The award-winning project featured joint repair as well as cold milling and asphalt overlay conducted on the same day to minimize traffic disruption. Gerken Paving installed new stone shoulders and approaches with structure and monument box adjustments to match the surface course, centerline and sinusoidal corrugations, and permanent pavement markings. The work met technical specifications for asphalt PWL acceptance testing, Safety Edge paving, ride quality, and smoothness requirements, ensuring a high-quality, durable road surface that meets modern safety and performance standards.

“The asphalt pavement industry is committed to building high-quality projects that deliver superior performance to the traveling public,” said 2024 NAPA Chair Brady Meldrem. “All contractors’ projects earning a Quality in Construction award are measured against best practices designed to live up to that commitment.”

The Larry H. Lemon Quality in Construction Award recognizes the ten highest-scoring projects submitted for a Quality in Construction (QIC) Award in the General Paving (less than 50,000 tons) category. Projects undergo evaluation by an independent pavement engineer who assigns each project a numerical score based on how well the contractor met specifications and achieved density on the finished pavement. All the pavements meeting a benchmark figure earn the QIC Award.

The award is named for Larry Lemon of Haskell Lemon Construction in Oklahoma City. Lemon was instrumental in creating the rating system for the awards, which requires qualitative analysis using data and test results to determine the winners.