From the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Department of Highways District 10 (Aug. 19, 2010):

KYTC District 10 design team wins statewide award for excellence for construction project in Estill County

JACKSON, Ky. – An entry submitted by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Department of Highways District 10's design team was chosen as the winner of the William S. Gulick In-house Project Excellence Award in statewide competition.

The award was for the KY 82 Salem Curve project in Estill County and was presented at the recent 2010 Partnering Conference in Louisville.

“This one-mile project was a true challenge for the in-house staff to complete,” said Mark Westfall, chief district engineer. “The project encountered many obstacles, among which included design, redesign, numerous public involvement challenges, cemeteries, and a historic house, just to name a few. This project was truly a triumph for the Project Development Branch staff. The strengths of all staff members were called upon in order to make this project a reality. More specifically, our senior design technologist, Brent Weddington, went above and beyond the call of duty when designing this project and he has provided the Transportation Cabinet with an exceptional product.”

This project began in 2001 and involved no fewer than five in-house designers. Current members of District 10's design team are Darren Back, Marvin Campbell, Barry Evans, Min Jiang, James Napier, John Tomlin and Brent Weddington. The district's environmental coordinator is Jeff Allen and the Project Development Branch manager is Corbett Caudill. Former Project Development Branch staff members who worked on this project include Chuck Allen, Aric Skaggs and Jeremy Carty.

The project involved relocating a section of KY 82 in Estill County, near the Powell County line and the Spout Springs community, that had been the location of several property damage, injury and fatality accidents over the years. The new portion of highway replaces a curve known locally as Salem Curve due to its proximity to the Salem Baptist Church. The new alignment improves the grade and alignment of the hill and curve in the area, and also provides a passing lane for southbound traffic.

“Local officials in Estill County took a keen interest in this project over the years,” Caudill said. “We were pleased that we could make this improvement to a busy stretch of highway that is the primary link between Irvine and the Mountain Parkway to provide drivers a safer route and eliminate a curve that had been problematic for some time.”

The award is named for William S. Gulick, a longtime Kentucky Transportation Cabinet engineer, and is presented annually.