The project began on March 26, 2020 and is expected to be complete by October 2021.
The Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT) is currently working on a project to reconstruct approximately 4.716 mi. of Interstate 555 through Jonesboro. Additional work includes overlaying five overpasses along I-555 and hydrodemolition and overlay of four bridges on I-555.
The contract for $33,837,374.87 was awarded to Koss Construction Company of Topeka, Kan., with funding coming from both federal and state sources. The contract calls for work to be completed in 497 calendar days.
The project began on March 26, 2020, and is expected to be complete by October 2021.
According to Brad Smithee, district engineer of ArDOT, the project consists of removal and disposal items; earthwork, trenching and shoulder preparation; aggregate base course; ACHM base; binder and surface courses; ACHM patching of existing roadway; approach gutters; minor drainage; erosion control; pavement markers; guardrail; wire rope safety fence; concrete barrier wall; maintenance of traffic; grooving; protective surface treatment; hydrodemolition; bridge deck repair; concrete overlay; polymer overlay; and miscellaneous items.
Smithee reported that challenges with the job involved the installation of temporary median ramps and crossovers.
"Since this project consists of full-depth reconstruction of both the northbound and southbound lanes, traffic is first shifted head-to-head in the southbound lanes while work is being performed in the northbound lanes," he said. "In order to have this happen, several temporary ramps and median crossovers have to be installed. Same is required when traffic is shifted head-to-head in the northbound lanes and work is started in the southbound lanes."
Existing soil conditions also were challenging. The new asphalt paving structure requires the existing concrete to be removed along with the base and a few inches of earthwork underneath.
"What's left is the existing roadbed, which is requiring some added soil stabilization [lime] to reduce moisture and increase stability," Smithee said. "A change order was completed to address this issue in the northbound lanes with a cost of approximately $1.1 million and added 29 calendar days to the project."
He noted that along with the work on the roadway, bridge work also was included in this project. The bridge work included polymer overlay work, joint rehabilitation and new guardrail on the overpasses at Highway 463, Red Wolf Boulevard, Caraway Road, Harrisburg Road, Southwest Drive and Willow Road. Additionally, hydrodemolition and latex-modified concrete overlay work is required for four bridges on Interstate 555, two bridges in the northbound lane and two bridges in the southbound lanes.
"This project requires a Motorist Assistance Patrol Truck to patrol the traffic lanes in the construction zone during lane closures and providing basic assistance to stalled motorists," Smithee said. "This project also requires the contractor to provide a CPM schedule to plan, coordinate and manage the work and provide updates to ArDOT on a monthly basis."
The project has a daily road user cost of $82,000 per day. For early completion of the project, the contractor will be paid $82,000 for each calendar day the specified site use work is substantially complete before the number of calendar days stated by the contractor in the bid, up to a maximum of 15 days.
Likewise, failure to substantially complete the specified site use work within the number of calendar days stated by the contractor in the bid will result in the daily road user cost of $82,000 being assessed for every calendar day in excess of the stated number, up to the time in which the specified site use work is substantially complete.
Subcontractors include API for asphalt paving; Time Striping for wire rope safety fence, guardrail items and traffic control items; Hydroblasters SE LLC for hydrodemolition; Total Erosion Control Inc. for erosion control items (seeding, sand bag ditch checks, etc.); Hostetter Construction Inc for pipe underdrain and outlet protectors; Sugg Construction Inc. for trenching and shoulder prep and asphalt paving; Ram Construction Services of Michigan for polymer overlay; Gerdan Slipforming for concrete ditch paving (type B); Surface Preparation Technologies for rumble stripe in asphalt shoulders; Contractor's Specialty Service Co. for striping items (construction and permanent markings); RMI Worldwide LLC for removal and disposal of concrete pavement (breaking); Creative Design Concepts for approach gutters; Surveys Inc. for survey work and roadway construction control; and American Contracting and Services Inc. for latex modified concrete overlay.
Major equipment used on the job is all owned by the prime contractor or subcontractor. The list includes a Cat trackhoe; a motorist assistance patrol truck; a Roadtec shuttle buggy; a Wirtgen 2000 milling machine; a Cat 140M motor grader; a Cat dozer; a Weiler E1250A shuttle buggy; asphalt paving rollers; a Wirtgen 240 soil stabilizer (mixer); a Roadtec paver; a Cat skid steer; a water truck and a John Deere trackhoe. CEG
Brenda Ruggiero
Brenda Ruggiero has written for CEG for over 20 years. She lives near the town of Accident in far western Maryland. Her favorite assignments so far involved interviews with Survivor’s Boston Rob and hot dog eating champion Joey Chestnut. Both were involved in construction at one time.
Brenda holds a BA in Mass Communication with a writing focus from Frostburg State University and minors in Public Relations and Political Science. She works full time as a staff writer for a weekly newspaper, the Garrett County Republican. She enjoys feature writing the most, which gives her the opportunity to talk to people and share their stories.
Brenda and her middle school sweetheart, Reuben, have been married for over 34 years and have three grown children and four cats.
Read more from Brenda Ruggiero here.
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