Dispatch

John R. KasichGovernor

Myron S. PakushDistrict Deputy Director

Jerry WrayODOT Director

ODOT plans for 2018 and beyond

PAGE 4 MARCH 2017

VOLUME XVII, ISSUE III

COMMUNICATING WITHTHE PEOPLE OF DISTRICT 12

MARCH 2017

THE OHIO DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

In this issue...

.COMREAL-TIME TRAFFIC UPDATES AT

Calendar ofevents

• ODOT plans for 2018 and beyond

• Our superhero “strike team”

• New hire spotlight: George Dai joins D12

• Customer Kudos

• Business & HR Corner

• ODOT gives city of Cleveland a lift

• Remembering Diana Camp

March 12Daylight SavingsSpring forward!

March 17St. Patrick’s Day

March 20First Day of Spring

March 22Blood Drive

ODOT gives city of Cleveland a lift

Marissa McDaid In the past six years, Ohio has addressed more than 6,000 road construction projects with an investment of $12.5 billion. With the capital program for the next two years averaging about $2 billion per year, the Kasich administration will have invested an unprecedented $16 billion by the end of the governor’s term.

The Ohio Department of Transportation is ready to adapt to the rapidly-changing landscape of transportation management. Moving forward, we will look at ways to integrate technology and utilize data to improve the safety and performance of our existing roadways.

Variable Speed Limits Hard Shoulder Running

Smart Corridors Transportation ResearchCenter Inc.

Currently only used in school zones and construction zones, Ohio plans to implement variable speed limits to improve safety and alleviate congestion.

The use of hard shoulders allows ODOT to increase roadway capacity during peak hours without adding lanes. This concept will be piloted on I-670 in Columbus.

Two additional highways, I-270 in Columbus and I-90 in Lake County, will see smart highway technology such as road sensors and fibers.

Funds from the governor’s budget matched by private companies will contribute up to $45 million for research at the Transportation Research Center on autonomous vehicles, smart highway systems and more.

These are only some of the advances that Ohio will see in transportation in the next two years. To learn more about ODOT’s budget, visit: budget.ohio.gov

Amanda McFarland When it came to the attention of city of Cleveland officials that the Willow Avenue lift bridge near downtown was in need of new bearings to remain operable, they requested assistance from ODOT for this unique situation. It was important the bridge remain in service because it is the only truck access to the docks at Whiskey Island, home to Cargill Salt and Ontario Stone. ODOT stepped in to run the project and cover approximately $1 million in project costs. The city covered their local match by purchasing the new bearings, which FHWA approved with the goal of limiting additional out of pocket costs for the city. Bid as a Type B emergency project, The Ruhlin Company was selected to take on the task of replacing the bearing assembly in the northwest tower of the lift bridge. In order to complete the work, the contractor had to leave the bridge in the lowered position and closed to river traffic for 10 days. During the river closure, the sheave – or gear where the bearing assembly is located – was removed and transported on a custom trailer to a machine shop just a few hundred feet from the bridge for the custom machining work. The sheave bearings were successfully replaced and the bridge was back in operation within the planned 10 day river traffic closure. Had this bridge become inoperable, it would have had a severe economic impact on the supply of road salt to northeast Ohio. Thanks to teamwork, the bridge is now in good working order.

Top: The Ruhlin Company cut a hole in the trailer bed to safely haul the sheave to the local machine shop.Bottom: Once at the machine shop, the sheave was taken apart so the bearing assembly could be replaced.

Remembering Diana CampIn late February, Highway Technician Diana Camp passed away unexpectedly at her home. Diana served District 12 for nearly a decade, most recently working at the Riveredge Full-Service Maintenance Facility.

Diana loved her grandchildren and spending time with her family. One of her favorite getaways was camping on property her family owned in the mountains of Pennsylvania.

Diana’s family plans to honor her with a “celebration of life” in the near future. An update will be sent as details are released. We will miss Diana and wish her friends and family peace during this time.

Marissa McDaid New to District 12’s Planning and Engineering department is bridge engineer George Dai. After years of work with various consulting firms, George joined the Ohio Department of Transportation in November 2016. With a PhD in structural engineering from Case Western Reserve University, George is able to lend his extensive knowledge of bridge specifications and codes to the team. “In addition to being an in-house expert on bridge specifications and sections of code that are applicable to design, George serves as a project manager,” said District Bridge Design Engineer Jim Calanni. Although project management is not something that George has done in his previous positions, he is picking up quickly. George’s first project involved working with Poonsak Sritalapat on a bridge deck replacement on I-90 over East 140th Street and East 152nd Street. After that, he was assigned five different projects to oversee simultaneously. “My projects are progressing smoothly under the guidance of my supervisor and my colleagues,” George said. “This new role is both challenging and exciting. I am looking forward to working with our talented people at District 12 and making every project a success.”

District 12 welcomes George and looks forward to his addition to our team!

Amanda McFarland ODOT is committed to having a skilled and diverse workforce so as to remain a long-term, reliable, professional and highly productive organization. District 12 Business and Human Resources staff, including Jennifer McGill and Charity Armstrong, attended nearly 50 outreach and recruitment events in 2016 to teach individuals about the career opportunities at ODOT. Annually, they attend Government Career Day, the Veterans Expo, STEM Expo and the Great Lakes Trucking School, as well as events at Youngstown State University, Akron University, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland State University, Kent State University, Lakeland Community College and Cuyahoga Community College. New in 2016 were Career Awareness Sessions (CAS) sponsored by ODOT and the Great Lakes Construction Company as part of the Opportunity Corridor project. The CAS are designed to give participants critical job readiness skills such as resume building, job search techniques and networking. Attendees also get information about career opportunities in the construction industry and at ODOT. Of the 14 events, Jennifer McGill represented ODOT at nine. Dave Lastovka, Eric Kallio and Jessica Chio from Planning & Engineering, Julie Meyer from Construction, George Holloway from Highway Management and Maria Davila from the Office of Diversity and Inclusion have

all attended at least one outreach or recruitment event with employee services or on their own. Having these employees attend events gives the attendees a chance to ask questions about their specific job duties and hear testimonials from employees about their experiences. Many of these events take place outside of traditional business hours, so we thank everyone who has stepped up to be a part of these efforts. If you would be interested in attending any future events with the B&HR staff or are involved with community events which may encourage and advertise diversity education in ODOT recruiting efforts, please contact Jennifer McGill at Jennifer.McGill@dot.ohio.gov.

Erin Fryz The Ohio Department of Transportation District 12 has a brand new team that provides traffic control for incidents that occur during snow and ice season. The “strike team” is usually called upon when an incident/crash is predicted to last more than four hours. In emergency situations, the strike team closes highway ramps, road

lanes and freeways. The idea of the strike team was formed after the I-90 crash in Lake County on December 8, 2016. During the winter season, it is difficult for ODOT highway technicians to immediately close down ramps or lanes due to their snow and ice routes. ODOT decided to build a group of experienced individuals from District 12’s headquarters that can be called upon in these type of situations. The strike team includes Ken Banaszak, Ed Bais, Daniel Breda, John Cardinale, Bill Gerber, Mike Gerstenslager, Devin Hale, Doug Nenadovich, Scott Raypholtz, Mike Sutak, Jermaine Thomas and Curtis Wills. All of these individuals went through vigorous training and lessons to be a part of ODOT’s new strike team. Their first call into action was during an I-90 incident at SR 306 on January 5, 2017. The team arrived at the scene around 5:30 a.m. where they closed lanes and assisted in clearing the accident. The crash was all cleared at 12:30 p.m. that afternoon. “We appreciate the volunteers,” said Dennis O’Neil, District 12 Work Zone Traffic Control Engineer. “ODOT will now be able to close roads and ramps when we are on snow and ice.”

Customers and co-workers show gratitudePAGE 2 MARCH 2017 MARCH 2017 PAGE 3

District 12 employees are being recognized for jobs well done! If you have received a letter, email or phone call of thanks, or you would like to give a co-worker a kudo, the Dispatch would like to hear about it! Please contact D12.Public.Information@dot.state.oh.us if you’d like to share either a customer or a co-worker kudo with District 12!

Our superhero “strike team”

New hire spotlight: George Dai joins District 12

Do you have a recommendation for our next new hire spotlight? Send your suggestions to D12.public.information@dot.ohio.gov

Strike team members gather in the parking lot of the District office to practice setting up a truck-mounted attenuator (TMA) designed to protect workers during lane closures.

Business + HR Corner

A week after joining ODOT, George Dai was invited to Central Office to tour the various facilities including the sign shop and test lab.

Transportation Engineer Jessica Chio and P&E Intern Patricia Cheng speak to students at a career fair.

Marissa McDaid New to District 12’s Planning and Engineering department is bridge engineer George Dai. After years of work with various consulting firms, George joined the Ohio Department of Transportation in November 2016. With a PhD in structural engineering from Case Western Reserve University, George is able to lend his extensive knowledge of bridge specifications and codes to the team. “In addition to being an in-house expert on bridge specifications and sections of code that are applicable to design, George serves as a project manager,” said District Bridge Design Engineer Jim Calanni. Although project management is not something that George has done in his previous positions, he is picking up quickly. George’s first project involved working with Poonsak Sritalapat on a bridge deck replacement on I-90 over East 140th Street and East 152nd Street. After that, he was assigned five different projects to oversee simultaneously. “My projects are progressing smoothly under the guidance of my supervisor and my colleagues,” George said. “This new role is both challenging and exciting. I am looking forward to working with our talented people at District 12 and making every project a success.”

District 12 welcomes George and looks forward to his addition to our team!

Amanda McFarland ODOT is committed to having a skilled and diverse workforce so as to remain a long-term, reliable, professional and highly productive organization. District 12 Business and Human Resources staff, including Jennifer McGill and Charity Armstrong, attended nearly 50 outreach and recruitment events in 2016 to teach individuals about the career opportunities at ODOT. Annually, they attend Government Career Day, the Veterans Expo, STEM Expo and the Great Lakes Trucking School, as well as events at Youngstown State University, Akron University, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland State University, Kent State University, Lakeland Community College and Cuyahoga Community College. New in 2016 were Career Awareness Sessions (CAS) sponsored by ODOT and the Great Lakes Construction Company as part of the Opportunity Corridor project. The CAS are designed to give participants critical job readiness skills such as resume building, job search techniques and networking. Attendees also get information about career opportunities in the construction industry and at ODOT. Of the 14 events, Jennifer McGill represented ODOT at nine. Dave Lastovka, Eric Kallio and Jessica Chio from Planning & Engineering, Julie Meyer from Construction, George Holloway from Highway Management and Maria Davila from the Office of Diversity and Inclusion have

all attended at least one outreach or recruitment event with employee services or on their own. Having these employees attend events gives the attendees a chance to ask questions about their specific job duties and hear testimonials from employees about their experiences. Many of these events take place outside of traditional business hours, so we thank everyone who has stepped up to be a part of these efforts. If you would be interested in attending any future events with the B&HR staff or are involved with community events which may encourage and advertise diversity education in ODOT recruiting efforts, please contact Jennifer McGill at Jennifer.McGill@dot.ohio.gov.

Erin Fryz The Ohio Department of Transportation District 12 has a brand new team that provides traffic control for incidents that occur during snow and ice season. The “strike team” is usually called upon when an incident/crash is predicted to last more than four hours. In emergency situations, the strike team closes highway ramps, road

lanes and freeways. The idea of the strike team was formed after the I-90 crash in Lake County on December 8, 2016. During the winter season, it is difficult for ODOT highway technicians to immediately close down ramps or lanes due to their snow and ice routes. ODOT decided to build a group of experienced individuals from District 12’s headquarters that can be called upon in these type of situations. The strike team includes Ken Banaszak, Ed Bais, Daniel Breda, John Cardinale, Bill Gerber, Mike Gerstenslager, Devin Hale, Doug Nenadovich, Scott Raypholtz, Mike Sutak, Jermaine Thomas and Curtis Wills. All of these individuals went through vigorous training and lessons to be a part of ODOT’s new strike team. Their first call into action was during an I-90 incident at SR 306 on January 5, 2017. The team arrived at the scene around 5:30 a.m. where they closed lanes and assisted in clearing the accident. The crash was all cleared at 12:30 p.m. that afternoon. “We appreciate the volunteers,” said Dennis O’Neil, District 12 Work Zone Traffic Control Engineer. “ODOT will now be able to close roads and ramps when we are on snow and ice.”

Customers and co-workers show gratitudePAGE 2 MARCH 2017 MARCH 2017 PAGE 3

District 12 employees are being recognized for jobs well done! If you have received a letter, email or phone call of thanks, or you would like to give a co-worker a kudo, the Dispatch would like to hear about it! Please contact D12.Public.Information@dot.state.oh.us if you’d like to share either a customer or a co-worker kudo with District 12!

Our superhero “strike team”

New hire spotlight: George Dai joins District 12

Do you have a recommendation for our next new hire spotlight? Send your suggestions to D12.public.information@dot.ohio.gov

Strike team members gather in the parking lot of the District office to practice setting up a truck-mounted attenuator (TMA) designed to protect workers during lane closures.

Business + HR Corner

A week after joining ODOT, George Dai was invited to Central Office to tour the various facilities including the sign shop and test lab.

Transportation Engineer Jessica Chio and P&E Intern Patricia Cheng speak to students at a career fair.

Dispatch

John R. KasichGovernor

Myron S. PakushDistrict Deputy Director

Jerry WrayODOT Director

ODOT plans for 2018 and beyond

PAGE 4 MARCH 2017

VOLUME XVII, ISSUE III

COMMUNICATING WITHTHE PEOPLE OF DISTRICT 12

MARCH 2017

THE OHIO DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

In this issue...

.COMREAL-TIME TRAFFIC UPDATES AT

Calendar ofevents

• ODOT plans for 2018 and beyond

• Our superhero “strike team”

• New hire spotlight: George Dai joins D12

• Customer Kudos

• Business & HR Corner

• ODOT gives city of Cleveland a lift

• Remembering Diana Camp

March 12Daylight SavingsSpring forward!

March 17St. Patrick’s Day

March 20First Day of Spring

March 22Blood Drive

ODOT gives city of Cleveland a lift

Marissa McDaid In the past six years, Ohio has addressed more than 6,000 road construction projects with an investment of $12.5 billion. With the capital program for the next two years averaging about $2 billion per year, the Kasich administration will have invested an unprecedented $16 billion by the end of the governor’s term.

The Ohio Department of Transportation is ready to adapt to the rapidly-changing landscape of transportation management. Moving forward, we will look at ways to integrate technology and utilize data to improve the safety and performance of our existing roadways.

Variable Speed Limits Hard Shoulder Running

Smart Corridors Transportation ResearchCenter Inc.

Currently only used in school zones and construction zones, Ohio plans to implement variable speed limits to improve safety and alleviate congestion.

The use of hard shoulders allows ODOT to increase roadway capacity during peak hours without adding lanes. This concept will be piloted on I-670 in Columbus.

Two additional highways, I-270 in Columbus and I-90 in Lake County, will see smart highway technology such as road sensors and fibers.

Funds from the governor’s budget matched by private companies will contribute up to $45 million for research at the Transportation Research Center on autonomous vehicles, smart highway systems and more.

These are only some of the advances that Ohio will see in transportation in the next two years. To learn more about ODOT’s budget, visit: budget.ohio.gov

Amanda McFarland When it came to the attention of city of Cleveland officials that the Willow Avenue lift bridge near downtown was in need of new bearings to remain operable, they requested assistance from ODOT for this unique situation. It was important the bridge remain in service because it is the only truck access to the docks at Whiskey Island, home to Cargill Salt and Ontario Stone. ODOT stepped in to run the project and cover approximately $1 million in project costs. The city covered their local match by purchasing the new bearings, which FHWA approved with the goal of limiting additional out of pocket costs for the city. Bid as a Type B emergency project, The Ruhlin Company was selected to take on the task of replacing the bearing assembly in the northwest tower of the lift bridge. In order to complete the work, the contractor had to leave the bridge in the lowered position and closed to river traffic for 10 days. During the river closure, the sheave – or gear where the bearing assembly is located – was removed and transported on a custom trailer to a machine shop just a few hundred feet from the bridge for the custom machining work. The sheave bearings were successfully replaced and the bridge was back in operation within the planned 10 day river traffic closure. Had this bridge become inoperable, it would have had a severe economic impact on the supply of road salt to northeast Ohio. Thanks to teamwork, the bridge is now in good working order.

Top: The Ruhlin Company cut a hole in the trailer bed to safely haul the sheave to the local machine shop.Bottom: Once at the machine shop, the sheave was taken apart so the bearing assembly could be replaced.

Remembering Diana CampIn late February, Highway Technician Diana Camp passed away unexpectedly at her home. Diana served District 12 for nearly a decade, most recently working at the Riveredge Full-Service Maintenance Facility.

Diana loved her grandchildren and spending time with her family. One of her favorite getaways was camping on property her family owned in the mountains of Pennsylvania.

Diana’s family plans to honor her with a “celebration of life” in the near future. An update will be sent as details are released. We will miss Diana and wish her friends and family peace during this time.