THEA Wins 2024 Expressway Project of the Year Award

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Today, the Transportation Expressway Authority Membership of Florida (TEAMFL) announced the 2024 Expressway Authority Project of the Year Award recipient. This prestigious award is presented annually in collaboration with the Florida Transportation Builders’ Association (FTBA) to recognize the excellent contributions of construction contractors which help to maintain Florida’s prominent role as a leader in transportation.

The Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA’s) East Selmon PD&E study led to the construction of slip ramps, improving Selmon Expressway’s flow and safety. During the research phase of the study, THEA identified an opportunity to improve service levels for drivers on the Selmon Expressway with the construction of the East Slip Ramps. The design and construction of ramps began from I-75 onto the westbound Reversible Express Lanes (REL) and the westbound REL onto the local Expressway lanes just before the 22nd Street off-ramp. Ramp 1 is located in Brandon, Florida, and Ramp 2 is located in Tampa, FL.

Construction of the slip ramps required the widening of several bridges in very tight quarters. Middlesex’s use of a Mi-Jack (Rubber Tire Gantry Crane) was perfect for this challenging environment. Its smaller footprint and capabilities allowed the demolition, beam setting, and substructure concrete pours to proceed quicker and with much less impact to motorists than other construction methods. Also, Middlesex’s choice of H-pile foundations was unique and beneficial to the project for several reasons. The H-piles could be installed with smaller equipment in the very tight work areas (between existing bridges), were easily adaptable to the variable geotechnical conditions, minimized vibration adjacent to the CSX track and minimized soil disturbance in an area known to have contaminated soil.

“FTBA is proud to partner with TEAMFL to recognize the recipient of the prestigious 2024 Expressway Authority Project of the Year Award – The Middlesex Corporation,” said FTBA President Ananth Prasad. “Through this award, we strive to distinguish those who have and continue to do outstanding work in the transportation and infrastructure sphere, helping to shape and serve the future of Florida and its growing number of residents, and we believe this year’s recipient has achieved just that.

Greg Slater, Executive Director of THEA stated, “This project is a great example of seeing something really cost effective early in project development that could be built right away to benefit our customers, then efficiently delivering it with the THEA operations team and the Middlesex Corp. in construction. Thank you to FTBA for the outstanding recognition of our team and project”.