The Birth of the Kentucky Paving Awards
BY Sandy Lender
Kentucky’s new paving awards program brings additional categories for second year
With conference season approaching, it’s time to round up data to prepare submittals to various paving awards. The Plantmix Asphalt Industry of Kentucky (PAIKY) introduced its new awards program during its 2026 Winter Training School in February, and the deadline for applications ahead of its 2027 event draws near: Oct. 16, 2026.
Submissions for the 2027 PAIKY Quality Paving Awards program are open from Sept. 1-Oct. 16, 2026, via a Google form on the association’s website. PAIKY member companies are welcome to apply.
For the 2026 program, the available awards fall into two categories. The PAIKY and Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) Quality Paving Award Categories offer three awards:
- Resurfacing/Overlay Interstate/Parkway or any project with Type A or B
- Resurfacing/Overlay Project (Type D)
- Smoothest Project Award (this one is selected by KYTC based on available ride quality data and the contractor does not apply for it)
The PAIKY Quality Paving Award Categories also offer three awards:
- Local Agency (County & City)
- Airport Pavement
- Commercial Application
This is a slight departure from the first year’s offerings, so let’s look at the birth and evolution of this positive marketing opportunity for the asphalt community.
During the 2026 PAIKY Winter Training School, attendees were able to hang out ringside and cheer on athletes from Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) who set up a ring at the conference hotel.
Awards Begin
During a strategic planning refresh in early 2025, the PAIKY staff discussed the idea of an awards program and put the wheels in motion.
“We are obviously aware that other states have done this for many years and thought it would be a good program to implement here in Kentucky,” State Executive Director Brian Wood said. “It promotes quality, which is a clear focus area of our association, and allows us to engage with the KYTC in a positive way.”
Engaging with the KYTC on the initiative started early.
During the 2026 PAIKY Winter Training School, attendees were able to hang out ringside and cheer on athletes from Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) who set up a ring at the conference hotel.
“We got the application and scoring details all drafted and vetted with KYTC and some members,” Wood explained. “The awards program was initiated with the idea of being a partnership with KYTC so that was critical to the success and to the prestige of the awards. The university transportation center (KTC) was a terrific partner as well. Looping in Asphalt Institute, consultants and retired contractors made for a very impressive, robust and well-rounded committee.”
To get started, Erin Gibbs of PAIKY created an online portal to accept applications. Wood said the team then hosted a Zoom meeting to unveil the program and share details on how the applications would be accepted, before opening the website to accept applications.
During the 2026 PAIKY Winter Training School, attendees were able to hang out ringside and cheer on athletes from Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) who set up a ring at the conference hotel.
Award applications in 2025 were due by Oct. 17, giving the committee made up of experts from KYTC, KTC, Asphalt Institute and industry a compressed window to assess submissions. Projects that took place from Oct. 17, 2024, through Oct. 17, 2025, were eligible and Wood explained, “To apply, the project needed to have the final riding surface placed and opened to traffic but did not have to be complete in every other way. The timing and deadlines involved working backwards from the Winter Training School in February, which was our best opportunity to recognize the winners.”
Once the applications were submitted, Gibbs organized them in specific folders and shared them with members of the committee for review.
Mago Construction took home the Over 20,000 Tons award for the crew’s overlay on the Bluegrass Parkway in Nelson County.
“The committee had over a week to review the submittals,” Wood said. “It was difficult to arrange schedules, but they finally met Nov. 3 via Zoom to review and discuss the submittals. The members of the committee ranked the submittals, and those votes allowed us to determine the top three applicants in each category.”
Judging award-winning pavements isn’t as easy as it might sound. The team called on other state asphalt pavement associations (SAPAs) for guidance.
“Over the next several weeks, I spent many hours trying to coordinate schedules and arrange project visits,” Wood said. “Several of the other state associations were kind enough to share their scoring criteria, and we were able to use those to develop what we needed for our group.
Mountain Enterprises took home the Smoothest Pavement award for its exemplary work on U.S. 23 in Boyd County.
“We made group visits [to project sites] where we had a critical mass of people who were available, but there were instances where some of the committee members had to visit on their own and do their assessment independently. It was just impossible to schedule with so many people and busy schedules. Additionally, we had several snow days that necessitated rescheduling.
“By mid-December, all the committee members had visited and rated all nine of the finalists’ projects. All the results were returned to me by Dec. 19. I used a scoring system that is familiar to most in our group, which made it easy to whittle it down to the three top vote-getters in each category.”
Although Wood was instrumental in coordinating the program, he chose not to be a judge in the process. He explained this and the makeup of the committee.
Rogers Group took home the Under 20,000 Tons award for the crew’s overlay on Ft. Campbell Blvd.
“For the evaluations, I coordinated and scheduled everything (meeting timing, logistics, traffic control, etc.), but I did not vote. I participated with the group but was a neutral party in the process. For the paper review/submittal, the Asphalt Institute field engineer participated, but he was not available to assist with the field evaluations. The field committee consisted of KYTC staff from the Divisions of Materials, Construction and Maintenance as well as Aviation; consultants; engineers from the Kentucky Transportation Center at UK (research entity); and some retired contractors. Not everyone judged all nine projects, but I made it a requirement that the individual must visit all three projects in the category to vote in that category.”
While the process took a lot of work, it was rewarding, too.
“Visiting the airport projects was probably the most fun for me for several reasons,” Wood said. “We visited some of them by airplane, which was unique. All three finalist projects were general aviation airports, so there’s not much traffic, meaning it was possible to walk the runway and apron without heavy vehicle traffic. It’s quiet and easy to chat with the other committee members, which results in more conversation with a lot less stress than the roadway projects. The evaluations on the roadway projects are different due to traffic, and some had to be done rather quickly and from the shoulder. The impressive thing to me was the joint construction and handwork at intersections and bridge ends, etc. I was impressed at the level of detail, effort and attention that went into these transitions.”
Scotty’s Contracting & Stone took home the Airfield Pavement award for the crew’s work at the Leitchfield-Grayson County Airport.
Ceremony at Training School
The PAIKY Winter Training School is what most state associations would call their annual paving conference. It usually attracts over 600 attendees and includes the in-state contractors, the DOT and about 30 or so vendors who make up the trade show. It’s the association’s largest event of the year that pulls in nearly everyone from industry.
For the February 2026 event, Wood not only introduced the inaugural awards ceremony but also brought the state highway engineer as well as representatives from the Kentucky Transportation Research Center at the University of Kentucky to give remarks. For a special treat, he brought unique evening entertainment to the group. The state-certified wrestling academy, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), set up a ring at the conference hotel and held a number of matches to excite the crowd.
The winners of the first PAIKY Paving Awards were as follows:
- Airfield Pavement: Scotty’s Contracting & Stone for Leitchfield-Grayson County Airport
- Under 20,000 Tons: Rogers Group Inc. for the overlay and reconstruction of KYTC District 2’s KY 107 & 41A (Ft. Campbell Blvd)
- Over 20,000 Tons: Mago Construction for the overlay/reconstruction of KYTC District 4’s Bluegrass Parkway in Nelson County
- Smoothest Pavement: Mountain Enterprises for KYTC District 9’s U.S. 23 in Boyd County
Preparing for the 2026 Program
Wood offered some advice for contractors who wish to participate in the second year, and his guidance makes sense for any awards program.
“The committee members were very tough on their scoring of the paper submittals,” he said. “Some of the contractors did a better job than others with writing the narrative and providing the detailed photos that were requested. We don’t have time to visit all the projects, so when deciding on finalists based on a submittal, the contractors that put more time into those documents were given better scores. The technical data, such as quality control testing, was summarized by engineers at the Division of Materials and it’s critical that the projects maintain consistent results throughout the project and are able to avoid any failing tests.”
As mentioned above, PAIKY has made some adjustments to the 2026 categories to standardize project comparisons. For example, in the first year, the projects were segmented by asphalt tonnage, but now include segments by a roadway classification type and mix type designation. This change should result in more apples-to-apples comparisons of projects that have similar levels of complexity and testing requirements.
The variety of tonnages on both interstate and rural routes in the first year presented a unique challenge for the committee. “It’s hard to judge the complexity of an interstate and the testing that is required on a high-type mixture with a lower volume roadway that required less testing.”
For its first year, the PAIKY awards program didn’t draw as many entries as Wood has seen in larger states that can boast more numerous bid lettings and larger numbers of contractor members. But he anticipates more participation now that members of PAIKY are aware of the honor. He shared that, “Not every paving company was prepared for the program” or had time to gather the requested data during the first year. Now that the 2026 season is well under way, contractors in the state have been able to gather photos and data while working.
“That will be much easier and much better than trying to assemble all the information after-the-fact and in the days prior to the deadline. I think that will result in more submittals and better-quality submittals in the years to come. Hopefully, the public recognition creates some pride and competitive spirit amongst the members and that companies and individuals elevate their efforts on individual projects to be successful in this program. The ultimate winner in that scenario is the taxpayers and motorists in the Commonwealth.”