The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Secretary Yassmin Gramian recently recognized 32 Penn­DOT employees for their outstanding performance with the Star of Excellence Award, PennDOT’s highest recognition.

Two employees from Penn­DOT’s District 5, which represents Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton, and Schuylkill counties were among the honorees; while one honoree from District 8, resides in Schuylkill County.

Gramian and other department executives honored winners Thomas Fish and Shaun Rohrbaugh from District 5, during a virtual ceremony.

Fish is the transportation construction inspection supervisor and works in the District 5 Construction Unit. He helped develop the Inspector-In-Charge Reference Guide for PennDOT.

As part of the Reference Guide, he developed the new Cost Control Summary workbook which is used to track costs for construction, inspection, engineering, railroad flagging, and other costs. In 2020, damage from Tropical Storm Isaias resulted in three emergency project locations that were added to an existing bridge maintenance contract.

The work included structure and roadway repairs with construction costs for the three locations estimated at $1,050,000.

The actual cost of the work performed was $334,799.38, 68 percent less than the estimate. The cost savings allowed for maintenance repairs on additional structures to prolong the life of each bridge being repaired and improve safety.

Fish resides in Portland, Northampton County.

Rohrbaugh is a transportation equipment operator specialist and works in the PennDOT Schuylkill County Maintenance Office, handling all training initiatives for the 109 employees working there.

He was instrumental in having 23 of his co-workers being trained to receive promotions. He is also responsible for training all the winter temporary operators, some of whom have never plowed snow.

His expertise in winter snow removal helps maintain public safety during winter events. He is always looking for ways to improve production.

Rohrbaugh lives in Pottsville.

The third area resident to be honored was Shane Moyer, director, bureau of support services for PennDOT District 8.

Moyer played a crucial role throughout 2020 ensuring continued operations of statewide driver, vehicle, and photo licensing facilities while maintaining safety of both customers and staff during the COVID-19 crisis.

He lives in Ashland.