Zoo Boulevard bridge project wins APWA Kansas award

(April 29, 2025) 

Our Zoo Boulevard bridge repairs project in Wichita, Kansas, was recently presented with a 2025 Public Works Project of the Year award from the Kansas chapter of the American Public Works Association. The award, given in the transportation category for projects less than $5 million, celebrates excellence in the management, administration, and implementation of public works projects. It recognizes collaboration among the managing agency, consultant, and contractor.  

The bridge spans the MS Mitch Mitchell Floodway. Built 50 years ago, it was showing signs of age through failing expansion joints, which were posing safety risks due to potentially dislodged joint components. Sedgwick County contracted with us to design repairs to extend the bridge’s lifespan. During the design phase, we proposed replacing the expansion joints with longer-lasting semi-integral abutments, a feature that is uncommon in Kansas but allows the bridge deck to move without expansion joints. The County agreed, and we designed a significant retrofit to the bridge.  

“This project delivered critical repairs that extended the structure’s lifespan and eliminated its least maintenance-friendly component (expansion joints),” explains Brad Shores, project manager. 

As Sedgwick County’s most heavily trafficked bridge, careful traffic control was essential to the project’s success. Signage on both local streets and on nearby Interstate 235 alerted drivers of upcoming lane shifts and closures. Two westbound lanes at the bottom of the exit ramp remained open at all times to accommodate the high volume of traffic exiting the interstate. Further down the project corridor, two left turn lanes onto Windmill Road were temporarily closed to support smooth traffic flow on Zoo Boulevard through construction. While this initially seemed to be an inconvenience, the County received compliments on how much easier it was to navigate the area with the lanes closed. 

The Sedgwick County Zoo sits adjacent to the project area, and one of the zoo’s three entrances was part of the project’s footprint. Representatives from the zoo and all applicable agencies met regularly to ensure the zoo’s operations continued unimpeded by construction.  

“The project’s completion was made possible through an outstanding collaboration between the County, the City of Wichita, the Kansas Department of Transportation, and the Sedgwick County Zoo,” Shores says. “Dondlinger was an exceptional contractor, and the County’s construction inspection team did a fantastic job. We were honored to lead the project’s design and to serve the County and its citizens through this work.”