Department Designs Way to Build Team Spirit

Guest Post, written by Helen Madison, senior Design technician

In early July, a group of co-workers from the Design Department took off for an adventure of daring heights and slippery slopes and took teamwork to an entirely new level. We took on the challenge of overcoming our fear of heights and outhouses at a local zip line park.  

We were met by two experienced guides and all-around good guys. Our group had various levels of fear and anxiety, but that was all washed away with the bus ride to the top of the mountain and with the company of our guides.

We spent the next four hours relying on each others support. Our first zip line was installed just the weekend before we came out and yes, we were the first ones to use it. Our guide gave us all the necessary instructions to successfully zip to the other side. We left no co-worker behind. Onward and upward to the next one. 

We then hiked into the woods a little deeper, avoiding all the green stuff that could give us a rash, and found our next challenge. On this one, you couldn’t see the ground below and it was a little longer of a ride. We had to rely on one another to pull us up the slippery slope to more level ground on the landing. 

The third zip was again, higher and longer. I can see now why the guides recommended leaving cameras and cell phones in a safe place.   

On our fourth and last zip, our challenge was to land on a pivot board landing. Like a teeter totter.  Not an easy thing to do based on the wet, slippery wood. I was a little short of the pivot point and couldn’t get my feet under me. Some were perfect and most needed a little help.

We were all smiling and laughing throughout the day. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of friends and co-workers to share this experience. We found kinship and strength in each other through our experience and am looking forward to the next “Great Adventure” in the fall. Paint Ball anyone?

Arij Humeida, Jeena John, Helen Madison, Jordan Swing,
Manhal Aboalsaman, Erin Rottinghaus and Lynelle Luther

NB 291 Bridge Opens After Three Months

After three months of emergency repairs, the northbound Missouri 291 bridge over the Missouri River in Sugar Creek reopened Thursday. The repairs cost $100,000. Click here to watch news coverage of the opening. 

The bridge built in 1949 bridge was closed for emergency repairs May 6 after MoDOT crews found significant deterioration during a routine inspection. The 66-year old northbound bridge typically carries nearly 11,000 vehicles a day. The closure impacted more than 22,000 motorists who traveled northbound and southbound using the southbound Route 291 Bridge daily. 

2015 Corporate Challenge Racks Up Awards

Another season has come and gone for MoDOT’s Corporate Challenge Team and with participation steadily increasing, the 2015 season has become a memorable one.

Brian Burger, a resident engineer and MoDOT’s Corporate Challenge’s new team Director says from three years ago, he’s seen a huge difference in participation.

“We have moved up from 20-something place all the way up to 14^th overall, all the way up to 4^th place this year,” Burger said. “Corporate Challenge really has just caught fire... We had about 50 people sign up in our first year, and now, this year, we had 170 employees sign up.”

Events outside the work place help to build employee relationships and it lets people from different departments meet some new faces, Burger said.

“I think it’s fun because it gets you to meet people outside of your department and new people from other local companies,” Burger said.  “But I think the best part is you get to try new things and events that you may have never tried before or had the opportunity to try.”

With growing participation from MoDOT employees, it’s no surprise this year's team even nabbed a few awards.

“We were happy to get two awards this year, one was for  our tailgating, the ‘Claim your Turf’ Award, for having the best tailgate spot at the kickoff walk,” Burger continued, “and the other was a Spirit Award that someone on the committee nominated us for. “


The Spirit Award is most impressive, because MoDOT was one of only three companies participating to be nominated to get the award, out of all 215 companies.

We had the best spirit in the entire challenge, which is saying a lot,” Burger said. “The committee decided based on our participation in swimming and track, and although we may not have had as many athletes as other companies, we did score a lot of points and place very well, overall.”

In addition to the two Corporate Challenge Awards MoDOT received, teammates were able to crown their very own MVPs of the season, this year’s winners were: Jim Sloan from the legal department and Debbie Huffman a project manager.

 “Corporate Challenges helps you find people at MoDOT who you never knew had these hidden talents,” Burger said. “Anyone competing has the opportunity to meet new MoDOT employees, while having fun, and trying to win a medal, I would recommend everyone try it.”

Chief Engineer Tours MoDOT Kansas City Projects

Missouri Department of Transportation Chief Engineer, Ed Hassinger, traveled from Jefferson City Thursday Morning to visit with members of management and MoDOT employees in the Kansas City District.

Hassinger had a full agenda at the district officer, but found time to visit with employees at the annual Corporate Challenge Picnic before touring projects around the metro.

He stopped at several of KC's key projects including the Route 291 Bridge emergency repair, I-35 and Pleasant Valley Interchange, U.S. 69 Missouri River Bridges, Manchester Bridge and the I-70 Sni-A-Bar Bridge rehab project. 

                 

He also visited the Truman Road Project Office which was recently hit by an errant semi. Read more about that story on Connections.  
                  

Hassinger’s annual visit helps with fielding questions from employees, engineers and contractors but also allows MoDOT employees to interact and meet with upper management.  

MoDOT Interns Get Virtual Tour of Departments at the District Office

More than a dozen of MoDOT’s summer interns got an inside look into what each department does at the Kansas City District Office.

The virtual tour set up by the Human Resources Department was held Tuesday morning, July 14 in room 136. A presenter from each department spoke approximately seven-to-eight minutes about what happens in their world.

Interns heard from, Design, Communications, Right-of-Way, General Services, Incident Management to name a few. Some presenters such as Traffic, Incident Management and the Traffic Center included visual aids to help offer insight into what happens in their department.

During the presentations, interns often heard about collaboration and team work. Presenters spoke about how many of the departments at the District Office worked together on projects and assignments.    

 

Speed Limit Variations Meant to Help Traffic Flow, Lowers Risk of Crashes

Photo Courtesy of Google Images

Contrary to popular belief, there is a science behind speed limits on our roadways. The goal is to set speeds limits at a level that most drivers consider safe and reasonable.

 Derek Olson, a traffic operations engineer for the Missouri Department of Transportation says research shows that if you set the speed limit near where most people are already driving, then you will have a an environment where your risk of getting in a crash is less. 

Photo Courtesy of Google Images

 “If one driver is going 40 mph and the other is going 75, the differential speed between the two is what creates a bad situation,” Olson said. “We try and set the speed limit at a level that most people feel is comfortable.”

 Prior to altering speeds on the roadway, extensive traffic studies are done in order for traffic engineers to assess the conditions of a certain road.

“We do the speed studies during off peak conditions,” Olsen said. “We want to get the free flow speed that the majority of people are driving; setting a speed limit near where most people are already driving helps reduce aggressive driver behavior such as tailgating or unsafe passing.”

Google Fiber Avoids Tech Glitches with Help from MoDOT

Photo Courtesy of Google Images

Photo Courtesy of Google Images

Google fiber is growing all around the Metro area, thanks in part to a partnership with the Missouri Department of Transportation. It’s there they’ve been able to avoid technical setbacks they may have seen since they first launched.  

MoDOT’s Traffic Operations Supervisor, Vernon Koch says currently MoDOT has two employees whose sole job is to assist Google Fiber with day-to-day operations and planning.

“The out of town contractors that Google had hired initially really didn’t know the area and the rules we have in place and because of that we had a lot of issues with instillation and permits, and thus began our relationship,” Koch said.

Weekly meetings are conducted between Google Fiber and MoDOT personnel to make sure no information gets lost in translation and questions can be answered, first-hand.  

“From launch [Google] was hitting our communication lines and they were not installing at appropriate locations,” said Koch. “But we are happy to say most of those problems have been corrected. “

While Google Fiber continues to expand around the Kansas City Metro Area, Koch says they plan to continue their partnership so long as there is a need.

“We are not installing, MoDOT issues the permits and does the inspections,” Koch said. “Our problems have decreased significantly from what we first saw 18 months ago.”

Through MoDOT’s assistance, residents can continue to enjoy state-of-the-art technology, worry-free, Koch says.

“We hired employees to work with Google exclusively,” Koch said. “Through that we have built a better relationship with Google Fiber and their contractors… we have become a very important partner and our resources have helped Google Fiber be a success.”

Shining a New Light on Safety

For much of the beginning of 2015 bright sparks of light from a welding torch flew inside MoDOT’s maintenance shop in Lee’s Summit. That’s where workers have been retrofitting TMA’s or Truck Mounted Attenuators with new lighting kits with the hopes they’ll prevent future vehicle crashes and save lives.

Assistant District Engineer, Chris Redline says the changes were necessary because of the recent number of crashes involving TMA’s. In the past six months, there have been 7 TMA crashes. District leaders expect at least twenty for the year; a number which Redline says is too high. “Folks were coming up on our mobile operations like striping and sweeping and basically smashing into the back of us. So we wanted to give the drivers a little more visibility,” says Redline adds.

Thanks to the changes all 70 of the TMA’s in the Kansas City district have brighter and more visible lights added to the trucks. Maintenance workers who constructed the changes made sure things like wiring, connectors and switches were identical for all 70 TMA’s. That will ensure the much-needed equipment is identical. In other words, no matter who gets behind the wheel, they’ll be able to operate the new lights.

In all, it took a 2-person crew about 10 hours for each truck to retrofit them with the new lighting kits, which add up to about 20-hours to get the job done. Equipment Technician Supervisor, Chris Zurn led the way on the project. He says the glowing changes have been time consuming, but well worth it. “We put a lot of man hours into the project,” Zurn says.  

Other districts in Missouri are also adding the new lighting package to its TMA’s. The bright changes are a step in the right direction to making things safer on the road in Missouri.

 

APEX Participants Explore Public Transporation

On Thursday, June 25, several Kansas City District Accelerated Professional Engineering  (APEX)  program participants participated in an urban and rural transit experience. This was a great opportunity for both young engineers and their professional mentors to explore transit from a different perspective --- public transportation. 


The team started with the Kansas City urban transit KCATA for a round table discussion with Vice President Dick Jarrold and Planning Manager Chuck Ferguson. They learned about the history of transit in Kansas City, regional and national transit funding issues, and new initiatives such as KC Ride.  

KCATA serves over 52,000 passengers per day in the metro. The team also took a tour of key Troost Bus Rapid transit stations at 31st  and 39th which are both very high volume bus locations. The 39th location also includes an indoor climate-controlled passenger waiting area and a separate space housing Head Start day care facility that serves 150 children.


Following on the heels of metro transit, the team moved to a more rural service. OATs -- a private non-profit organization that serves 89 counties throughout Missouri – provides more than 1,500,000 one-way trips with a staff of 700 and over 700 vehicles. They cater to an oft-forgotten segment of the population for whom public transit is very important but don’t have the same access to bus or train routes -- rural general public, senior citizens and people with disabilities. Learn more about this invaluable public service on their website. 

The APEX program was designed to accelerate and maximize the potential of professional engineering employees through a cross-training development program that gives them targeted hands-on experience in every facet of the transportation department. To learn more about APEX, check out this link on Sharepoint. 



APEX program participants in the transit experience included Kati Horner, Dustin Hoyt and Trisha Sen along with District Planning staff members Susan Barry, Luke Miller and Joni Roeseler.