John Carlo Co. Inc. (JCI), among Michigan’s leading road paving and construction companies, has received a pair of prestigious, national industry awards for its reconstruction work on I-275 — Detroit’s largest commuter highway — through Wayne and Oakland counties.
American Concrete Paving Association (ACPA) recognized JCI with a National Awards Program for Excellence in Concrete Pavement Award in the Divided Highways (Urban) category. The annual award recognizes contractors, engineers and owners who completed outstanding projects.
National Quality Initiative (NQI) also has awarded JCI with a Gold Making a Difference 2000 Achievement Award in the Breaking the Mold category. The prize is awarded annually to top project and organizational teams that have excelled in the principles of quality improvement.
Both awarding bodies noted JCI’s accomplishments related to the project’s immense scope, innovations, state-of-the-art equipment and ahead-of-schedule completion.
“We are quite proud to have our work recognized among the best in the country by these respected organizations,” said Steve Gregor, manager, Concrete Division of JCI.
“These awards are testament to the dedication and teamwork of everyone involved, from our employees to Wilcox Associates [engineer] and the Michigan Department of Transportation.”
Among JCI’s project innovations and accomplishments, noted by the ACPA and NQI was a 36-ft. (11 m) rather than 24-ft. (7.3 m) wide paving machine, capable of paving three lanes at once.
The Gomaco 4000, “was dubbed the Intimidator by our company,” said Steve Gregor, concrete division manager of JCI. The unit features an in-the-pan dowel inserter with 32 dowel bars spread out along the width of the paver.
“Every 15 feet the unit’s forks push the dowel bars into the proper elevation and depth for laying the paving material,” said Gregor. “The material is described as P modified concrete, a high-quality mixture of two grades of aggregate blended on site.”
The I-275 project is one of Michigan’s first design-build warranty projects, with a guarantee of five years. According to Gregor, JCI felt that the high quality of materials and workmanship made the warranty viable.
The $50-million I-275 project entailed the design, paving and reconstruction of a 6-mi. (9.7 km) stretch of divided interstate highway between M-14 and I-696. It required:
• Replacement of more than 50 lane mi. (80.5 km) of 12-ft. (3.7 m) wide pavement;
• Demolition and reconstruction of two bridges; and
• Rebuilding and painting of 10 other bridges, with all construction occurring under traffic (200,000 cars per day).
In order to control traffic during the project, JCI used a barrier wall system involving the running of cables on a bridge form of post tensioning.
The system was set up on the northbound section while work progressed on the southbound section. The barrier was then cut and moved in 20-ft. (6 m) sections so work could begin on the northbound section. According to Gregor, the company is considering seeking a patent on the barrier wall system.
Even with having to battle traffic, JCI completed the project ahead of schedule and in one construction season. Gregor attributes the success of the project on a lot of scheduling, planning and the help and cooperation of the Department of Transportation.
“Everyone involved made a heart-felt effort to work as a team and make this happen,” said Gregor. He also mentioned that 40 concrete-hauling trucks, three on-site batch plants and two PS-60 placer/spreaders made the work go faster.
The PS-60 is designed to spread material in widths from 12 to 32 ft. (3.7 to 9.8 m). The strike-off features dual telescoping capabilities to easily change widths and is hydraulically adjustable for precise control over the depth of material.
The project was originally scheduled to take two years, but was completed in 155 days.
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