St. Bernard Port awarded DOTD Award

Everyone involved in the Rehabilitation of the Chalmette Slip Project.

From left to right: Matthew Malphurs P.E. Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development , G.J. Schnexnayder, P.E., Vice President, Heavy Construction of Boh Bros., Executive Director of the St. Bernard Port Drew M. Heaphy, Jan Evans, P.E. Vice President of Volkert, Inc., and Molly Bourgoyne, P.E., IMPE, Director of Ports for DOTD

CHALMETTE--The St. Bernard Port was recently awarded the 2025 Louisiana Transportation Excellence Award from the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD). This award was in recognition of transportation projects demonstrating excellence in the following fields: transportation planning, design, and construction.

The newly rehabilitated Chalmette Slip was awarded in the Intermodal/ Public Works Design/Project Development category.

The award recipients include Drew Heaphy, Executive Director of St. Bernard Port, Jan Evans from Volkert, and GJ Schnexnayder from Boh Brothers.

The Louisiana Transportation Excellence Awards had several categories: Bridge Design/Project Development, Road Construction, and Quality of Life/Community Development. To be considered, applicants were required to complete an entry form, two unbiased testimonials from non-DOTD employees supporting the project's story and benefits, and a project video.

 Applicants were then judged using a detailed rubric, with customer focus being one of the factors.

“The $40 million project (funded by state ($15 million), federal ($13 million), and port funds ($12 million) is the largest project to date and shows the cooperative agreement between the public entities.” Drew Heaphy, Executive Director of the port, commented. “This proves that when public entities combine resources, large local public projects can be successful.”