The American Road & Transportation Builders Association Transportation Development Foundation (ARTBA-TDF) is now accepting nominations for the 2012 “PRIDE” and “Globe Awards.” These annual competitions honor U.S. transportation construction industry excellence in community relations and public education, and in environmental protection, respectively.

Established in 1999, the PRIDE Awards program celebrates excellence in community relations and public education of projects that enhance the image of the transportation design and construction industry. It is open to all industry firms, agencies and associations. There are two categories:

Community Relations: honors programs and activities that demonstrate positive civic involvement with the community in which a firm/agency is located.

Public-Media Relations/Education: pays tribute to programs and activities that educate the public and opinion leaders about the significant contributions the transportation construction industry (or a specific sector of it) makes to the economy and/or quality of life.

Established in 1998, the Globe Awards highlight examples of transportation construction industry excellence in these categories:

Project Awards: recognizes private-sector firms and public-sector transportation agencies that do an outstanding job in protecting and/or enhancing the natural environment in the planning, design and construction of U.S. transportation infrastructure projects.  Nominations may be made for projects in the following seven categories: highways, local or secondary roads, bridges, public transit, airports, railroads­, and waterways and ports.

Process Awards: honors companies that have exhibited environmentally responsible manufacturing, production, resource extraction or other processes related to surface transportation construction.  Such organizations may include:

• heavy construction equipment and transportation safety product manufacturers (environmentally responsible manufacturing); or
• materials companies (environmentally responsible resource extraction and/or production).