S. T. Wooten Corporation Wins Best Highway-Heavy Pinnacle Award

Hwy. 98 Bypass at Wake Forest , Wake Forest , NC
Contractor: S. T. Wooten Corporation, Wilson , NC

This bypass at US 1 involved widening, drainage, grading, paving, signals, structures and culverts, and required construction of a new location 4-lane divided facility. The many difficulties included delays of right-of-way acquisition, major utility conflicts, design revisions, addition of unplanned water and sewer utilities, revised signal plans, and multiple environmental issues. Despite challenges, Wooten, working with NCDOT, environmental agencies and local representatives, enabled the project to open to traffic 6 1/2 months ahead of schedule. The project's success was due to Wooten's proposed, designed and constructed solution previously untried in NC highway construction: an innovative earthwork overland conveyor system to move borrow material from the east side of US 1 over Richland Creek and US 1. The result: major savings of time and money.