Dawson wins award for Kamloops-area paving work

NEWS/ BUSINESS — Dawson Construction Ltd. has won this year’s Deputy Minister’s Contractor of the Year Award in the paving category, for a multi-part project in the Kamloops area.

The $7.8-million repaving project included 42 kilometres of road: Highway 1 from Vicars Road to Grand Blvd., Westsyde Road from Black Pines to McLure Ferry, Highway 5A from Rose Hill Road to Cardeau Hill, and the Lac le Jeune Road Walloper interchange to the Kamloops city boundary.

The westbound climbing lane from Aberdeen underpass to Versatile Drive on Highway 1 was also repaved.

Dawson won the award based on the project’s complexity (various sites with different paving requirements), for keeping on schedule, and for addressing a number of stakeholder concerns that arose over the course of the project. In addition, the Highway 1 work was done at night to minimize traffic disruptions.

The Deputy Minister’s Contractor of the Year Awards recognize construction and maintenance companies demonstrating excellence in the categories of grading, paving, bridges and structures, and highway maintenance work throughout the province. There is also an award for excellence in safety innovation.

The 12th annual awards were hosted by the B.C. Road Builders & Heavy Construction Association on Dec. 5 in Victoria.

The other finalists in this category were ARC Asphalt Recycling Inc. for Highway 1 Walhachin to Tobiano hot-in-place-recycling, and Okanagan Aggregates Ltd. for Highway 3 Chain Up to Blazed Creek.