Wood Rodgers STEAM Team organized the Gaining STEAM Event that included a week-long activity to raise money for local charities. Employees from all offices participated by logging the number of miles they walked, ran, and biked. Here are the results of the event!

Companywide Total = 1,491.31 miles

Companywide Donated = $13,000

Below are the individual stats by offices and amount raised for the local charities in their regions.

Sacramento Office | $5,000 Raised

Total Miles = 485.17 miles

Ave. Miles/Person = 18.0 miles

Top Ranking Participants | Caitlin McHugh (120.54 mi.) + Brian Geiszler (67.75 mi.) + Hanalei Pruter (27.85 mi.)

Reno Office | $2,500 Raised

Total Miles = 450.58 miles

Ave. Miles/Person = 25.0 miles

Top Ranking Participants | Steven Barrow (107.47 mi.) + Greg Sanders (60.15 mi.) + Dean Schultz (57.17 mi.) + Shawnee Dunagan (50.12 mi)

San Diego Office | $1,500 Raised

Total Miles = 299.77 miles

Ave. Miles/Person = 30.0 miles

Top Ranking Participants | Karl Meier (60.02 mi.) + Alia Meier (59.3 mi.) + Andrew Thies (47.81 mi.)

Oakland + Pleasanton (Bay Area) Offices | $700 Raised

Total Miles = 133.2 miles

Ave. Miles/Person = 8.9 miles

Top Ranking Participants | Kevin Qualiardi (22.0 mi.) + Jeremiah McMahon (15.0 mi.) + Miranda Young (12.6 mi.)

Las Vegas Office | $500 Raised

Total Miles = 95.72 miles

Ave. Miles/Person = 31.9 miles

Top Ranking Participants | Lorenzo Sanchez (65.9 mi.) + Scott Rickert (23.03 mi.) + Jesse Patchett (6.78 mi.)

Roseville Office | $2,300 Raised

Total Miles = 15.44 miles

Ave. Miles/Person = 15.4 miles

Top Ranking Participant | Jason Reed (15.4 mi.)

San Dimas Office | $500 Raised

Total Miles = 11.4 miles

Ave. Miles/Person = 5.7 miles

Top Ranking Participant | Josh Sobolew (10.93 mi.)

We want to thank all participants and further congratulate our overall winner that logged the most miles, Caitlin McHugh with 120.54 miles!

Wood Rodgers’ community action program, the STEAM Team, provides an opportunity for employees involvement in local organizations that encourage STEAM-related programs that support student education with a focus in the science, technology, engineering, arts, and math.

How EVERYONE Benefits!

Combining two events into one, Wood Rodgers is not only able to provide extra cash for employees, but the community as well!

Wood Rodgers hosts a monthly, cash wheel, spin for all employees who are celebrating their anniversaries. Depending on the number of years you have been with Wood Rodgers, there is also a multiplier. So, the longer you are at Wood Rodgers, the more opportunities to win more cash for the employee!

In addition, throughout the year, Wood Rodgers STEAM Team will select local organizations to match the amount an employee spins on the anniversary cash wheel. This past week, Wood Rodgers STEAM Team selected Blessings in a Backpack – Ranch Cordova.

This local organization was selected so that Wood Rodgers could be a part of an amazing program that helps children who are experiencing food insecurities in the Folsom Cordova Unified School District, San Juan Unified School District, and the Sacramento City Unified School District. The program provides food for the weekend to help supplement the days where they would not be receiving food during the school days.

With less for children to worry about, the better their outcomes can be.

Follow us @woodrodgersinc to learn more about our community action program and the organizations we support.

Wood Rodgers was at the ribbon cutting event that was hosted by Caltrans for the Browns Valley Roadway Improvement and Bridge Replacement Project. Wood Rodgers was excited to see all of the hard work and the wonderful collaboration with Caltrans District 3 staff for the completion of this project that we are so proud of!

Wood Rodgers completed both the Project Approval and Environmental Document (PA&ED) and Plans, Specification, and Estimate (PS&E) design phases for the widening and realignment of 4.5 miles of State Route 20 in Yuba County between Marysville Road to the Yuba River Bridge (PM 13.3/R17.8).

This State Highway Operation and Protection Program (SHOPP) project featured:

• A new Dry Creek Bridge.
• Horizontal and vertical realignment to improve stopping sight distances.
• Widening of Route 20 to provide standard 8 ft shoulder
• Upgrading all existing Metal Beam Guard Railing to Midwest Guard Rails
• Drainage extensions and new drainage facilities
• Removal all existing utilities within the Clear Recovery Zone, and highway lighting.

Wood Rodgers also got to demonstrate our flexibility and ability to adapt to project changes during the PA&ED phase, by incorporating additional improvements without any impacts to the project schedule or significant budget impacts. This was also largely due to the collaboration with the amazing staff at Caltrans and Yuba County.

The additional improvements include two way left turn lanes, right turn lanes, truck climbing lanes, local road improvements.

Wood Rodgers is proud to be a part of this project in improving roadways and safety in our region.

“Our continued partnership with Caltrans has allowed us to be a part of some amazing projects. The SR 20 Browns Valley project is another example of that. Thanks to Caltrans for your continued trust in the wood Rodgers team.”, stated Mark Rayback.

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A Wood Rodgers project located in City of Rancho Cordova Government for NorthPoint Development recently kicked off! The 1.4 million square foot Rancho Cordova Logistics Center is the largest industrial development in the area in over a decade!

Read more about the project in the Sacramento Business Journal

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Our Sacramento office celebrated July and August Employee Anniversaries last week! Between getting our employees some much deserved cash, we also raised $11,390 for Aging UP through our STEAM Team match!

Learn More About Our STEAM Team at

https://steam-team-wrgis.hub.arcgis.com/

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Our Reno office celebrated July and August Employee Anniversaries last week! Between getting our employees some much deserved cash, we also raised $6,555 for Reno High School’s JROTC Robotics Team!

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We at Wood Rodgers are lucky enough to have some of the best interns in the business! We want to thank all of our interns for the work that they do!

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Wood Rodgers is currently preparing PS&E (Plans, Specifications, and Estimates) for a quarter-mile extension of Riverfront Street, and widening of 5th Street from two lanes to its ultimate four lane width between 15th Street and Mill Street for the City of West Sacramento. Services include supplemental environmental documentation, geotechnical analysis, permitting and right-of-way services, and preparation of Plans, Specifications and Estimates for sewer, water, storm drainage, and roadway improvements. The Riverfront Street extension will serve future development along Riverfront Street, and the proposed Downtown Riverfront Streetcar maintenance facility. Wood Rodgers is working directly with the City and the Streetcar team to incorporate the streetcar track and associated facilities into the Riverfront Street design. Fifth Street will incorporate a 13-foot wide cycletrack that will connect a planned City bikeway project on 15th Street to the existing River Walk Trail at Mill Street, closing an access gap for pedestrians and bicycles under Highway 50. Traffic signals will be upgraded to include bicycle only signal heads and phasing. Lighting analysis was performed and pedestrian lighting was added. Because the project is located partially within Caltrans right of way and intersects two Highway 50 ramp intersections, Wood Rodgers is coordinating the project with Caltrans to insure that proposed improvements meet Caltrans requirements and to streamline the encroachment permit process.

Some of the project highlights include:

• Sidewalks
• Cycletrack
• Buffered Bike Lanes
• Complete Street Design & Concepts
• Bicycle Signals and Lighting

Mr. Robinson is the Project Engineer for this $5 million project to extend Riverfront Street in the Bridge District area of West Sacramento, and widen Fifth Street. Both Riverfront Street and Fifth Street extend beneath US 50, requiring new Caltrans easements and coordination. The project also requires reconstructing the eastbound US 50 on-ramp at Fifth Street due to grade changes along Fifth Street, and makes signal and safety improvements at the westbound US 50 off-ramp. To complete a bicycle connection between the existing bike lanes on 15th Street and the River Walk Trail, the project will construct a Class 4 Cycle Track along Fifth Street, and new curb, gutter, and sidewalk for pedestrians. The project also is installing sewer, water, storm drain, gas, and electric infrastructure for future development along Riverfront Street. Because of the close proximity to the Sacramento River, an innovative infiltration drainage system was designed to allow runoff to infiltrate under the roadway prior to entering the storm drain system.

We asked him a few questions and this is what he had to say!

Steven Robinson – Project Engineer

What has been your favorite part of the project?

“We needed to develop a unique and innovative on site drainage infiltration system on Riverfront Street to minimize runoff into the existing overcapacity drainage system. The Geotechnical report revealed poor soils for infiltration that were a result of the site’s past use as a rice hulling facility, so we worked with our Water department and the Geotech to develop a design that will over excavate 6 feet of the bad soil and will import good soil for the infiltration.”

What are some of the challenges you faced and how did you overcome them?

“We had to raise the profile of 5^th Street by 3 feet in order to provide minimum clearance over the existing Pioneer Bridge foundation. This created new drainage flow patterns that required a new drainage system. We also had to design a custom concrete barrier to protect the Pioneer Bridge columns due to the road widening coming within 2 feet of the column. We were only allowed a 1 week closure of the on-ramp during all of construction, so we had to develop staging strategies that would allow all of the ramp work to occur in during the closure while keeping 5^th Street open.

The project also includes new joint trenches along both 5^th Street and Riverfront Street. Along both streets, it was difficult to fit the joint trenches due to the other existing and proposed underground utilities, and we had to work with the utility providers for approval to deviate from their standard installation policies to fit the joint trenches within the road footprint.”

Can you talk a little bit about how our various departments have come together to work on this project?

“This was truly a group effort. Our Sacramento Transportation department developed the roadway design, our Sacramento Water department designed the innovative storm drain infiltration system, our Sacramento and Roseville Civil group prepared design for new water and sewer facilities, our Survey department performed the field survey and right of way support, our Sacramento Landscape Architects prepared the planting and irrigation plans, and our Structures department designed two retaining walls.”

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Wood Rodgers was recently awarded a ITE Mountain District Transportation Achievement Award in the Safety Category. The award was won for the Citywide Intersection Crash Mitigation Project done for the City of Las Vegas.

“Wood Rodgers provides consistent and professional engineering services with clear and authentic client focus solutions, and has been an exemplary consulting firm to work with.” -Sean Robinson, City of Las Vegas Project Manager

The Citywide Intersection Crash Mitigation Program (CICMP) was a very successful safety project Wood Rodgers completed for the City Of Las Vegas. It contained a well-balanced scope and format that seamlessly transitioned from an in-person environment to a virtual environment during the Covid-19 pandemic. It applied multiple innovative ideas, including the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Systemic Approach, Vision Zero, and ArcGIS Storymaps. The CICMP has a strong applicability to the safety aspect of the transportation engineering and planning fields as it correlates to the new Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), as well as the Untied States Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) commitment to roadway safety and Vision Zero. Additionally, the CICMP exhibits a commitment to the advancement of the profession as it is the first step toward reducing the high number of crashes on the City’s roadways and ultimately reducing fatal crashes and serious injury crashes to zero.

The CICMP implemented best-practices and emerging methods to set forth a data-driven foundation for proactive safety improvements. The data driven foundation set forth by the CICMP will be utilized for years to come to help improve the safety of the city through future CICMPs and the collaborative Vision Zero Program, eventually reaching the goal of no fatalities or serious injuries involving road traffic. This represents a new culture of safety that is leading the way to the next generation transportation system in this fast-growing desert oasis.

Congratulations to everyone involved!

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Wood Rodgers has been participating in the Keaton’s Child Cancer Alliance Golf tournament for 20+ years. This year, not only did out foursome place first, but Steve Balbierz was awarded their Community Hero Award! He was awarded for being a strong ambassador for their mission and inspiring others to do the same.

We asked Steve (center in the photo above) a about the award and this is what he had to say!

“First of all, I was humbled and overwhelmed when they gave me the award at the golf tournament. Keaton’s Child Cancer Alliance  (originally named the Keaton Raphael Memorial) grabbed my heart at the first golf tournament I attended in 2000. They are an incredible organization with special people that have huge hearts and are committed to keep working until a cure is found.

I have played in and supported every tournament since 2000. (23 straight I think). Obviously, the kids who battle cancer inspire me the most. They’re the toughest kids I have ever known! All of the employees and volunteers of the organization are inspiring as well! They have a close relationships with every child and their families and it can really take its toll on a person. It’s absolutely gut wrenching and heart breaking when one of the kids lose their battle.

Personally, I am most proud of Wood Rodgers continued support for 23 years!

Really, the Community Hero Award should be given to Wood Rodgers.

I will keep playing mediocre golf and supporting the cause!”‍