A section of Canyon Road East can now claim it's the best county asphalt paving project in Western Washington.

Pierce County received the 2008 first place Quality Award for Asphalt Pavement Construction from Washington Asphalt Paving Association. The county's paving contractor, Tucci and Sons, Inc. of Tacoma, was a joint recipient of the award.

"This award affirms what we already knew – that our contractors, suppliers and project inspectors are the absolute best," said Brian Ziegler, director of Pierce County Public Works and Utilities.

Prime contractor on the project was SCI Infrastructure LLC of Pacific. The work, which was substantially complete by December 2008, widened 1.7 miles of Canyon Road East to six lanes with a median, added three new traffic signals and added concrete curb, gutter and sidewalks. Tucci and Sons applied approximately 57,000 tons of hot mix asphalt on the project.