ll find out the special way Lunda is commemorating the inaugural pouring.

A scholarship check presentation; a greeting from new Wisconsin Department of Transportation Secretary Boardman; Q&A opportunities regarding projected lets and quantities; a candid conversation with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu; a fascinating dive into the Wisconsin Policy Forum's upcoming report on Wisconsin's road conditions and funding. Oh, and some great conversations and networking on top of it all. Phew. We packed a LOT into yesterday's WTBA Fall Meeting! It was a good reminder that there are some big opportunities (and, yes, some challenges, too) in 2025 and beyond. But together, we're prepared to tackle them head-on. “We’ve got big things to do in the near term and the long term. We can do it because we’ve got you working with us,” WTBA Executive Director Steve Baas told the crowd.

Here’s an idea: Fully close one direction of interstate that carries about 128,000 vehicles a day around Milwaukee for an entire weekend to repave it.  Then… do it again to the other side the next weekend. Sound a little crazy?  Well, guess what… IT WORKED. Starting at 11 p.m. this past Friday, Payne+Dolan (A Walbec Group Company) crews closed eastbound I-894 for a little more than three miles.  They milled 67,000 square yards of old pavement in less than 16 hours, then got to work rolling out 600 tons of asphalt an hour across all three lanes, supported by 86 trucks on-site at the peak. The end result was a beautiful, smooth driving surface. “This is kind of a big deal for everybody,” Senior Project Manager Joe Jones told WTBA when we checked things out Saturday morning. This marked the second of two full-directional closures on prime contractor Zignego Company, Inc.'s I-894 project; a rarity for construction crews, especially for such a long period of time. What would’ve taken weeks or months to finish took just a couple days.  In fact, TMJ4 reported crews (which included Mega Rentals doing striping and traffic control) finished hours early… well before Monday morning rush hour. “It’s a lot of long days, it’s a lot of long nights, it’s a lot of resources allocated to this… In the end game, it’s well worth it,” Jones said.  “We like this route.” This work isn’t just saving construction time, though.  Check back for our video feature next week when Jones explains why he considers this work a “triple threat.” Thanks Walbec Group for letting us check out the Paving Blitz!