Hagar Enterprises Inc. receives a Pave Maine Award at the Maine Asphalt Pavement Association spring seminar in Bangor. From left: Vaughn Stevens, project manager and estimator; Chris Burns, maintenance supervisor; Ben Arsenault; Paul Winchenbaugh, paving foreman; Nick Hatch; Tanya Griffeth, executive director, Maine Aslphalt Pavement Association; Coy Wadsworth; Matt Bergmann, trucking coordinator; Seth Hagar, co-owner; Allen Winchenbaugh; and Adam Leeman. (Photo courtesy Maine Asphalt Pavement Association)
Hagar Enterprises Inc., of Damariscotta, recently received a statewide award for its work on the Boothbay roundabout project.
The Damariscotta-based paving and excavation contractor collected the Pave Maine Award from the Maine Asphalt Pavement Association during the organization’s annual conference April 2 and 3.
The association grants awards in four categories, determined by project tonnage. Hagar Enterprises won in the 2,501-9,999 category, the second-largest of the four.
The award recognizes Hagar Enterprises for doing all the paving work for the new roundabout at the intersection of Route 27, Corey Lane, and Common Drive in Boothbay.
The long-debated roundabout replaced two haphazard intersections along Route 27 with the goal of improving traffic flow and reducing congestion. The project grew out of a 2002 Maine Department of Transportation study that identified the area as a key point of traffic gridlock on the Boothbay peninsula.
The intersection project was funded by a business partnership initiative with funding from local developer Paul Coulombe, the DOT, and the town of Boothbay. The roundabout construction was performed in conjunction with the multimillion-dollar renovation of Coulombe’s adjacent Boothbay Harbor Country Club.
This unusual funding collaboration and the relatively high-profile and complex nature of the project contributed to the judges’ decision.
“Work included a new rotary, turning lanes, access road, pedestrian walkways, bike paths, a town office parking lot and a new post office parking lot,” according to a press release from the Maine Asphalt Pavement Association.
The judges of the Pave Maine Awards consider five factors: construction techniques or materials, executing a difficult or challenging job, partnering with a client, positive impacts to the community, and safety.
The project was performed over the course of two years and finished last June.
An aerial view of the roundabout on Route 27 in Boothbay. Hagar Enterprises Inc., of Damariscotta, won a statewide award for its role in the project. (Photo courtesy Hagar Enterprises Inc.)
The tricky part, according to Hagar Enterprises Inc. co-owner Seth Hagar, was not being able to work in the summer.
“We couldn’t interrupt summer traffic,” Hagar said. “We can’t pave during the winter. So we paved in late fall, got it so they could basically get plows over it, and then we came back in the spring, finished it in the spring, and had it back open for summer traffic in June. And it was done. So we had to push pretty hard.”
Hagar Enterprises’ submission for the awards detailed some of the physical obstacles encountered during the course of the project.
The contractor’s employees had to pave around “many granite flower beds, used as lane separation devices,” according to the submission. “There were also several turning lanes and four intersecting roads and approaches in addition to the actual rotary.”
“A project of this size and the complexity of what we were dealing with down there was pretty unique,” Hagar said. “We didn’t have any accidents. Zero quality concerns. We didn’t have to remove anything or redo anything. Everything came out exactly on spec, on budget, and on time.”
Hagar said the DOT periodically tested its materials for quality and not once did the contractor fail to meet quality control requirements.
Hagar expressed pride in his entire road crew and office staff and believes the award is a testament to the things small-town Maine is capable of, especially considering the contractor was up against larger paving companies from across the state.
“I thought it was a good representation of local folks working with other local folks, utilizing local contractors and getting a great result. I thought it represented the area well,” Hagar said.
The Maine Asphalt Pavement Association received a total of 14 submissions across the four categories of the contest.
The other contractors to submit work for consideration were All States Asphalt Inc., part of a conglomerate with headquarters in Sunderland, Mass.; Glidden Excavating & Paving Inc., of Gorham; Northeast Paving, a part of a global infrastructure firm with headquarters in France; Pike Industries Inc., which has locations across three states and headquarters in Belmont, N.H.; and Shaw Brothers Construction Inc., of Gorham.
