ACPA Quarter 4 2018

www.acpa.org Quarter 4, 2018 23 Elgin O’Hare Western Access Tollway (IL Rte 390 & I-290 Interchange), Cook County, IL CONTRACTOR: Acura, Inc. OWNER: Illinois State Toll Highway Authority ENGINEER: CH2M Hill Negotiating the busy interchange between Illinois 53/I-290 and Thorndale Avenue in the Northwest suburbs of Cook County was often a challenge. But thanks to this Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA) project, tollway and roadway users now experience a much easier commute. Completely rebuilding and expanding that interchange while maintaining traffic volumes of more than 176,000 vehicles per day on the Interstate and over 78,000 vehicles per day on Thorndale Ave. can best be described as a marvel of bridge and road construction management, as well as construction staging to maintain the lane capacity to handle high volumes. This complex project required using two agencies’ requirements and specifica- tions—the tollway authority and the Illinois DOT’s. Acura, Inc., as part of its sub- contract to build the pavement on these busy IDOT and tollway sections was able to do so while maintaining a high level of quality required by both agencies. The project involved placing almost 83,000 SY of concrete for a total of 11.78 lane mi. Within the project there were 10 intersections/interchanges and 10 bridges along the route. The concrete pavement thickness was 10.5 in. on 3 in. asphalt base. The extremely heavy traffic on this busy tollway/DOT interchange necessitated the use of both lane reductions and staging to ensure a minimum of six lanes open on the northbound/southbound sections and four lanes on the eastbound/west- bound sections. In addition, all ramps were required to maintain at least one lane open for traffic during the construction. Divided Highways (Urban) US 24 Westbound – Constitution Ave. to Garrett Rd., Colorado Springs, CO CONTRACTOR: Castle Rock Construction Company OWNER: Colorado DOT Region 2 ENGINEER: Colorado DOT Region 2 US 24 Westbound connects Colorado Springs and Falcon, CO. Because the existing asphalt roadway was showing severe deterioration, it was determined the roadway needed complete replacement. The Colorado DOT decided to bid the project as an alternate bid/alternate design. Castle Rock Construction was awarded the project, which was awarded by a wide margin with the life-cycle cost adjustment. The project had a life-cycle cost adjustment of more than $1 million, and in contrast, the low asphalt bid was $100,000 under the second-place concrete bid. The sections were 7 in. hot mix versus 8.25 in. concrete. The project included 10,000 SY of asphalt planing and more than 75,500 SY of full-depth rec- lamation; more than 65,000 SY of 8.25 in. doweled concrete pavement; and traffic signal re- configurations. During the concrete portion of this project, heavy rains were no match for the project team, which made up time, allowing the award of most the early completion incentive. Castle Rock used an innovative testing procedure for the aggregates. Combined gradations were done three times daily in a pug mill to assure the mix was within the specified range for coarseness and workability, as well as to attain the amount of free water in the aggregates. This allowed the contractor to adjust batch water to maintain a very consistent batch. As a result of the hard work, commitment to quality, and attention to detail Castle Rock com- pleted the project on time and within budget and delivered a quality concrete pavement that will provide excellent service to travelers, residents, and visitors to these two popular Colorado cities. Divided Highways (Urban) E X C E L L E N C E A W A R D S MEMBER MEMBER