January 28, 2026

By Lane Kimble

No good deed goes unpunished, but it can lead to some great prestige.

Payne+Dolan’s (Walbec Group) paving job on US 2 in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula was so well done, highway crews apparently said it’s a lot harder now to plow snow on the super-smooth surface.

Tuesday, P+D received the National Asphalt Pavement Association’s Sheldon G. Hayes Award for that project during NAPA’s Annual Meeting in (notably snowless) Scottsdale, AZ.

The US 2 project was along a nearly 18-mile stretch in Gogebic County, Mich., just north of the Wisconsin border. Crews paved nearly 84,000 tons of hot mix asphalt, placed major drainage and culvert improvements, and upgraded guardrail, according to Walbec Group’s LinkedIn page.

WTBA Past-President Brian Endres joined Walbec Group CEO Kurt Bechthold, Michigan Area Manager Jon Leach and other members of the company’s leadership team on stage to accept the award.

NAPA receives hundreds of Quality in Construction award applications each year, then breaks them into three categories of 50,000 tons or less, more than 50,000 tons, and airport improvements. The highest scoring 50,000+ ton winners go through even more stringent testing to judge smoothness and appearance, resulting in a singular Sheldon G. Hayes winner and several finalists.

Congratulations to the P+D team and the entire Walbec Group family on this impressive win!