Paving Awards

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VAA Paving Awards

Each year, during the Discussion with the Department and the  Mid-Atlantic Asphalt Expo & Safety Summit, VAA and VDOT present the annual asphalt paving awards.  Awards are presented for projects that were paved in the previous year.

2026 Applications are Being Accepted Until May 1!

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Award Categories

VDOT Paving Awards

  • Best Maintenance
  • Best Construction
  • Engineer’s Choice

Virginia’s Best Awards

  • Virginia’s Best Commercial
  • Virginia’s Best Municipal
  • Virginia’s Best Roadway
  • Virginia’s Best Airport
  • Virginia’s Best Green

Top Awards

  • Golden Lute Award
  • Mid-Atlantic Masterpiece Award

VDOT Paving Awards Selection Process

The VDOT paving awards are nominated by VDOT District personnel.  One maintenance and one construction project, per district, can be nominated for statewide consideration.  Once the nominations are finalized, a team of VDOT and VAA representatives visits each project. While at the project site, they evaluate the appearance and ride quality of the final riding surface.  From the individual evaluations, the results are tallied and a final decision is made.

Virginia’s Best & Golden Lute Awards

In contrast, VAA’s “Virginia’s Best” categories are selected based on the information provided by the contractor or municipality submitting the nomination and a site visit by VAA representatives.

The Golden Lute is awarded to one of the winners of the previously judged categories.  Each winner is evaluated by representatives who have not previously judged the submissions.

The prestige associated with winning either the VDOT or VAA awards pays big dividends from a marketing standpoint.  Winners are featured on VAA’s homepage, in its membership directory, and announced on our social media and through membership emails.  Some VDOT Districts also send local press releases about the winning projects.  So don’t hesitate! If you have a great project, nominate!  To complete the nomination information for Virginia’s Best categories, just click on the submission link to the right.

MID-ATLANTIC MASTERPIECE AWARD

A paving competition that began in 2023 between Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia for the best project of the previous year.  Virginia puts forth its Golden Lute winner each year as its nominee.

  • 2024 Winner: Virginia and Lagan Construction for Reagan National Airport
  • 2023 Winner: Maryland and P&W Excavating for Resurfacing I-68
  • 2022 Winner: West Virginia and West Virginia Paving for Yeager Airport
VIEW AWARD WINNER GALLERY

2026 VIRGINIA’S BEST PAVING AWARDS

(2025 Projects)

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Nomination Guidelines

“Recognition” is often the #1 reward people seek in their jobs, and Virginia’s Best Paving Awards recognize crews and all their hard work. Receiving an award also motivates crews and keeps people enthused about their work. Entrants also receive feedback on completed jobs – valuable information that can help continuously improve project management and make winning easier the next time.  Finally, winning a “Virginia’s Best” Paving Award shows a commitment to quality. 

  1. Nominations are open and due by May 1. 
  2. Contractors or owner/agency representatives nominate projects. Comments from the owner/agency personnel will be considered during the rating process. 
  3. Rating teams evaluate projects, and awards will be presented at the Mid-Atlantic Asphalt Conference and Expo in early December. 
  4. A winner for work completed in 2024 will be selected; the winner and owner representative will be given an award to recognize the best project in each category. 
  5. Late submittals will not be considered.

Each category is unique in some way. Most winners, however, do the following: 

  • Pay attention to detail. Even seemingly minor flaws sometimes are the difference between being a contender and a winner. 
  • Ensure high-quality workmanship. Criteria include: 
    • Uniform texture – make sure there is no segregation. o Tight joints – both longitudinal and transverse 
    • Smooth tight matches – on all intersections, curbs, and/or appurtenances 
    • Ride! Smoothness is crucial to winning the competition. 
    • Overall appearance – layout and design will have an impact. 
    • Degree of difficulty – some jobs are tougher than others to build, and this is taken into consideration. 
    • Completeness of information submitted – there is no such thing as too much information. 
  • Tell the rating team what they should see to help you win.
    • Provide details (written and photos) in the submittal to direct the evaluators why this project was submitted. 
    • Discuss what challenges had to be overcome to complete the project. 
    • Include any QC/QA data.
  • Comments from the owner. Emails or other correspondence from owners sharing their feelings about the construction process and final project.
  • When in doubt – SUBMIT! You can’t win if you don’t enter!

Award Categories and Definitions

Private entities with major commercial parking lots, entry roads, industrial yards, etc. 

Covers roadway paving projects not inspected or owned by VDOT.  These projects include Military Facilities, Toll Roads, Parkways, etc. These roadways can include two or more driving lanes with ramps, intersections, turn lanes, etc. 

Covers Municipal Streets and Subdivisions. These include arterial, residential, or business streets with two or more lanes for driving. Curb and gutter can also be present. Traffic lights, turn lanes, intersections, catch basins, manholes, valve boxes, or other utilities may also be present. Raters will place greater weight on more complex projects. 

Airport paving can range from projects at Dulles Airport to local airfields, including anything from a runway, apron, taxiway, etc. For this type of project to be evaluated, the party that nominates the project must arrange access to the project site. If access is unavailable, the project may not be eligible for an award.

This will include VDOT projects as well as non-VDOT projects. The Green Project award goes to the contractor who utilized the most sustainable and/or greenest practices in a maintenance or construction project. The practices considered in this award category include:  Earning LEED credits, Recycled Asphalt Pavement (used above the VDOT specification limit), Recycled Asphalt Shingles (used above the VDOT specification limit), Asphalt Binder rejuvenators or modifiers such as scrap tires, Permeable and Porous Asphalt Materials, Recycled Asphalt Base Materials (i.e., Cold In-Place Recycling, Cold Plant Recycling or FDR), other “waste” materials used for AC production or a project that was completed in an environmentally sensitive area (protected wetlands, etc.). Each criterion carries a rating factor.  The project with the highest number of points and is exceptional in other quality indicators (i.e., ride quality, density, appearance, etc.) is the winning project.

Please complete the required Nomination Form completely and include any additional information that will help the evaluator understand what distinguishes your project from other submittals.

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