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Every year in May (before the 100-degree days take over), team members from our Austin office unite to tour some of their current, past, and upcoming projects that are conveniently located throughout the city.
What makes this tour so special and unique is that it's a tradition that was entirely planned, organized, and executed by the associates, AND it's all done on bicycles!
[caption id="attachment_188136" align="alignnone" width="1024"]
Tour participants gather on the Meredith Heritage Tree Deck at Waterloo Park, a transformative project for the City of Austin, which WGI was heavily involved in bringing to fruition.[/caption]
This year's tour was a little more significant for some attendees, as it commemorated five years of this highly anticipated team event that many look forward to all year long.
WGI provided civil engineering services for Waterloo Central, a 39,000 SF Class A Office space designed to capture the creative personality of Austin.[/caption]
The tour runs from the WGI Austin office on the east side of Interstate 35, into and around downtown Austin, then back to the office.
There are usually around 10 project stops on the tour, with each year's route varying slightly depending on what new projects are in play that year, and who helps plan the route.
[caption id="attachment_188147" align="alignnone" width="1024"]
98 Red River- site of the future "tallest tower in Texas". WGI is providing civil engineering services for this project that includes: site development, design & permitting, entitlement support, subsurface pond design, construction phase services, and dry utility coordination.[/caption]
Stopping at a few local Austin watering holes along the journey has become part of the Bike Tour tradition, giving associates a chance to take a break from the pedals and get to know each other better while enjoying a cold beverage.
[caption id="attachment_188111" align="alignnone" width="1024"]
Tour participants socializing and enjoying a drink at Scholz Garten, a historic beer garden and restaurant said to be the oldest operating business in Texas.[/caption]
Ashley Weldon, Michelle Senner, Siri Soth, and Katie Bolger, pause for a quick selfie at Clive Bar. Not only was this historic Rainey Street hot spot a drink stop along the route, but it is also one of WGI's projects that our civil and structural teams provided engineering services for their recent expansion.[/caption]
Upon arriving at each project destination along the route, project managers and other team members take turns speaking about the projects they were directly involved with and how their contributions helped facilitate success.
[caption id="attachment_188141" align="alignnone" width="1024"]
Joel Blok, Market Leader of Civil Operations, talks to the group at The Hatchery (formerly RBJ Center), a project WGI has been involved in for many years and is always a must-see on the tour each year.[/caption]
The bike tour gives participants the opportunity to learn about projects other teams in their office are working on, what services WGI is providing, the current status and estimated completion date of the projects, and other interesting details and challenges that were encountered along the way.
[caption id="attachment_188109" align="alignnone" width="1024"]
Tour participants catch some shade under one of the heritage trees WGI worked to preserve at The Hatchery (formerly RBJ Center), a mixed-use master-planned development in East Austin.[/caption]
For this year's tour, the invite was also extended to several new hires and interns preparing to begin their journey with WGI.
Some of the team at Clive Bar raising a toast to celebrate 5 successful years of the project bike tour.[/caption]
What better way to get to know your teammates than by kicking back with a few drinks and cruising the streets of Austin to admire your team's accomplishments!
Check out our recap video below for a glimpse of what it's like to attend the project bike tour!
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6xo7RwH4ho[/embed]
Tour participants gather on the Meredith Heritage Tree Deck at Waterloo Park, a transformative project for the City of Austin, which WGI was heavily involved in bringing to fruition.[/caption]
This year's tour was a little more significant for some attendees, as it commemorated five years of this highly anticipated team event that many look forward to all year long.
"This is my fifth year doing the bike tour and it's my favorite event of the year. My team personally has 3 or 4 projects on the tour this year, so I think that's really cool. Some of the projects we visited on past bike tours were in the permitting stage, and now this year, we are getting to see them in construction, so that's extremely rewarding." - Siri Soth, Civil Team Leader[caption id="attachment_188108" align="alignnone" width="1024"]
WGI provided civil engineering services for Waterloo Central, a 39,000 SF Class A Office space designed to capture the creative personality of Austin.[/caption]
The tour runs from the WGI Austin office on the east side of Interstate 35, into and around downtown Austin, then back to the office.
There are usually around 10 project stops on the tour, with each year's route varying slightly depending on what new projects are in play that year, and who helps plan the route.
[caption id="attachment_188147" align="alignnone" width="1024"]
98 Red River- site of the future "tallest tower in Texas". WGI is providing civil engineering services for this project that includes: site development, design & permitting, entitlement support, subsurface pond design, construction phase services, and dry utility coordination.[/caption]
Stopping at a few local Austin watering holes along the journey has become part of the Bike Tour tradition, giving associates a chance to take a break from the pedals and get to know each other better while enjoying a cold beverage.
[caption id="attachment_188111" align="alignnone" width="1024"]
Tour participants socializing and enjoying a drink at Scholz Garten, a historic beer garden and restaurant said to be the oldest operating business in Texas.[/caption]
"This was my first time participating in the bike tour and it was awesome! I recently joined WGI and was really excited when I heard about this event because I use to organize brewery bike tours just like this back in Chicago. What's unique about this event though, is the added element of getting to see several projects around the city that we are personally working on." - Katie Bolger, Civil Project Manger[caption id="attachment_188137" align="alignnone" width="1024"]
Ashley Weldon, Michelle Senner, Siri Soth, and Katie Bolger, pause for a quick selfie at Clive Bar. Not only was this historic Rainey Street hot spot a drink stop along the route, but it is also one of WGI's projects that our civil and structural teams provided engineering services for their recent expansion.[/caption]
Upon arriving at each project destination along the route, project managers and other team members take turns speaking about the projects they were directly involved with and how their contributions helped facilitate success.
[caption id="attachment_188141" align="alignnone" width="1024"]
Joel Blok, Market Leader of Civil Operations, talks to the group at The Hatchery (formerly RBJ Center), a project WGI has been involved in for many years and is always a must-see on the tour each year.[/caption]
The bike tour gives participants the opportunity to learn about projects other teams in their office are working on, what services WGI is providing, the current status and estimated completion date of the projects, and other interesting details and challenges that were encountered along the way.
[caption id="attachment_188109" align="alignnone" width="1024"]
Tour participants catch some shade under one of the heritage trees WGI worked to preserve at The Hatchery (formerly RBJ Center), a mixed-use master-planned development in East Austin.[/caption]
For this year's tour, the invite was also extended to several new hires and interns preparing to begin their journey with WGI.
“This has been a really cool experience to check out different project sites and get energized about something I am about to be a part of. My favorite part of the tour has been getting to know all of the people that I will be working with soon in a more casual setting, and learning more about what all of their different roles are here. I start my internship in a few weeks and I am really looking forward to being part of the WGI team.” - Hunter Hellinger, Civil Team Intern[caption id="attachment_188160" align="alignnone" width="1024"]
Some of the team at Clive Bar raising a toast to celebrate 5 successful years of the project bike tour.[/caption]
What better way to get to know your teammates than by kicking back with a few drinks and cruising the streets of Austin to admire your team's accomplishments!
Check out our recap video below for a glimpse of what it's like to attend the project bike tour!
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6xo7RwH4ho[/embed]