In and Out in 72 Hours
Seventy-two hours and time to spare. Faced with three intersections
on U.S. 395 in Kennewick, Washington, that needed to be completely
reconstructed last fall, the Washington State Department of Transportation
(DOT) took the unconventional route and shut each intersection down
completely for one weekend to perform the necessary repair work with
full depth concrete. The roads were closed at 7:00 p.m. on a Thursday
and were required to be reopened by 6:00 a.m. on Monday. In each case,
the contractor, Inland Asphalt, completed the work ahead of schedule
and the roads were back in service by Sunday evening.
"Many people think concrete streets require 14 or 28 days of
curing before allowing traffic on them," says Tom Nelson of the
American Concrete Pavement Association (ACPA). However, these intersections
were reconstructed with a high early-strength Portland cement concrete
mix that allowed the roads to be opened to traffic within about 12
hours. To ensure that the project stayed on schedule, the contractor
used a critical path timeline based on hours, not days. Inland Asphalt
also employed such techniques as keeping an extra milling machine
onsite as a backup, in case the machine being used broke down.
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| Three
intersections in Kennewick, Washington, were completely closed
to traffic for 3 days, allowing for uninterrupted reconstruction
work. |
Equally critical was keeping area residents and businesses informed
about the reconstruction plans and letting motorists know about alternate
routes. Numerous meetings were held during the design phase of the
project to allow for public input. The DOT also contacted local business
owners prior to the construction work to explain the reconstruction
process and held weekly meetings to update the media. Media coverage
started a week before the actual road closures, which allowed the
public time to prepare for using detour routes. "Going into this,
the community was skeptical. But when all was said and done, they
were very happy that they were only affected one weekend," says
Nelson.
Following the weekend closures, the DOT interviewed about 40 businesses
surrounding the intersections. While all of the businesses reported
being affected by the closures and most had experienced a loss in
sales, every respondent indicated that he or she would support weekend
closures in the future for reconstruction work, rather than construction
occurring over a longer period of time. Typical responses included:
"Less impact overall," "Get it over with-It is more
clogged doing it during the week," and "Businesses will
not be affected as long with closures."
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| The
three intersections were reconstructed with full depth concrete |
"The DOT's South Central Region was very pleased with the way
things went. The project ran smoothly. We got the people in, got the
job done, and impacted the public for just a short time," says
Jeff Uhlmeyer of Washington State DOT.
To highlight the project and how it was accomplished, the Washington
State DOT, Federal Highway Administration, and ACPA held an open house
on June 19, 2001. The event was intended for design and construction
personnel, material suppliers, contractors, and representatives from
government agencies. It drew 75 people from Canada, Oregon, Idaho,
Montana, and Washington State, with city and county agencies, public
works offices, contractors, consultants, and State DOT officials all
represented. Attendees heard from the project engineer and the contractor,
as well as the city manager and local merchants. They also had the
opportunity to tour the project sites and see the finished product.
"Everyone was very impressed," says Nelson.
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The intersection reconstruction work was documented as part of the
Innovative Pavement Research Foundation's research program. A video
and report on the reconstructions are currently being prepared.
For more information on the Kennewick intersection reconstructions,
contact Jeff Uhlmeyer at Washington State DOT, 360-709-5485 (email:
uhlmeyj@wsdot.wa.gov), or
Tom Nelson at ACPA, 360-956-7080 (email: nelsontl@uswest.net).
Other
articles in this issue:
In Brief
In and Out in 72 hours
Rhode Island keeps bridge data at its fingertips
National Pavement Preservation forum II: Protection our investment
New standard adopted for recycled glass in pavements
FHWA course offers new look at pavement preservation
Highway technology calendar
