HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania Turnpike Commissioners proffered formal kudos today to a Turnpike engineer from Bedford County who received the state’s 2004 Senior Inspector-In-Charge Award.

John Cottle, P.E., 36, of Woodbury Township, an Engineer Project Manager 3 who came to the Turnpike from the private sector in November 1991, was a special guest at today’s regularly scheduled Commission meeting.

The Senior Inspector-In-Charge Award is sponsored by the Workforce Development Steering Committee, a partnership of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), the Turnpike Commission, Associated Pennsylvania Constructors and the Engineers Council of Pennsylvania.

Nominations are received from the Turnpike Commission and each of PennDOT’s 11 Engineering Districts. Nominees are then evaluated on various criteria relating to effectiveness and performance in construction project management.

“John is a dedicated and knowledgeable engineer who contractors and construction management staff rely on to resolve difficult issues,” said Michael W. Flack, P.E., the Commission’s Assistant Chief Engineer – Construction. “He can always be depended on to work toward a quality solution and his dedication, attention to quality and construction knowledge benefits the Commission and Turnpike customers every day.”

Cottle’s primary responsibility last year was the $120 million Total Reconstruction of Interstate 76/70 between Somerset and Bedford. He has managed roadway, structure, interchange and service plaza rehabilitation projects in Somerset, Bedford, Franklin Huntingdon and Fulton counties as a Turnpike engineer.

A graduate of Penn State University, Cottle worked three summers as an engineering intern at PennDOT’s District 9-0 headquarters in Hollidaysburg and later worked as a staff engineer for The EADS Group.

He and his wife, the former Karen Fluke (also a Bedford County native), have two daughters – Hayley, 7 and Allison, 4. Cottle’s interests include spending time with his family, his daughters’ activities and watching sporting events.