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Each year, WGI's Austin office organizes an employee bike tour of some current and past projects, conveniently located around the WGI office. The bike tour originated through a small group of passionate employees who love to cycle, and has evolved into one of the most anticipated events of the year, with about 30 associates attending this year.
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Tour participants gathering outside of the office to prepare for the start of the tour.[/caption]
Engineers and other professionals from every department pitch in every year to suggest project stops, help compile the map, and speak about the projects at each of the stops on the tour.
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Participants visiting The Hatchery (formerly RBJ Center), which has been a recurring stop on the bike tour every year. The majestic tree in this photo is just one of several heritage trees WGI helped preserve on this site.[/caption]
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This site was also a stop on a previous bike tour, but was still in construction at that time. It is now home to 30 residential units, with 4,238 SF of ground level commercial space below. WGI provided Civil Engineering services for this mixed-use development just 2 blocks down the street from the Austin office.[/caption]
“The bike tour has steadily grown from maybe 4 or 5 projects to 10 or so this year so it’s awesome. Some of the projects we visited on this tour were ones we have visited over the past few years, so we got to kind of fill in the blanks of what’s happened since. It's definitely my favorite event of the year!” - Siri Soth, Civil Team Leader[caption id="attachment_79725" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]
Bike tour veterans Siri Soth, Kendall Hackney and Ashley Weldon taking a quick selfie break before cruising on to the next project stop.[/caption]
While several Austin office associates already have their own bikes, with some even biking to work on a regular basis, WGI also steps in to provide rentals for those who don't.
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Matt Stewart, VP of the Civil Division, discussing drainage and water quality in confined spaces with a few of the Civil team members.[/caption]
In essence, the purpose of the bike tour is to get out of the office for a bit and socialize with team members in a laid back and fun environment. The tour provides an opportunity to learn about projects that different teams are working on, hear about the small nuances and interesting details that came up during development, and see in person just how much of an impact WGI is making in our local community.
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WGI provided Civil and Traffic Engineering services to help IntraCorp Homes bring this 49-story residential building in downtown Austin to life. 44 East Ave is just steps away from the vibrant Rainey Street District and neighbors Lady Bird Lake and Waller Beach Park.[/caption]
“I think the bike tour is important because I don’t think a lot of the young engineers realize how much of an impact we have on this city. Within this 5 mile loop, we’ve seen 12 of our projects.” - Nick Corbet, Project Engineer
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[caption id="attachment_79786" align="aligncenter" width="768"]“Being new to Austin, it’s really great to see all the different contracts we have around here and all the different projects we’ve done. Then to intertwine all these really great local spots to just stop and see; these bars, the area; I’ve never seen anything like this!” - David Gerber, Transportation Project Engineer
The last of the bike tour participants enjoying a much earned frosty beverage at local favorite Yellow Jacket Social Club following the end of the ride.[/caption]