Clear Water Alabama Award of Excellence

2022 Award Recipients

Dr. William Puckett is shown presenting the 2022 Award of Excellence to Sam Fountain, Construction Engineer ALDOT SW Region, and Tony Cooper, Stormwater Coordinator ALDOT SW Region.

Matt Ericksen, PE, ALDOT SW Region Engineer
Suzanne Sweetser, CPESC, Senior Environmental Scientist at Thompson Engineering
Dr Scott Rogers, PE, CPMSM, ALDOT Environmental Coordination Engineer
Karman Richardson, PE, CPESC, Volkert, US98 Designer on behalf of David Webber
Barry Fagan, PE/PLS, ENV SP, CPMSM, CPESC, CESSWI, Vice President Fagan Consulting LLC

Clear Water Alabama 2022 Award of Excellence Presentation

Dr. Puckett

Clear Water Alabama is now in its 18th year with over 30 events like this one.

Alabama’s Erosion and Sediment Control Partnership has noticed over the years a significant improvement in erosion and sediment control activities on construction sites across the state. Three years ago, the Partnership envisioned an award system to recognize those projects and individuals who have planned, designed, and installed construction sites that exemplify the principles of erosion and sediment control as outlined in the Alabama Blue Book.

This year we will make our first award of the “Clear Water Alabama Award of Excellence”

The project we will award today got off to a shaky start in 2007 and became known as Muddy 98. While the partially completed work on this project went dark for over a decade, the influence of the lessons learned immediately impacted the stormwater programs and future work of ALDOT. Other entities, owners, contractors, and projects across the state and the Nation benefitted from ALDOT’s negative experience and positive response to Muddy 98.

ALDOT’s construction stormwater program was forever changed in areas of roadway planning, design, and maintenance, contract administration, and regulatory compliance. Its dedication to finding solutions was also reflected in its commitment to funding millions of dollars in research and helping to establish an internationally respected and contributing stormwater research facility at Auburn University.

The project and ALDOT’s response also led to the development and refinement of the Five Pillars of Construction Stormwater Management. The Five Pillars is a fundamental and effective approach to managing construction stormwater that has been adopted by ALDOT, other state departments of transportation, and entities across the country as an effective approach and framework for managing stormwater on construction sites.

In 2016, ALDOT was finally able to begin applying those refined lessons back to the 98/158 Corridor. With exception of a handful of turbidity issues over the last six years and 14 miles, the projects have been able to maintain ALDOT standards, regulatory compliance, and good favor with neighbors and community.

The project receiving the Award today is the ALDOT US98/SR158 Corridor

At this time, we would like to watch a short video of the project.

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