Thursday, I went to the opening ceremonies for the U.S. Hwy. 90 Bridge over St. Louis Bay in Mississippi. It was like a festival. Driving to the Bay St. Louis side of the bridge from New Orleans, half the businesses along Hwy. 603 and 90 had signs touting the bridge opening. Balloons and banners were everywhere. Shuttle buses drove from a nearby shopping mall to the foot of the bridge, where a band played, a high school cheer leading group led cheers, and commemorative red, white and blue water bottles and fans were distributed through the crowd. The fans were superfluous on this glorious day. The temperature was in the low 70s, and ladies’ skirts and hair whipped wildly in a luxurious breeze off the bay. Motor boats, sailboats and one bright orange kayak danced about on the glistening water, extending the festivities beyond the shoreline and the man made structure being honored on this day.

I searched the crowd for Allan Nelson, project manager for the joint venture contractor Granite Archer Western. Someone from URS Corp. told me he had been delayed on the Henderson Point side of the bridge by a barbecue for the crew. Nelson arrived in time for the tail end of Larry “Butch” Brown’s opening comments. “

“Three months ago, this bridge was not going to happen,” says Brown, the executive director of the Mississippi Dept. of Transportation. “Two months ago, this bridge was not going to happen. Three weeks ago, this bridge was not going to happen. And floating around in the crowd somewhere is Allan Nelson, the man who made it happen today. If you can find Allan Nelson, thank him, praise him, and shake his hand, because he never wavered in his confidence.”

A man in the crowd pointed Nelson out and much back slapping and hand shaking by those standing nearest followed.

After a series of speeches by dignitaries, politicians, representatives of MDOT, and the Federal Highway Administration, a line of buses and vans drove to the center of the bridge for a ribbon tying ceremony, symbolizing the rejoining of the communities on either side of the bridge, the unification of the whole state of Mississippi and the teamwork of the various entities involved in delivering the much-needed infrastructure.

However, the speeches delivered before the tying ceremony had a decidedly different flavor than any other bridge, building, plant or project opening ceremony I’d ever attended. To the person, every judge, congressman and mayor talked about the design-build process adopted by MDOT in 2004 and used by GAW to expedite delivery. Several mentioned key people with MDOT, GAW, HNTB (which designed the bridge) and URS, which served as project management for MDOT. A priest offering one of the invocations at the tying ceremony talked about the rebar in the bridge being a reminder of the hidden strength of God and said things like “ruin to renewal” and “ashes to asphalt.” (I wanted to find him afterwards and ask if he had a background in construction and if I could have a copy of his invocation.)

Never before have I heard so much language of the industry delivered to a general audience crowd. I’ve noticed countless times since Katrina how the general public has developed a healthy respect, and a new measure of understanding, for our built environment. Will the interest remain?

William G. Dorey, president/CEO of Granite, called attention to the partnering and team work not only between the Chicago firm of Archer Western and his central California firm, but also between the subs and suppliers and the highway department. “I’m not sure it was the GAW team that MDOT was on or the MDOT team that GAW was on.” He congratulated MDOT’s flexibility and forward thinking as key components in facilitating the contractors’ success. “You all run a class organization and this would have never happened without your help,” Dorey says.

To this crowd of citizens, grateful for the bridge, Dorey talked about the delays with the pile driving, how GAW had to work round-the-clock to catch up lost time, and the man who made the May 16 milestone in spite of it all. He described Nelson as “calm, confident, a real gentleman” and a team builder. When Dorey called Nelson up to the stage, where he received a standing ovation from the crowd as well as the dignitaries on the platform, I knew I was witnessing a wonderful moment in history.

Nelson had put a face on construction, and the community recognized him as the industry that repaired their lives.

For years, I have lamented the fact that I’m limited in the stories I can tell. There simply isn’t enough space to talk about the people, the individuals, and the separate lives that go into making each project happen. Nelson got a small sampling of what I know many out there deserve.

Angelle Bergeron/ENR Robert Boh of Boh Bros. cut ribbon in Jan. 2006.

I thought back to the ribbon-cutting ceremony in January, 2006 when the Louisiana Dept. of Transportation and Development announced the opening of the westbound bridge of the I-10 Twin Spans after Boh Bros. Construction made emergency repairs in record time. There were no balloons, cheerleaders or band. The crowd was limited to engineers, representatives of the FHWA, DOTD, politicians and media. Maybe there was no fanfare because many New Orleanians weren’t living back home yet. Or perhaps they were too traumatized to notice. On local talk radio, there was much praise of Boh Bros. for the company’s work repairing the levee breaches and restoring the twin spans. Robert Boh told me that someone from NASA personally thanked him for the job. However, I’ve often thought that if the general public could associate a face from the industry with the project, there would be more handshakes and words of gratitude.

I feel certain that the further away we get from disaster, the blurrier that face will become to the general public, until construction fades back into obscurity. Will the general public be at the party this November when GC Constructors, (a joint venture of Traylor Bros., Massman and Kiewit Southern) deliver the $338-million U.S. Hwy. 90 Bridge over Biloxi Bay? Will Steve Underwood, project manager for GC, have folks stepping up to shake his hand? I hope so.

For the countless projects out there, for the countless project managers, superintendents, carpenters, brick layers, heavy equipment operators, and all of those trades and individuals who are faceless and unnoticed by Mr. and Ms. Everyday America… thank you.

May 29, 2007

Would you ever come to South Florida ( Miami ) so I could say hello to you.

Excellent report.

Ralph Peralta

May 25, 2007

Your article was great..I really think that it was God's intention to create a personal world and each person's work would be "as of unto the Lord" And then it made me realize how little we give credit to the person that created us to have the ability to achieve great things. And that would be God our Father. Thanks!

Sherri McLeod

May 22, 2007

Angelle, thanks for the great article covering the St. Louis Bay bridge opening. I am Treasurer of the Harrison County Development Commission, VP of Econ. Developent for the Coast Chamber of Commerce, and I helped to arrange for the VIP buses and the flyover by the Hurricane Hunters. We are very proud of MDOT, Granite Archer Western, and the team of subs and engineers that pulled off this event. These bridge openings are huge signs of success economically, socially, and really helps for our people to get a feeling that progress is being achieved. I will tell you that we are planning a similar event for November when the Biloxi/Ocean Springs bridge opens. So, yes you can expect for a similar atmosphere to be in the air. Hope to see you there.

Mark Schloegel
Business Development Manager
Roy Anderson Corp

May 21, 2007

Congrats on a great story and I do hope it is copied far and wide. Having built many bridges,tunnels and water infrastructure, the only time we made to the media headlines was when an incident occured which inconvenienced the public. It is great to see the cooperation between everyon. A pity the recipe cannot be documented and replicated. It again highlights the importance of personalities and their maturity. Having read your story I put you among those people and the industry needs people like yourself to grow in the fiture.

Michael Phillips