News Release > Carolinas AGC Announces 2007 Pinnacle Award Winners

For additional information, including project photos :
Lori Tharp , Carolinas AGC
(704) 372-1450, ext. 5227; ltharp@carolinasagc.org

CROWDER CONSTRUCTION COMPANY WINS BEST HIGHWAY-HEAVY PINNACLE AWARD

The US 76 Bridge Replacement over the Chattooga River, in Oconee County, South Carolina
Contractor: Crowder Construction Company, Charlotte, NC

This project is a perfect example of how a job doesn’t have to be really big to rate an A+ from our Pinnacle judges.  

As SCDOT put it: this project is one of the few truly high-caliber, highly context-sensitive design transportation jobs in South Carolina. 

The scope included replacing the US 76 bridge and demolishing a 100-year-old abandoned steel truss bridge over the world’s most famous whitewater river. All this within the confines of US National Forests.

It required numerous and stringent special environmental provisions, exquisitely coordinated timing with several different agencies, and blending the finished product into the natural environment.
 
More than one Pinnacle judge had actually declined to even bid this project. They cited its extreme “environmental sensitivity, political sensitivity, and management sensitivity.”

The US Forestry Service cited Crowder’s “exceptional execution of an extremely sensitive project in a Wild and Scenic River corridor.” They also noted its “special concern for the aesthetics and environmental issues.”

Owner SCDOT cited the extra miles Crowder went to on even minor points, such as erosion control during installation of drilled shafts.

The daily work schedule had to be coordinated with not only SCDOT, but also Chattahoochee National Forest reps for the Georgia side; Sumter National Forest reps for the South Carolina side; and the four rafting companies who made numerous daily public rafting trips through the project limits.