More than 200 concrete community members from NDOT, Nevada engineering firms, the City of Reno and the City of Sparks, materials and equipment suppliers, contracting firms, and the University of Nevada, Reno turned out for the 23rd Annual Nevada Infrastructure Concrete Conference on November 4th at the Atlantis Casino Resort Hotel in Reno.
Here’s a review of NICC 2025 in pictures.
NDOT Director Tracy Larkin Thomason delivered the opening remarks for the 23rd Annual NICC, which took place in the Grand Ballroom of the Atlantis.
Tom Van Dam, Principal at Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, kicked off the Innovations in Concrete Pavement Durability Panel with his presentation, “Durability of Concrete Pavements – Creating Dense & Impermeable Concrete.”
NCE Project Engineer Sarah Lopez followed with her presentation on “The Role of Performance Engineered Mixtures (PEMs) in Achieving Concrete Pavement Durability in the Nevada Concrete Pavement Environment.”
Matt Fonte, Owner of Fonte & Co., presented “Conditions that Determine What Goes Into the Mix,” which examined key factors such as temperature, humidity, distance of the batch plant from the project site, and time in the truck.
Kiewit Project Manager James Dean covered the scope of the I-15 Tropicana Interchange Project in Las Vegas during the Spotlight on NDOT Projects portion of the conference.
Q&D Construction Project Manager Kenneth Semenko referred to the big screen to his left as he talked about the ongoing U.S. 395 North Valleys Project. NDOT Senior Project Manager Nanette Maxwell and NDOT Assistant District Engineer Andrew Lawrence follow the presentation on an adjacent screen.
NDOT Assistant Director of Engineering Scott Hein took the stage to present the Inaugural NDOT Outstanding Project Team Award to the I-15/Tropicana Interchange Project Team.
Accepting their awards in person were: Lynnette Russell, who served as NDOT Assistant Chief of Project Management; Dallan Affleck, NDOT Senior Project Manager; Ryan Wheeler, who served as NDOT Senior Project Manager; Chris Koenig, Design-Build Contract Manager at Kiewit; Cass Sobek, Project Manager at Kiewit; and Jack Sjostrom of CA Group.
Additional honorees are Bryan Snider, NDOT Resident Engineer; the FHWA’s Iyad Alattar, Ammon Heier, and Andrea Gutierrez; Jeremiah Johnston of Avenue Consultants; and Paul Brich Assistant Resident Engineer at DCS.
CA Group’s Jack Sjostrom spoke of the scope and logistical challenges of the I-15/Tropicana Interchange Project, which was located next to Allegiant Stadium during the Super Bowl and at the epicenter of the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, as Chris Koenig and Ryan Wheeler look on.
Tom Van Dam of WJE, NDOT Director Tracy Larkin Thomason, and Steven Larkin from Wood Rogers traded a few thoughts during the lunch break.
NICC once again welcomed the University of Nevada, Reno Concrete Canoe Team to the conference, thanks in part to a generous supporting sponsorship by CalPortland. UNR Canoe Team Project Manager Georgia Petroff filled the audience in on all of the steps the team took to build this year’s canoe, the Lahontan, highlighted by a time-lapse video of the actual canoe construction.
Chris Reilly, State Infrastructure Coordinator for the State of Nevada, far left, moderated “The Funding of Nevada Highway Construction Panel.” Joining him and presenting were, left to right, Dale Keller, Director of Engineering & Deputy Executive Director, RTC Northern Nevada; Sajid Sulahria, NDOT Deputy Director, Project Delivery & Engineering; and David Swallow, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, RTC Southern Nevada.
Nick Johnson, NDOT Chief of the Project Management Division, next presented “Alternate Delivery Methods Make Sense – CMAR, Design-Build, CMGC & Progressive Design-Build.”
Matt Fonte and Tom Van Dam returned to the stage for the final session, “Spec or Not a Spec,” a game that tested the audience’s knowledge on NDOT concrete pavement specifications, and where spec knowledge awarded prizes for the correct answers.
Tracy Loveland of K&K Construction Supply awarded the prizes to the winning contestants in “Spec or Not a Spec,” then drew the winning ticket for the grand prize drawing.
NICC 2025 created a collegial atmosphere where new acquaintances were easily made…
…and old colleagues could share a story.
Along with covering a breadth of illuminating material in the presentations, NICC 2025 delivered humor and a lot of laughs.
Thanks to everyone who participated in the 23rd Annual Nevada Infrastructure Concrete Conference! See you all back at the Atlantis for NICC 2026.
