AASHTO Awards Top Prizes In the 2015 Faces of Transportation Photo/Video Contest

Posted on September 22, 2015 by

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Two aesthetically intriguing photographs and two compelling videos won top prizes in the 2015 Faces of Transportation competition sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

Chris Solan, an ironworker with Mammoet USA, ensures that a 105-foot-tall modular lift tower is running smoothly before it hoists sections of the SR 99 tunneling machine to the surface for repairs. The custom-engineered tower in downtown Seattle is rigged with 7 miles of steel cable.
Chris Solan, an ironworker with Mammoet USA, ensures that a 105-foot-tall modular lift tower is running smoothly before it hoists sections of the SR 99 tunneling machine to the surface for repairs. The custom-engineered tower in downtown Seattle is rigged with 7 miles of steel cable.

Two photographs taken of people working behind the scenes at state DOTs won the Grand Prize and the People’s Choice Awards. A judge selected the Grand Prize photograph and more than 4,500 online votes decided the People’s Choice award winner. Three other photographs capturing highway construction workers and citizens using transportation facilities also received awards. (See all of the photos in the Gallery on the right of this page.)

Kayti Ewing holds a flat of milkweed she is about to plant in right-of-way off I-430 in Little Rock, Arkansas. The plants are meant to help the habitat of Monarch butterflies as they migrate through Arkansas.
Kayti Ewing holds a flat of milkweed she is about to plant in right-of-way off I-430 in Little Rock, Arkansas. The plants are meant to help the habitat of Monarch butterflies as they migrate through Arkansas.

Twenty-nine transportation department employees from 16 states and nine private citizens submitted 103 photographs and 12 videos in the competition.  The photographic entries were judged in three categories: People building America, People Touring America, and Innovators in Transportation. Videos competed in two categories:  Professional Production and In-House/Amateur/Novice.

The Grand Prize in the photography competition was awarded to Washington State Department of Transportation photographer Greg Phipps for this photograph of Chris Solan, an ironworker making sure that the lift tower of the state route 99 tunnel boring machine in downtown Seattle was running smoothly.

An Idaho Transportation Department worker oversees placement of girders for the Meridian Interchange in Meridian, Idaho. The overnight job began at 10 p.m.
An Idaho Transportation Department worker oversees placement of girders for the Meridian Interchange in Meridian, Idaho. The overnight job began at 10 p.m.

The People’s Choice Award was presented to photographer Rusty Hubbard who captured Kayti Ewing from the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department about to plant a flat of milkweed in the median off of Interstate 430 to help the monarch butterflies that migrate through the area.

Idaho Transportation Department photographer Mark Hall took this dramatic shot of a worker overseeing the placement of girders during an overnight job in Meridian to win the People Building America category.

The Brookfield Floating Bridge is a hidden gem in the center of Vermont. The bridge is a major source of tourism, and plays a key role in the economic vitality of the small town of Brookfield. The bridge was replaced in 2015 after being closed for 7 years.
The Brookfield Floating Bridge is a hidden gem in the center of Vermont. The bridge is a major source of tourism, and plays a key role in the economic vitality of the small town of Brookfield. The bridge was replaced in 2015 after being closed for 7 years.

Eric Goldmann, a private citizen in Burlington, Vermont won the People Touring America category with this picture of the Brookfield Floating Bridge, a hidden gem in the center of Vermont, which plays a key role in the economic vitality of the small town after which it’s named.

Nebraska Department of Roads photographer Daniel Luedert won the Innovators in Transportation category with his photograph of a worker surveying the grade of a new bypass near Kearney, while a grader works behind him.

Work continues and a grader passes along the new bypass near Kearney, Nebraska, as a worker surveys the grade.
Work continues and a grader passes along the new bypass near Kearney, Nebraska, as a worker surveys the grade.

In the video competition, the Tennessee Department of Transportation won in the Professional Production category for its high quality production highlighting the state’s multimodal freight plan in a video entitled “How TDOT Ensures You Get Your Stuff”.

And, last but not least, the Nevada Department of Transportation won the In-House Production/Amateur/Novice category for its up-close and personal video of a Snow Plow Ride-Along on Mount Rose in the western part of the state.

Thank you to all the entrants, and look for more information about next year’s competition right here!

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