Intermountain Contractor’s Top Projects of 2009 in Utah and Idaho

12 I-80 Reconstruction – State Street to 1300 East $137.5 M

Owner: UDOT
GC: Ralph L. Wadsworth Construction Co.
Engineers: Horrocks Engineers; H.W. Lochner
Key Subs: Harper Contracting; Kilgore Paving; Utah Pacific Bridge & Steel; Pacific Coast Steel; Harper Ready Mix; Hunt Electric; ACE Landscaping; Custom Fence Company; Interstate Barricades; Mammoet USA, Inc.; Concrete Placing Company (CPC)

advertisement

The I-80 Reconstruction project includes a two-mile stretch of interstate intended to improve the safety and capacity of I-80 from State Street to 1300 East in Salt Lake City. The project consists of the replacement of 15 bridges, 120,000-sq-ft of retaining walls, 200,000-cu-yds of concrete pavement, and 12,000 lf of noise walls. The project is part of UDOT’s innovative and forward-thinking “Innovate 80” initiative. UDOT has been praised nationally for implementing leading technology in its transportation systems such as the Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) techniques that are being used on this project. The Innovate 80 projects are being closely monitored by many DOT agencies nationwide and are seen as major successes.

Seven of the new bridges have been constructed using advanced ABC bridge construction techniques. A ‘bridge farm’ was constructed at the 1300 East loop ramp where the seven bridges were first constructed in their entirety on temporary abutments and then moved one-by-one starting in late June of 2008. The bridges were moved into place using Self-Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMT’s). All seven bridges were moved in a little over a month’s time. The moves were accomplished safely and with minimal impacts to the public. In 2008, UDOT’s “Innovate 80” projects constituted approximately 30 percent of the total ABC bridges constructed in the United States, more than any other DOT, as estimated by Visant Mistry of the Federal Highway Administration. The project is slated for completion December 2009.

Click here for Main Feature Story >>