Geo Week News

February 20, 2015

Woolpert Innovators Recognized for Blue Ridge Tunnel Project

woolpert award winners

DAYTON, Ohio (Feb. 19, 2015) – The Central Virginia Chapter of WTS International has awarded its 2015 Innovative Transportation Solutions award to Woolpert’s Kirsten Tynch and Judy Beale.

Woolpert is a national architecture, engineering and geospatial firm headquartered in Dayton, Ohio.

Tynch and Beale earned the award for Woolpert’s surveying and design efforts on the Claudius Crozet Blue Ridge Tunnel project in Nelson County, Va.

Nelson County is using Transportation Alternatives grant funding from the Virginia Department of Transportation to help pay for the preservation and restoration of the tunnel, and to create pedestrian trails for visitors to experience the historic site.

Funding has been secured for the first two phases of the project. Construction began on Phase I in November, and Phase II is scheduled to begin this summer.

Tynch, the Woolpert project manager, said she was surprised and honored to receive the WTS award. She called the Blue Ridge Tunnel restoration a “once-in-a-lifetime” project.

“The tunnel was a route that helped open up the western expansion of the United States and was considered to be an engineering marvel of its time,” she said. “To be a part of reopening the tunnel for people to see and experience that history is amazing.”

The Blue Ridge Tunnel, a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, is located at Rockfish Gap at a natural low point in Afton Mountain. When it was completed in 1858, Blue Ridge Tunnel was considered the longest tunnel in the world at 4,273 linear feet.

After the tunnel restoration process is finished, there will be more than 6,000 linear feet of trails connecting two parking areas to the tunnel.

WTS International is an organization dedicated to building the future of transportation through the global advancement of women. The Innovative Transportation Solutions Award salutes an innovative transportation project led by a woman.

By winning this chapter award, Tynch and Beale are in the running for a WTS International Recognition Award. The international awards will be presented during the organization’s annual conference in Chicago in May.

About Woolpert

Woolpert, ranked by Engineering News-Record as a top national design firm, provides professional architecture, engineering and geospatial services to clients in public and private sectors. Founded in 1911, and with more than 600 professionals in 25 offices located throughout the U.S., Woolpert’s colla­borative and multidisciplinary approach is driven by great people, great clients and great projects. For more information on Woolpert, visit Woolpert.com. Woolpert Labs is a cross-functional group of industry leaders who are focused on discovering new uses for geospatial technology and practices to continue fueling advances in the industry. For more information, visit Woolpertlabs.com.

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