Jan. 28, 2025 -- Sheboygan County, Wis., is the recipient of the 2024 FP² Inc. James B. Sorenson Award for Excellence in Pavement Preservation for its proactive approach to emerging trends in preservation. The Sorenson Award recognizes superior pavement preservation practice, usually to a city, township, county or state agency.

With a population of more than 117,000, Sheboygan County is comprised of 28 municipalities and is located on the shore of Lake Michigan. The county manages more than 2,100 centerline miles.

The award was presented to Sheboygan County at the January 2025 Winter Highway Conference, conducted by the Wisconsin County Highway Association (WCHA), A highlight was a tribute to Sheboygan County by U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.); view via the provided QR code below.

"On behalf of Sheboygan County, we're humbled and honored to accept this award for pavement preservation," said Bryan Olson, transportation director, Sheboygan County Transportation Department Highway Division. "I'd like to take a moment and thank our county board for supporting our department's submission statement of creating safe and reliable transportation today and tomorrow.

"In 2017, with the support of the local businesses, our county board implemented having some sales tax proceeds used for transportation," Olson added. "This was a key factor in helping our department continue our mission. In a time when budgets were tightening and material costs were on rise, through the sales tax, we were able to expand our paving program to include more pavement preservation programs."

"At FP², we lead the advancement of pavement preservation and recycling," said FP² president Dave Henderson. "Our objective is to support 'Preserving Pavements via the Right Treatment, on the Right Pavement at the Right Time'. One way we accomplish our mission is by recognizing public agencies and municipalities which practice superior pavement preservation and recycling via our James B. Sorenson Award.

Sheboygan County’s pavement preservation strategy is based on education and research, including a live traffic test track (Sheboygan County Operational Pavement Preservation Evaluation, or SCOPE), and participation in preservation efforts through the National Road Research Alliance (NRRA).

The county focuses on “pre-preservation” treatments like void-reducing asphalt membranes (VRAM) and penetrating asphalt emulsions to extend maintenance timelines. Additionally, the county addressed funding shortfalls by enacting a transportation tax nearly 10 years ago, leading to significant increases in pavement preservation activities.

ABOUT FP² INC.

FP² Inc. is a non-profit trade association organized under the Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)6, and is supported by the pavement preservation industry, contractors, material suppliers and equipment manufacturers.

Formerly known as the Foundation for Pavement Preservation, FP² supports the adoption of pavement preservation at all levels of government, and works to ensure that pavement preservation becomes a part of road programs from coast-to-coast. It also supports valuable research in pavement preservation, and works in close cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the National Center for Pavement Preservation (NCPP), and regional pavement preservation partnerships and state-based pavement preservation centers.

FP² also sponsors key promotional activity events, such as international and national pavement preservation conferences. It supports distribution of promotional information to support pavement preservation, such as brochures and the quarterly magazine Pavement Preservation Journal.

At FP² Sorenson Award presentation Jan. 13 are Jay Vander Weele, Vernon Koch, Tom Wegner and Jon Kuhlow, board supervisors, Sheboygan County; Bryan Olson, transportation director, Sheboygan County; Dan Swiertz, P.E., H.G. Meigs/AMI; Ken Schakelman, Asphalt Materials Inc.; Dave Henderson, Asphalt Materials Inc. and president, FP²; and Jackie Feldman, vice chair, Sheboygan County Transportation Committee

Attn. Editors: To receive the full article on Sheboygan County, Wis., and all related photography including field photos, please contact Rick Church, FP² executive director

Attn. Editors: To view the U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) tribute to Sheboygan County, please access it using the QR code:

Exciting news! This Quarter's County Highway Herald is here and we are so excited to share it with you. Click the link below to view the County Highway Herald in a new window.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zaJqjSTBxq1s4Cox4jTuvzi5JcpRhPur/view?usp=sharing

Exciting news! This Quarter's County Highway Herald is here and we are so excited to share it with you. Click the link below to view the County Highway Herald in a new window.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PbnP0Yv1GILL1OLayXA8ROGiv5JdcanS/view?usp=sharing

WCHA is a proud partner of efforts by Wisconsin transportation leaders across the state in raising awareness of Work Zone Safety. The first photo of the WisDOT podium shows eight safety cones which represent eight deaths in Wisconsin work zones THIS YEAR ALONE.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation, the Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association (WTBA) and our contracting brethren, should be commended for organizing and participating in Work Zone Safety Awareness recently. Every motorist who hears the message and takes extra care while driving through the orange barrels could be the difference between safety and tragedy.

This week at events in Edgar and Eau Claire, WCHA members and Highway Commissioners Jon Johnson (Eau Claire County), Robbie Krejci (St. Croix County) and Jim Griesbach (Marathon County), along with Association Executive Director Patrick Vander Sanden spoke about the critical importance of keeping our highway and roadway workers safe.

Join WCHA for the LDG Road School September 19-21, 2023. Learn more and register today.

Exciting news! This Quarter's County Highway Herald is here and we are so excited to share it with you. Click the link below to view the County Highway Herald in a new window.

Joe Miller, from Pennington County in South Dakota, shares a presentation on developing an in-house CDL licensure program.

View presentation here: Penn Co Hwy Dept ELDT Summary Presentation.pptx

Exciting news! This Quarter's County Highway Herald is here and we are so excited to share it with you. We are proud to present this first issue of our WCHA newsletter.

Click the link below to view the County Highway Herald in a new window.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13tuwZykKprv9DjHUaf9a0dJlnHTw15X-/view?usp=share_link