Crafton Tull recognized for work on state’s first SPUI interchange

Rogers-based engineering firm Crafton Tull was awarded the top prize, the Grand Conceptor Award, at the 2024 American Council of Engineering Companies of Arkansas (ACEC) Engineering Excellence Awards Gala, which was held on March 7 at Chenal Country Club in Little Rock.

The annual awards program recognizes Arkansas engineering projects demonstrating high achievement, value and ingenuity.

Judged by a panel of industry professionals from around the state, projects were evaluated based on their uniqueness, future value to the engineering profession, sustainable considerations and successful fulfillment of the client’s needs.

ACEC bestowed its top award to Crafton Tull for its work on behalf of the Arkansas Department of Transportation, which hired Crafton Tull to be the design engineer for the state’s first single-point urban interchange (SPUI). It’s at the Interstate 49/U.S. Highway 71 interchange, which spans Rogers and Bentonville in Benton County. Construction started in September 2018, and the redesigned interchange opened in 2023.

Crafton Tull executive vice president Mike Burns, who leads the firm’s transportation team, explained that, compared to a traditional diamond interchange, which often has two traffic signals controlling traffic, a SPUI allows one signal to control the flow of traffic coming from both exit ramps and through traffic. Fewer traffic lights help reduce the number of accidents and improve traffic flow.

The project was significant for Crafton Tull, considering the SPUI interchange at Exit 85 off I-49 leads to the entrance of its corporate headquarters in Rogers.