MoDOT Maintenance Supt. Chris Sholl talks to Dear Elementary School students about what MoDOT does and about safety

KC Team Takes 2nd in Statewide Softball Tourney

This weekend, the KC softball team had a blast taking on rivals throughout the state to win second place in the annual MoDOT Softball Tournament. The team of 10 took on bi-state rivals St. Louis and beat them TWICE.

The team from KC took 2nd yesterday. Left KC at 7:00am, home at 10:30pm, played 5 games and cooked out brats and burgers for lunch. Brought home a big 2nd place trophy and several scrapes, bumps and bruises!

Way to go KC!!!

KC Employees Honored for Service

This was a week of celebration as several MoDOT employees in the KC District were honored for their years of service to the department. Their overall dedication was applauded as more than 95 employees received recognition for 5 years up to 30 years of service.

The week’s events started with an award reception on Monday, Sept. 21 to honor those employees reaching five, ten, or 15 years of service.

On Wednesday, Sept. 23, employees receiving long term service awards were honored during a luncheon with their peers and guests. MoDOT Human Resources Director Micki Knudsen was the guest speaker and shared with the group the importance of this milestone in their career.


“Your dedication to MoDOT and experience is highly valued by the department,” said Knudsen.   

In addition to honoring those receiving service awards, several employees were commended on their commitment to safety, receiving awards for 15, 20 , 25 and 30 years of no loss time injuries.  

Congratulations to the following employees for this achievement, dedication and commitment.

5 year recipients

5 Years
Joshua Chapman       

Michele Compton        
Randall Ewing            
Robert Gaiser             
Gregory Giedinghagen    
Michael Johnson       
Calvin Kenslow
Matthew Kidder
Deborah Naylor
William Lutgen Jr.
Gregory McDowell
Warren Thornton
Albert Wash Jr.

10 Years

Steven Allerson           

Michael Atteberry         

10 year recipients

Alfred Battle                
Brian Burger               
Michael Burson           
Brandon Cracraft         
Andrew Dobnikar        
Ronald Gassen            
Donald Hall Jr.  
Lindsay Harris
Chad Hessenflow
Marc Hohe   
Brian Iles                  
Wayne Jolley             
Herbert Latchaw 
Micheal Maynard        
Lawrence Nevels       
Derek Olson               
Jeffrey Pycke    
Russell Rentel
Alvin Richardson
Damon Rinehart
William Van Dyne II    
Zachary Walker
Debra Walter
Brenda Williams
Juan Yin
Charles Zurn

15 year recipients

15 Years                        

Jeffrey Alfrey   

Clem Anderson III
Michael Arnett   
Gregory Copeland 
Brandon Daniel     
Quyet The Dao       
Michael Fulks    
Robin Green   
Jason Harvey
Kurtis Hathaway
Bradley Kelley
Teresa Martin
Johnny Moore II
Dana O’Maley
Douglas Parson
Douglas Reeves
Martin Rinne
Melissa Roberts
Richard Shipley
Rebel J Walker

20 year recipients

David Warmouth

25 year recipients

30 year recipients

20 Years

Chad Baldwin     

Susan Barry      
Melissa Black

Doug Crookshanks   

Shelie Daniel 
Cheryl Grimes    
Richard Kingery       
Allan Ludiker    
Richard McKown    
John Ortner
Keith Rush   
Jerry Smith

25 Years

Kelley Anspach 

Willard Collins III   
Loren Dickmeier      
Thomas Gregg       
Percy Houston       
Albert Janssens
Donald Klaus Jr.
James Luther   
Amy Nash
Daniel Pierce
Henry Uti
Sherita White  

30 Years
Sally Crump           

Randall Hartman   
Robert Rhodes Jr. 
Billie Tucker Jr.

SAFETY AWARDS

15 Years Safety

Jeffrey Alfrey    

Clem Anderson            

Michael Arnett   

Donald Bunch   

Gregory Copeland  

Delmar Cowhard          

William Cretzmeyer  

Brandon Daniel          

Quyet The Doa           

Jason Harvey              

Kurtis Hathaway         

Robin Green                

Matthew Killion 

Johnny Moore II

Douglas Reeves

Rebel J. Walker

David Warmouth

James Whitsitt

20 Years

James Bentley   

William Chappel 
Doug Crookshanks
Travis Jones           
Richard Kingery        
Rocky Majors
LeaAnn Otis 
Doug Sardeson
Brad Watkins               

25 Years     
John Bickel 
Albert Janssens     


30 Years
Billie Tucker
Becky Wheatley

KC Team Honors Fallen Workers, Recommits to Safety

This past Thursday marked our third annual Day of Remembrance ceremony. After we held the first one -- on the anniversary of Clifton Scott's death -- we decided this was something we wanted to do every year, come together to remember those who are no longer with us.

We all know that transportation work is dangerous. That’s why we have 131 names on the statewide memorial. These employees were public servants, just doing their job, when something tragic happened. 

Thankfully, we have come a long way since those early days over 100 years ago. Our advanced equipment, the technology we have, the safety procedures we practice every day, all of these things help us to work more safely on the job. And we’re continually working to improve safety in everything we do.

And, we are grateful that we have not added another name to this memorial since 2012, when we lost our most recent fallen hero, Clifton Scott.  But that isn’t good enough. 

As we stand here today to honor all of our 131 --22 from Kansas City -- and for those other employees who may have lost their lives before we began documenting the fallen, we recognize that they paid the ultimate sacrifice, and we never want that to happen again.

Each of us must make a personal commitment to do everything in our power to make sure no other employee is lost.

We must focus on safety at all times, in everything we do.  And we must dedicate ourselves – every single day – to doing whatever it takes so we, our coworkers and our customers make it home safely. 

Over the last few years, we’ve put more emphasis on safety than ever before. As we continue to search for ways to be safer, we’ve decided to devote an entire day on Oct. 8 to talk about how we can work safer in the days ahead.  

Recommitting ourselves to doing everything we can to work safely and never adding another name to this memorial is one more way we can honor those we have lost and their families.

Before we left this solemn event, we handed out orange ribbons to everyone to wear as a reminder of the importance of the sacrifice these people made for our organization and as a symbol that we will never forget them. 

Check out photos from all the Day of Remembrance events around the district online. 

MoDOT Takes Safety Message to Teen Leaders

This week MoDOT employees attended the Northland YouthLeadership Summit

to mingle with high schools from across the Northland and talk seat belts, distracted driving and Battle of the Belt. 

The summit is a full-day conference for high school students from 15 school districts developed for student leaders to enhance their leadership skills through workshops and group learning.  The goal is to increase their impact in their individual schools and organizations.

MoDOT attended as part of their Ideas Fair and to chat with as many students as possible about the importance of wearing a seat belt and leaving their cell phone out of sight. 

This is the second year we have participated in the summit. 

 

Day of Remembrance: Skiles Maintenance Building (photo gallery)

MoDOT Helps Shawnee Mission School Relaunch Class Program

The Christopher S. Bond Bridge is known for its iconic beauty and of course for its usefulness in the Kansas City community. Each day, thousands of commuters travel back and forth to the northland. It also serves as a major thoroughfare for truck drivers looking to reach Iowa, Nebraska and beyond. 

The bridge built in 2010 can also be considered a classroom now. More than 70 students gathered at the edge of the bridge at Berkley Riverfront Park Wednesday, Sept. 16 for a very special class.  Ninth grade honors students from Shawnee Mission Northwest High School met with several representatives from MoDOT to learn how the bridge was built.  

Retired MoDOT construction employee Warren Roberts was joined by Traffic Studies Specialist Arij Humeida who gave a presentation about the bridge to four groups of 12 to 15 students. They discussed everything from the planning stages, the design of the bridge to the installation of pylons on the Missouri River below. As Roberts and Humeida spoke, the bridge served as a living example for the students.

The presentation is part of a new pilot program at Shawnee Mission Northwest High School. School leaders are hoping their students can learn new things differently. “It’s a way they can learn and try to make a connection to math and science,” said Deb Brewer, a biology teacher at the high school.   

Brewer admitted that sometimes math and science can be less than exciting. But she says if teachers can add new elements, learning can be fun again.

Brewer also mentioned that Shawnee Mission Northwest High School had gotten away from its outside curriculum and she says this was a great way to get back into doing it again. She says school administrators will eventually go back and tweak the pilot program in hopes of making it better. But she praised MoDOT for helping rebuild the program in its early stages.

Employee Advisory Extension Council Engaging Employees in the Field

This week, the Kansas City Employee Advisory Extension Council held their

regular meeting at the Strike Team offices in Independence. 

The team will rotate meeting locations throughout the year to different facilities in order to interact with employees and crews in the district. 

The KCEAEC is your forum for questions, comments or concerns. The committee has representatives from a variety of work units, as well as members from the field and district office. 

Learn more on the KCEAEC sharepoint page. Have a question or comment for the council? Submit online!

MoDOT Fall Job Fair a Huge Success

The Missouri Department of Transportation's Kansas City District had a huge turnout for its latest seasonal worker job fair held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 3 at the District Office in Lee's Summit. 

With 135 people coming through the doors to apply and interview, MoDOT was able to extend job offers to 104 possible new seasonal workers that very same day. Many of the applicants had already filled out their information online, but if not, staff guided them through the online application process. 

Once their application was complete, they moved through the other stations that included interviews and offers. 

It took the coordination of Human Resources, Administration, Maintenance, Information Systems and other staff all working together to make the process run smoothly and efficiently, but hopefully by Sept. 28 MoDOT will have its goal of 100 new seasonal workers to start before the snow starts falling. 

Critical Condition Bridges in Our Own Backyard

This week, MoDOT sent out an updated our list of Critical Condition bridges.  There are 641 bridges on this list -- up 50 from one year ago.  They are all the condition 3 and 4 bridges that are not funded for construction in the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program.  You can view a statewide map of these bridges at http://www.modot.org/Bridges/

Several bridges are in the Kansas City District, including two right outside our door -- the Colbern Road bridges over Route 291, and the Colbern Road bridges over I-470.

When we have discussions with our friends, families and neighbors about the transportation funding crisis in Missouri, we have to realize it’s much bigger than fixing a few bridges and interchanges.

These are bridges our employees cross daily, outside our very offices that will go unrepaired or replaced without further funding. If any of these bridges fail inspection, they will close. These are not remote, rural or selective urban structures. 

So next time someone you know asks about transportation funding and the impacts to their community, you can respond that we won't be able to provide the same level of service as we have in the past. This is not a course of action we want to take, but it's one that long-term insufficient funding forces us to take. And it impacts us all. 

Unique Summit Street Bridge Creates Challenges, Extends Construction Timeline

Bridge rehabilitation on the Summit Street Bridge over I-670 started in the early days of summer with the plan to open within 30 days – and that’s when things got interesting.

Currently the bridge is under repair to fix expansion joints that allowed water to leak into the structure, something that is normally routine maintenance on most bridges. But the unique structure of this more than 35-year old bridge has presented challenges to the crew, causing delays the department could not anticipate. The bridge remains one of the key routes joining the urban Westside neighborhood to the city. It is now scheduled to open in mid-October.

This bridge has something most do not, an engineered false bottom created to soften the appearance for traffic below. It has a lovely art deco feel that marks many of the iconic structures in the Kansas City skyline. 

With black wrought iron railings adorning the surface and powder-coated, cream-colored arches below, the Summit Street Bridge beautifully matches the pedestrian bridge just to the west.

 

Known as an arched steel box girder, the false bottom creates a series of eerie, almost submarine-like tunnels that traverse one end to the other. The tunnels are coated in layers of dust untouched by human shoes until recently. 

Early repairs to the inside of the structure were accessed by a small trap door opened from the underneath and high above the ground below. Though an adequate point of access in 1979 when the bridge was built, the location and size required an alternative entry for the work needed in 2015.  So a temporary hole was required to be made in the bridge deck itself to allow for worker access, further delaying the project.

For more photos of the Summit Street Bridge, visit MoDOT’s flickr feed.