Miller Elementary Students Benefit from $2,500 Safety Grant

ODOT contractor Hamilton Construction celebrates safety record by helping local kids.

Miller Elementary Students Benefit from $2,500 Safety Grant.

(SALEM) - Students attending Miller Elementary School will benefit from a safety grant donated by Hamilton Construction, whose employees are celebrating more than 50,000 hours of injury-free work on the Interstate 5 freeway and bridge project in south Salem.

Hamilton vice president Bob Sherman presented a $2,500 check to Principal Mary Russell last week.

"Hamilton Construction crews at the I-5 project in Salem have worked more than 50,000 hours without requiring a doctor's care," said Sherman. "That's equal to more than 24 years worth of 40-hour work weeks without needing more than a band-aid for injuries."

Hamilton's employees are celebrating this milestone by extending their safety commitment to kids in the community. "Our grant will help the school closest to our job site to improve safety for kids," Sherman said.

ODOT officials were happy to hear the good news.

"Safety is always our top priority for highway workers and drivers alike," said ODOT spokesman Lou Torres. "Hamilton's safety grant also shows the positive effect that ODOT's statewide bridge program has on communities that extends well beyond the construction work zone."

"Construction projects stimulate local economies, but it this case the contractor is showing school kids that good safety practices lead to lasting rewards. It doesn't get better than this," Torres said.

The $52 million N. Santiam Highway to Kuebler Boulevard project is replacing seven I-5 bridges and repairing one bridge, and also includes widening the freeway to three lanes in each direction.

Hamilton Construction, headquartered in Springfield, began work on the project in October 2005 and plans to finish in July 2008.

The construction work is funded by the Oregon Transportation Investment Act and the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program.