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ALDOT Plans Twin Bridges Over U.S. 231 Landslide Thousands in Service!
Vol. XXI • No. 9
“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded in 1957.”
Your Alabama Connection • Rich Olivier, Atlanta, GA • 1-800-409-1479
By Eric Olson CEG CORRESPONDENT
A dramatic combination of large pavement cracks and an underground landslide on U.S. Highway 231 near Huntsville, Ala., in the early morning hours of Feb. 13 prompted an immediate closure of roughly 1,000 ft. of the major four-lane highway. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey quickly issued a state of emergency to jumpstart the work of creating detours, cleaning up the damage and developing a sustainable plan to fix the important route. Since then, the Alabama DOT has been overseeing efforts to rebuild the highway along the side of one of
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the Brindlee Mountains, a range of hills in the area with elevations up to 1,300 ft. high. The destroyed portion of road is seven miles south of Huntsville, near Laceys Spring in Morgan County. No one was injured during the slide. Relentless Rain Led to Road Failure After studying the accident’s causes, engineers found that the slide was about 50 ft. below both the northbound and southbound highway. The cracks and eventual failure of the roadway were found to be the result of heavy rains that pounded North Alabama over the winter and has still been falling during cleanup operations. see LANDSLIDE page 2
Reed Contracting is using an ensemble of excavators, dump trucks, rock haulers and other heavy equipment to clear about 200,000 cu. ft. of debris from the site of the U.S. 231 underground landslide.
Page 2 • April 22, 2020 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Alabama State Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide
Reed Contracting Working on Long-Term Fix for U.S. 231
A fleet of Volvo dump trucks ready to remove some dirt from the job site from LANDSLIDE page 1
Under emergency procedures, ALDOT awarded the contract for the first phase of the U.S. 231 project to Reed Contracting Inc., a veteran heavy construction firm in Huntsville. The builder jumped right into the fray by removing broken pavement from the site the day after the state closed the highway. Since then, Reed has been working seven days a week, weather permitting, to excavate and haul away debris. The working estimate is the rebuild will cost approximately $18 million and could take up to a year to complete, according to ALDOT. The state received $5 million in emergency funding from the Federal Highway Administration in mid-March to get the work going. ALDOT expects additional federal assistance later in the year. The timeline, of course, is discouraging news for motorists and truckers that depend on U.S. 231 to commute into Huntsville from the south. The largely rural road is also a vital link for drivers traveling up and down Alabama from Tennessee to points south, including the cities of Montgomery and Dothan, all the way to Panama City, Fla. To help alleviate traffic issues, four detour routes have been set up by ALDOT for passenger and commercial traveling each way around the damaged area. Long-Term Fix Devised ALDOT decided early on that a simple rebuild of the road wouldn’t work because that could mean U.S. 231 would remain vulnerable unless the slide was somehow alleviated. Excavating to the depth of the slide, refilling it and reconstructing the road would provide no guarantee against future landslides. Other factors against a rebuild of the road are money and time. Even moving the road to an entirely new location would be impractical, cost-prohibitive and take years to complete. Rerouting the highway would involve time-consuming surveying, acquiring right of way, and obtaining environmental approvals – all before design and construction could even begin. Instead, the plan ALDOT is pursuing focuses squarely on the 1,000 ft. of affected roadway and will permanently address the slide area to make U.S. 231 safe for motorists. The transportation agency also believes the solution can be executed within a relatively brief timeframe, considering the magnitude of the problem. Twin Flyovers Built Above Landslide State engineers and geotechnical consultants have decided the best course of action is to construct two, 1,000-ft.-long
The working estimate is the rebuild will cost approximately $18 million and could take up to a year to complete.
bridges to span over and across the slide area on the existing roadway alignments. Bridge structures on drilled shafts will safeguard them from future slides, according to ALDOT. Bids will be opened for the bridge work in early May, said Curtis Vincent, an ALDOT North Region engineer. With that done, the state wants to provide notice to proceed to the winning bidders about a week later. “We anticipate the contractor(s) mobilizing immediately,” Vincent added. “A 12-month timeframe is just a working estimate. We hope that with incentives attached, the construction time will be between six and nine months.” Each of the two new U.S. 231 bridges will be 44 ft. wide from gutter to gutter (two 12-ft. lanes with 10-ft. shoulders). They will feature eight piers apiece (two abutments and six bents), each of them anchored by two shafts, for a project total of 32 shafts. Crews will install the shafts to be 7.5 to 8 ft. in diameter and excavated approximately 15 ft. into sound rock beneath the slide. “I feel this part of the project is unique in the fact that we are replacing 1,000 ft. of roadway on the side of a mountain with two bridges, which will be socketed into solid limestone to prevent any future movement due to sliding of the surface layers,” Vincent explained. The $18 million project figure is a working estimate as the final bridge design is still being completed, he said, adding that ALDOT decided to preorder and pay $2.4 million for the
girders and bearing pads in order to get the procurement and construction moving quickly. Excavation of Landslide Ongoing In the meantime, Reed Contracting is currently working hard to move tons of rock, dirt and asphalt from the affected area. More than two months after the slide, over 100,000 cu. yds. have been carried off from the site, despite Mother Nature’s delaying tactics. That number is about half the amount of material expected to be removed from the site. “We have continued to see heavy rainfall across North Alabama, but Reed has continued to work efficiently and has made great progress, with about 50,000 cu. yds. of material excavated in just the first three weeks,” Vincent reported. “Wet weather was most impactful during the stage in which we were obtaining information about the slide, as soggy and muddy conditions slowed drilling due to safety concerns and made access to some areas of the site more difficult for rigs.” So far, Reed Contracting has brought in six excavators, 20 dump trucks, five big rock haulers and various other equipment and tools to do the job. ALDOT North Region Public Affairs Officer Seth Burkett reported that his agency did not anticipate the COVID-19 outbreak will have much of an impact on the U.S. 231 repair project. CEG This Cat 374F is one of six excavators brought in by Reed Contracting for this project.
Construction Equipment Guide • Alabama State Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • April 22, 2020 • Page 3
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It took roughly nine years for ALDOT to acquire the land for the new lanes.
The main goal is to add additional lanes from south of the intersection of SR-104 north of Fairhope to south of the intersection of CR-64 in Belforest.
Ammons and Blackmon Progressing on SR 181 Widening By Irwin Rapoport CEG CORRESPONDENT
Crews from Ammons and Blackmon Construction LLC began work on the Alabama Department of Transportation’s (ALDOT) $19.9 million contract to widen 3.9 mi. of the north-south State Route 181 in August 2018 and are looking to complete the project in the spring of 2021. State officials saw a need to widen the 16mi.-long stretch of SR 181 nearly 15 years ago due to the growing area and increased traffic that comes with development. During the planning phase, the state decided that the route would be broken into four phases because of budgetary constraints. Widening efforts began on the first section in 2010, but future construction phases were never started due to funding shortfalls in Alabama’s overall transportation budget. The main goal is to add additional lanes from south of the intersection of SR-104 north of Fairhope to south of the intersection of CR-64 in Belforest. In doing so, the heavily traveled two-lane roadway will accommodate the increased traffic that the area has experienced in the last few years. Other elements include utility relocation, clearing, placing drainage, grading, paving, striping and installing traffic signals. “The existing lanes will become the two southbound lanes and the newly constructed lanes will be the northbound lanes,” said Katelyn E. Turner, ALDOT’s southwest region media and community relations officer. “The project planning began in 2008 but due to lack of sufficient funds, it wasn’t able to move forward.”
When funds from the 2010 BP oil spill settlement became available, this reignited conversations between ALDOT and the Baldwin County Commission, and the two agencies were able to collectively provide funding for portions of SR 181, as well as other much needed roadway projects in the county. Work is being financed with BP ($12.5 million) and state ($7.2 million) funds. This section of SR 181 was built in the 1970s, and over the years has been subject to repaving and upgrades. Prior to construction, just over 17,000 cars and trucks used the road daily. The widened road will be able to handle 34,000 vehicles and meet local traffic demands for the next 20 years. A combination of consultant engineering firms and ALDOT designers had a hand in designing the new road infrastructure. “The terrain is very flat and during heavy rain events that we typically have, the roadway can experience flooding and overtopping,” said Matthew Sellers, ALDOT’s project manager. “Some design challenges included providing sufficient drainage and detention facilities in relatively flat terrain and still meet discharge requirements in terms of stormwater runoff. Constructionwise, frequent rainfall and the coordination of utility relocation are common, minor challenges of our southwest region construction projects. Also, the soils in the area consist of clayey materials, which are finer in composition and makes construction more challenging and requires additional efforts in controlling stormwater runoff in terms of environmental permit compliance.” It took roughly nine years for ALDOT to
acquire the land for the new lanes. Traffic impacts are minimal. “There will be occasional, restricted lane closures associated with the project,” Turner said. “Drivers are encouraged to slow down and use caution in the work zone.” A grass median with a concrete curb border will separate the northbound and southbound lanes. The median will have turn lanes and signals. So far Ammons and Blackmon has completed 75 to 80 percent of the clearing and grubbing. “We’re very early in the project for utility relocations, and we’re close to finalizing all water upgrades from a utility relocation standpoint,” said Ken Irwin, Ammons and Blackmon’s project manager. “We’re selfperforming all of the sewer work. One of subcontractors, RAW Construction, did the natural gas relation for us. Rivera relocated their lines. AT&T is not quite finished with theirs. We have begun some road construction on approximately a quarter of a mile — building up an aggregate base and in another area, 1,000 ft. at the bottom of our approach roadbed. “We’ve also completed some storm drainage and installed some roadway pipe,” Irwin added, “But at this point, the weather has hampered us for the last few weeks — not having enough dry days to get anything done. We’re on the Gulf coast and typically this area gets more rain than other part of the United States. What we have is concentrated amounts of rainfall — two days of sunshine and then we get four inches of rain in three hours. We had to clean out two bridge culverts to 100 percent and we’re about to start excavating for another bridge culvert which
will be finalized when we switch traffic to the northbound road.” Erosion control has been a major issue and will continue throughout the year. The 2020 benchmarks will be to get the northbound road completed and a substantial amount of the southbound road completed. “Part of the northbound relocation will require some temporary signalization at the south end and the major intersections of SR 104,” Irwin said. “At that point we’ll move the existing road as it is now and begin making improvements, and from a drainage and structural buildup standpoint, start making improvements and move everything to the outside lanes and new road. For the existing road, we will finalize the median improvements. There have been some as we were building up the northbound road, such as the curb — a standup curb, and we’ll do as much of that as we can.” The crews are putting in days shifts when they can, although some night work may be required. “ALDOT has been very fair with the assignment of time if it’s too wet to work,” Irwin stated. “We don’t typically get charged and we resolve issues rapidly.” There are multiple work sites for excavation, borrow placement and bridge culvert operations. The clearing and grubbing operations are proceeding smoothly. “There was an area that was left wooded, a blue line stream that is acting as a drainage ditch for the existing road,” Irwin said. “Later on, we’ll build a new ditch and the water will be diverted on the outside of the new lanes. We still have to do some selective see WIDENING page 10
Construction Equipment Guide • Alabama State Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • April 22, 2020 • Page 5
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Page 6 • April 22, 2020 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Alabama State Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide
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Construction Equipment Guide • Alabama State Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • April 22, 2020 • Page 7
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Montgomery • Jefferson • Talladega • Calhoun • Russell • Walker • Lawrence • Dekalb • Morgan • St. Clair • Tuscaloosa • Morgan • Shelby •Alabama… Bibb •Hale • Fayette • Marion • Winston • Cullman • Shelby • Chilton • Chambers • Covington • Baldwin • Clarke • Monroe • St. Clair • Chilton • Escambia• Montgomery • Jefferson • Russell • Fayette • Conecuh • Coffee • Geneva • Montgomery • Jefferson • Talladega • Bibb • Coffee • Calhoun • Russell • • Walker• Lawrence• Dekalb • Morgan • St. Clair • Tuscaloosa • Bibb• Hale • Fayette • Monroe • Clarke • Winston • Cullman • Shelby • Chilton • Chambers • Covington • Baldwin • Clarke • Monroe • Montgomery • Jefferson • Talladega
‘The Yellowhammer State’ Highway Project Lettings
The Alabama State Department of Transportation received bids for transportation-related improvement projects. Following is a list of some of the projects let.
County: Lowndes Contract ID: 2019083003 Project: Bridge replacement (grading, drainage, pavement and bridge). Location: On SR 8 (U.S. 80) over Big Swamp Creek. Contractors and Bid Amounts: • Murphree Bridge Corporation — $6,462,591 • McInnis Construction LLC — $6,810,020 • Newell & Bush Inc. — $6,870,848 • Wright Brothers Construction Company Inc. — $7,184,528 • Brasfield & Gorrie LLC — $9,258,617 County: Pickens Contract ID: 20190830007 Project: Planing, resurfacing and traffic stripe. Location: On CR 63 from 0.900 mi. south of the junction of Snider Road to the junction of SR 6 (U.S. 82). Contractors and Bid Amounts: • S. T. Bunn Construction Company Inc. — $1,056,348 • Midsouth Paving Inc. — $1,109,802 County: Cleburne Contract ID: 20190830010 Project: Soil nail wall, scour/erosion, resurface, patch and drainage. Location: On Cheaha Road near the junction of Cheaha Lake Drive. Contractors and Bid Amounts: • Proshot Concrete Inc. — $647,392 • MSE Building Company Inc. — $729,877 • F & W Construction Company Inc. — $1,343,300 County: Winston Contract ID: 20190830011 Project: Resurfacing (scrub seal) and traffic stripe. Location: On CR 23 from SR 195 to CR 60 and on CR 60 from CR 23 to the Lawrence County line. Contractors and Bid Amounts: • Rogers Group Inc. — $1,597,977 • Good Hope Contracting Company Inc. — $1,634,285 • Wiregrass Construction Company Inc. — $1,850,810 County: Madison Contract ID: 20190830019 Project: Safety improvements (widening, scoring, signs and stripe). Location: On Ryland Pike from the junction of SR 2 (U.S. 72) to the junction of Everett Road. Contractors and Bid Amounts: • Midsouth Paving Inc. — $760,114 • Wiregrass Construction Company Inc. — $798,980 • Reed Contracting Services Inc. — $1,043,153
County: Randolph Contract ID: 20190830033 Project: Resurfacing (full depth reclamation), guardrail and stripe. Location: On CR 87 from the junction of CR 438 to the intersection of SR 48 in Graham. Contractors and Bid Amounts: • Gary Ingram Grading & Paving Inc. — $1,216,346 • McCartney Construction Company Inc. — $1,450,091 • Blount Construction Company Inc. — $1,466,930 • Midsouth Paving Inc. — $1,477,721 County: Calhoun Contract ID: 20190830037 Project: Intersection improvements; bicycle and pedestrian improvements. Location: On 4th Street at Noble Street and on Noble Street from 4th Street to the junction of SR 202 in Annistion. Contractors and Bid Amounts: • Midsouth Paving Inc. — $681,505 • McCartney Construction Company Inc. — $687,238 County: St. Clair Contract ID: 20190830048 Project: Scour countermeasures. Location: On SR 4 (U.S. 78) and SR 34 at various locations over the Coosa River as indicated in the plans. Contractors and Bid Amounts: • Triple T Construction LLC — $349,298
• Riley Bridge Company Inc. — $437,103 • The Bridge Builders of Alabama LLC — $610,585 County: Montgomery Contract ID: 20190830043 Project: Turn lanes (grade, drain, pavement, traffic signs and stripe). Location: On SR 110 (Eastbound Lane) to the intersection of CR 85 (Pike Road) Contractors and Bid Amounts: • David Bulger Inc. — $550,328 • Dubose Construction Company LLC — $584,442 • Wiregrass Construction Company Inc. — $668,441 County: Dallas Contract ID: 20190830032 Project: Widening, resurfacing and traffic stripe. Location: On CR 52 from the junction of CR 63 to the Autauga County line. Contractors and Bid Amounts: • Asphalt Contractors Inc. — $526,152 • Wiregrass Construction Company Inc. — $609,269 County: Dale Contract ID: 20190830046 Project: Planing, resurfacing and traffic stripe. Location: On SR 53 (U.S. 231) at the rest area (drive and parking area) south of Ozark. Contractors and Bid Amounts: • Midsouth Paving Inc. — $235,686 • Wiregrass Construction Company Inc. — $239,105
Construction Equipment Guide • Alabama State Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • April 22, 2020 • Page 9
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More Than 300K Tons of Earth Moved for New SR 181 Lanes WIDENING from page 4
clearing. There were a couple of houses that had to be demolished that had some asbestos issues which had to be mitigated. That went well and did not impact the schedule at all.” The excavators and dozers engaged in the clearing work are equipped with GPS systems, and debris is removed daily and brought to a permitted disposal site. “Most areas are cut approximately 2 ft. on the roadway,” Irwin explained. “Every linear foot of roadway is getting two lifts of 6-in., soil approved roadbed, 6 in. of aggregate base, and 6 in. of asphalt. In many areas there’s not a lot of elevation changes and we’re stripping organics and topsoil.” Lane construction on the northbound section may be completed in the fall and June 2021 for the southbound lanes, which could be extended into July. “We’ll be using one paving crew,” Irwin said. “As we get enough established, we’ll install a lower binder so we can work off it and as we get closer to ensure that those areas are stabilized and completed the outside drainage area, the northbound lanes will be temporarily striped.” Several bridge culverts will be excavated throughout the project. Irwin is assisted by
Wayne Palmer, the project superintendent and Chad Ammons, the owner of Ammons and Blackmon. “Palmer has done a good job managing and juggling utilities and roadways, and Ammons is working closely with me, providing a lot of input,” Irwin stated. “It’s a good team dynamic, and the crews have done well. We’re blessed to have some qual-
Crews removed 308,208 tons of earth for the new lanes.
ity individuals leading our teams.” Peak days have had 15 Ammons and Blackmon and subcontractor personnel onsite. The subcontractors include: C Thornton Inc. for bridge culverts, box culverts, pipe end treatments and concrete median/safety barrier; Parker Grassing for permanent seeding, permanent mulching and solid sodding; Mobile Asphalt Company for asphalt paving; Ozark Striping for traffic markings; and Bagby and Russell for signalization. Crews removed 308,208 tons of earth for the new lanes. New materials should total around 6,000 tons of concrete, 64,873 tons of asphalt, 92 tons of rebar, 280,000 tons of imported borrow and 51,000 tons of crushed aggregate base. Equipment-wise, Ammons and Blackmon is using: Dozers — a Cat D5K2, a Cat D6K LGP and a John Deere 450J; Excavators — a Volvo ECR 305 CL, a Cat 336 and a Cat 336 EL, a John Deere 350GLC and a Komatsu PC 490L C-10; Loaders – a Cat 938G and a Cat 420 F2; a Cat AP600 paver; Rollers — a Cat CS54 and a Volvo SD 115 BD/F; and a Wirtgen SP 15i curb machine. “We’re using a lot of tracked equipment and you have a lot of typical wear and tear
Crews from Ammons and Blackmon Construction LLC began work on ALDOT’s $19.9 million contract to widen SR 181 in 2018 and hope to wrap construction in spring 2021.
on your undercarriages and that happens relatively fast,” Irwin explained. “We do a good job of keeping up with that. There are also some issues with cutting edges on blades for the grading and operations. We don’t have a lot of old equipment and we’re in close proximity to our equipment supplier that sends in mechanics as needed. We also have our own in-house mechanic that handles all of our onsite operations.” The company purchases and rents equipment from Thompson Caterpillar in Spanish Fort, Ala.; Cowin Equipment (Volvo) in Mobile, Ala.; Beard Equipment (John Deere) in Mobile, Ala.; and TEC (Komatsu/ Wirtgen) in Pensacola, Fla. “When we make a major equipment purchase, we allow all of the major brands to be included in the process,” Irwin said. “We’re very honest with our approach and we give everyone a fair opportunity to make their pitch. We also have real conversations with each company to let them know what we're looking for and what we think is the best fit from a product standpoint. That allows us to have a pretty good relationship with all the major equipment companies that we deal with. We have a history of integrity in the way we handle our purchases.” CEG
The soils in the area consist of clayey materials, which are finer in composition and makes construction more challenging.
Construction Equipment Guide • Alabama State Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • April 22, 2020 • Page 11
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Page 12 • April 22, 2020 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Alabama State Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide
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