The latest recipient of HMMH’s Project Delivery Excellence Award is Tara Cruz!
This award recognizes employees who have demonstrated exceptional project performance, both in terms of process and outcome. Recipients have exhibited meticulous attention to detail, creative problem-solving, thoughtful planning, and a focus on continuous improvement that has given rise to high-quality results and increased client satisfaction.
Tara’s work on the I-495 North Extensions Express Lanes Design-Build Project (495 NEXT) exemplifies HMMH’s commitment to quality, technical excellence and innovative problem-solving.
The 495 NEXT project is a public-private partnership between the Commonwealth of Virginia and Transurban that involves extending the 495 Express Lanes north by two-and-a-half miles from the Dulles Corridor to the George Washington Memorial Parkway interchanges near the American Legion Bridge. HMMH is teamed with Rinker Design Associates to deliver this design-build project with an approximate cost of $500 million.
Serving as HMMH’s project manager and overseeing our modeling team, Tara delivered the final noise barrier design technical analysis on time, exceeding client and agency (VDOT) expectations, and kept the project within budget. This complex project included analysis of replacing existing noise barriers that would be displaced by, or rendered less effective, by the project or rendered less effective, reflections of traffic noise off barriers, multiple design changes with tight turnaround times, and effectively managed concerns from the surrounding community over noise from the project.
HMMH congratulates Tara on her accomplishment and thanks the team of staff (Chris Menge, Henry Echeverria, Hayden Jubera, Dillon Tannler, Dayna Bowen, Robert Finck, and Logan Katsoufis) that nominated her for her impressive project management efforts.