Arizona 19 2016

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ARIZONA STATE EDITION

A Supplement to:

®

September 18 2016 Vol. I • No. 19

“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded in 1957.” Your Arizona Connection – Dennis Hogeboom – 1-877-7CEGLTD – dennishogeboom@cegltd.com

Work Under Way on $41M Project to Widen State Route 86 AZDOT photo

AZDOT photo

Work has begun on a $41 million project to widen southern Arizona’s State Route 86 (Ajo Way) from Valencia Road to Kinney Road.

By Chuck Harvey CEG CORRESPONDENT

Work has begun on a $41 million project to widen southern Arizona’s State Route 86 (Ajo Way) from Valencia Road to Kinney Road. The project is located in Pima County near Tucson. A

dirt median will also be provided for added safety. In March, construction crews began relocating vegetation and utilities and started moving earth in preparation for widening the 7-mi. (11.3 km) segment of SR-86. The highway will be expanded from two lanes to four lanes between

The project also includes construction of two bridge structures. Bridges will cross Black Wash and Snyder Hill Wash.

Valencia Road and Sheridan Avenue and will be upgraded to a six-lane highway from Sheridan Avenue to Kinney Road. The contractor, Ashton Contractors and Engineers of Tucson, has started preparation of the site. In addition to SR-86 widening,

the project calls for widening of Kinney Road and realignment and widening of Camino Verde. The project also includes construction of two bridge structures. Bridges will cross Black Wash and Snyder Hill Wash. “There will be five new concrete box culverts and 11 existing ones

will be extended,” said Dustin Krugel, Arizona Department of Transportation public information officer. Traffic signals will be installed at Valencia Road, San Joaquin Road, Camino Verde and Kinney Road. see WIDEN page 6

ADOT Replants Saguaros on Loop 101 Drivers on the now-wider Loop 101 (Pima Freeway), where new lanes have been added south of Shea Boulevard, may also have noticed construction crews working in recent months to transplant large saguaros, other cactuses and trees that had temporarily been stored in nurseries near the freeway. Many of the tall saguaros have been around longer than Arizona has been a state. As part of the Arizona Department of Transportation's $74 million project to improve an 11-mi. (17.7 km) stretch of Loop 101 between Shea Boulevard and Loop 202 (Red Mountain Freeway), the project team early on salvaged more than a thousand plants. That includes approximately 400 saguaros that are now back as part of the desert-based landscaping next to the freeway. ADOT worked closely with the Salt River PimaMaricopa Indian Community and the city of Scottsdale on the plans for salvaging, storing and transplanting the cactuses and other plants, including thorny ocotillos and iron-

wood trees. “This restoration work is challenging but also very rewarding because many of the saguaros are more than a hundred years old and it’s great to have them in place as an iconic symbol of Arizona,” said Richard Adamson, ADOT landscape construction supervisor. The plant-restoration work next to Loop 101 ramped up this summer, with crews using heavy equipment to transport individual plants from each of the nurseries to a location mapped out for their replanting. In addition to the plants that were saved over the last two years, crews also are adding approximately 10,000 new shrubs, trees and cactuses along the freeway. “We’ve learned a lot over the years about including plant restoration in our freeway-improvement projects,” said Madhu Reddy, district engineer for ADOT’s Central Construction District in Phoenix. “Local communities support these efforts and we receive compliments from local

Construction crews worked in recent months to transplant large saguaros, other cacti and trees that had temporarily been stored in nurseries near the freeway.

residents and Valley visitors who like what they’re seeing.” To see a video about how ADOT went about transplanting saguaros visit youtu.be/kCUj543hvZQ. For more information, visit azdot.gov/Loop101. (This story also can be found on Construction Equipment Guide’s website at www.constructionequipmentguide.com.)


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