The TIMED Program has wrapped up another fiscal year. It was a year of progress, successes and milestones.
In deciding a theme for this year’s annual report, we debated catchy phrases and ideas but always came back to one asset of the Program: the people who work everyday to ensure TIMED routes are designed and constructed and the people who live, work and travel along these corridors.
We felt it was important to capture their faces, their names and their stories.
At the peak of construction, the Audubon Bridge project will host several hundred employees, a vast majority from Louisiana communities. Many you know. Some likely live in your neighborhood.
Some have come from the far reaches of the globe. People like Dante Lius, the project’s resident engineer from Italy.
And now that construction is underway, the communities of New Roads, St. Francisville and alike are beginning to feel the effects. Locals are talking about the project, the progress and the positive change the bridge will bring to their businesses and everyday lives.
Teachers at local schools are educating their students about the Audubon Bridge, an engineering marvel and a record-breaking project many people never have the opportunity witness.
One elementary student, Kellie Mounger, participated in the Junior Engineer Design Contest we introduced this spring. Not only did she draw a picture of a bridge spanning the Mississippi River, she included a paddlewheel floating under the structure…truly Louisiana. An artist at heart, Kellie tells me she is learning from the project. She’s learning about bridge design and construction.
And so, that’s what the TIMED Program is all about. It’s much more than widening highways and building bridges. It’s about connecting communities. It’s about engaging residents and educating students.
After all, this is Louisiana’s program.