Payne + Dolan, a Walbec Group Company, and the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) won the Sheldon G. Hayes Award from the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) for their work on U.S. 2 in Gogebic County, Michigan.
"The Sheldon G. Hayes Award represents the pinnacle of asphalt paving excellence,” said 2025 NAPA Chairman Pat Nelson. “It signifies not just a project delivered, but an enduring commitment to world-class engineering that guarantees superior performance, long-term durability, and the highest level of drivability.”
Spanning nearly 18 miles from east of Great Lakes Road to Gogebic Station, the $10.3 million U.S. 2 reconstruction project involved 107,500 square yards of cold milling, 333,000 square yards of crushing and shaping, and resurfacing with 83,822 tons of hot mix asphalt. The project also included drainage improvements, guardrail work, and pavement markings.
Payne + Dolan used two mix types for the project: a 12.5-millimeter Superpave leveling course applied at 2 inches and a surface course applied at 1.5 inches. The leveling course corrected surface irregularities while the top layer provided a smooth, durable driving surface.
Although not specified in project plans, “We chose to pave the shoulders in echelon with the mainline, which eliminated the cold longitudinal construction joint and delivered superior joint density and consistency throughout the project,” said Steve Bartoszek, Project Manager for Payne + Dolan.
The company used a portable asphalt plant, but local ordinances limited plant operation and trucking hours.
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| SITECH Michigan |
| SITECH Michigan |
As a result, “The biggest challenge was logistics — specifically trucking — given the volume of material, limited hauling hours, and a portable plant located nearly 30 miles from the project midpoint,” Bartoszek said. “Success depended on tight coordination and constant communication between our plant, paving, and testing teams.”
Despite the challenges, Payne + Dolan exceeded MDOT’s incentive requirements with MRIs of 30 or less on each lane. They also surpassed MDOT’s percent-within-limits tolerances on the hot mix placed, earning incentives for all metrics.
“Managing simultaneous paving, milling, and crushing operations while maintaining traffic with single‑lane closures — and still exceeding ride quality and density specifications using multiple mix designs — made this a particularly complex and rewarding project,” Bartoszek said.
Equipment used on the job included:
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| AIS Construction Equipment |
| AIS Construction Equipment |
- 8-foot Wirtgen 220Fi milling machine
- Caterpillar AP1000 paver with a 10-foot Weiler screed
- Cat AP655F paver with an 8-foot Weiler screed
- Two SAKAI SW770ND rollers
- Volvo DD120C compactor
- CASE PT240R pneumatic roller
- Hamm HD12 roller
Another Payne + Dolan project just a few miles north also earned recognition as a finalist for the 2025 Sheldon G. Hayes Award.
That work on a nearly 20-mile stretch of M-28 in Ontonagon County, Michigan, included hot mix asphalt paving over a pulverized surface, with some sections requiring cold milling and resurfacing. While maintaining traffic flow through single-lane closures, Payne + Dolan coordinated simultaneous paving, crushing, grading, and milling operations. They used echelon paving on the main driving lane and shoulder. Crews applied over 5 miles of new pavement on milled existing asphalt and over 14 miles of new pavement primarily on a prepared gravel base.
NAPA announced the winner and finalists for the 2025 Sheldon G. Hayes Award during the association’s Annual Meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona, in early 2026. Bestowed annually since 1971, the award recognizes the country’s highest-quality highway pavements. The award is named for Sheldon G. Hayes, a founder and first chairman of NAPA.
| Your local Trimble Construction Division dealer |
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| SITECH Michigan |
| SITECH Michigan |
All highway pavement projects using more than 50,000 tons of asphalt are eligible for consideration. Initially, the project must win a Quality in Construction (QIC) Award as scored by independent pavement engineers based on how well the contractor met specifications and achieved pavement density. All pavements that meet a benchmark figure earn the QIC Award.
The year after a project wins a QIC Award, top-ranked projects are tested for smoothness and visually inspected by an independent pavement consultant in consideration for the Sheldon G. Hayes Award.
