A wider path
I-30 work marks final stage of '99 bond package

By George Waldon

A 6.05-mile stretch of Interstate 30 - just south of Little Rock - is the largest road improvement project launched in Arkansas during 2002.

The project expands the highway from four lanes to six, constructing new median barrier walls, replacing two bridges over Hurricane Creek, widening the shoulder and resurfacing the frontage roads. APAC-Tennessee Inc. of Memphis won the $45.2 million contract and started work in mid-July 2002. The job should be complete in early 2005.

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Other components of the job include reconfiguring the Bryant interchange to increase the sight distance on the exit and entry ramps and rebuilding the overpass and expanding it from two lanes to four.

The job is the largest component of the state's Interstate Rehabilitation Program, funded with a $215 million bond issue.

The program represents the third and final part of a $575 million highway improvement bond package Arkansas voters approved in 1999. West of Alcoa Road - West of Pulaski County line is what the Arkansas Highway & Transportation Department dubbed the APAC project.

The work entails removing the old roadway and marginal base material, which is then replaced with higher-quality material for a higher load-bearing capacity.

A 1-in. base of asphalt is laid down, followed by 6 in. of cement-treated base material and topped off with 14 in. of concrete. The old concrete pavement is crushed and recycled for use in the base material at APAC's eight-acre base camp, which has a concrete plant, crusher and pug mill.

The project is coordinated off the north frontage road near Bryant, one of the fastest-growing communities in the state.

On any given day, as many as 100-150 workers are scattered over the 6 mi. of roadwork construction. AHTD mandated the workers to keep two lanes of traffic open in both directions at all times during construction.

The department estimates that about 75,000 vehicles a day pass through APAC's portion of I-30.

In addition to minimizing traffic disruption, the company is charged with bringing the project in on time, spurred by a formula of reward or punishment measured in money. APAC can pocket a $15,000-per-day bonus for early completion, with a maximum bonus of up to $900,000 (60 days).

For every day the project exceeds the deadline, companies face a $15,000-per-day penalty. Unlike the incentive formula for early completion, there is no maximum amount for penalty assessment by the state.

"That's why the urgency is there to keep going," said Murray Cline, APAC area manager. A wetter-than-normal May and June pushed the number of work days lost to weather since November to above 50.

The rain and ice required some juggling of the original construction schedule so that work could be shifted to better-drained areas of the jobsite and work could keep moving forward.

Concrete also was mixed with dirt to help stabilize the wet soil and speed up the drying process.

The contract calls for work to be finished after 400 working days.

"If we have a good winter this year and are able to keep
going, we can get out of here by early 2005," Cline said.
As of late summer, about 80 percent of phase two construction (building two new interior lanes and the median wall) was complete.

The load-bearing capacity of the westbound lanes already were beefed up from past roadwork, but the eastbound lanes weren't. This unusual situation allowed for some cost-saving creativity.

"What we saw the potential for on the west-bound side was to go ahead and

push the lanes out, do an overlay and minimal amount of widening," said Jim Smith, project engineer for APAC.

APAC was then able to reduce the amount of temporary road construction during the project. Based on preliminary figures, the move saved an estimated $2.2 million that would have been spent to lay and remove temporary asphalt to accommodate the shift of traffic onto the shoulders.

When the final count is finished, the savings will be split between APAC and the state highway department. The decision to not reroute traffic in a weave through the construction zones has made for a tidier flow of cars and trucks.

It also made completing the temporary roadways and access to the middle of the roadwork more tricky.

Among the major subcontractors on the project are Spartan Construction Inc. of Burlington, Ky. (pavement demo, earthwork and drainage), Weaver-Bailey Contractors Inc. of El Paso, Ark., (median barrier wall) and Muskogee (Okla.) Bridge Co., two interstate bridges and overpass.

APAC is the prime contractor on seven other highway projects in east Arkansas and a subcontractor on several other bridge jobs in the state.

The company also supplies asphalt and other construction materials to competing highway contractors.