State Supplement sponsored by:
441
59
75
Cornella 19
Rome 85 27
Athens
GEORGIA STATE EDITION
A Supplement to:
441
Atlanta
20
Madison Augusta
85
20
Griffin 1
129
Milledgeville
75
La Grange
Macon
301
185 19
16
Dublin
Swainsboro Oak Park
Columbus
Statesboro
341 441 16
Lyons Americus
Savannah
McRae
301
1
Cordele
27 82
Dorchester
341
Cuthbert
75
Albany
84
Douglas Tifton
82
95
82
Blakely
Pearson 27 84
Moultrie
19 319
Bainbridge
84
Valdosta Thomasville
THOUSANDS of units in service
Waycross Brunswick 82
1 441
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Vol. XIX • No. 8
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Your Georgia Connection: Rich Olivier, Atlanta, GA • 1-800-409-1479 Reames and Son Construction Company Inc. (RSCC) has been executing a variety of road and bridge elements.
*On approved credit • Financing Available
Reconstruction of I-75 Interchange to Improve Safety, Visibility By Irwin Rapoport CEG CORRESPONDENT
Work began last August on the Georgia Department of Transportation’s (GDOT) $49 million Reconstruction of I-75 Exits 29 and 22 in Lowndes County. Reames and Son Construction Company Inc. (RSCC) has been executing a variety of road and bridge elements. The project should be delivered on April 30, 2020. Reconstructing Exits 29 and 22 will improve traffic flow and capacity and improve visibility for drivers exiting the ramps, according to a GDOT press release. “\The bridges were built in 1960 and the design is outdated for current and projected traffic. [The] bridges will be widened to four lanes with turn lanes, paved shoulders and concrete medians. Northbound ramps at Exit 22, U.S. 41/SR 7/North Valdosta Road near Valdosta, will be reconstructed as a conventional diamond design. Southbound ramps will remain as is. At Exit 29, all ramps will be a conventional diamond design. The new bridges will be built adjacent to the existing overpasses, which will not close during the first phase of construction and until traffic can be moved onto part of the new overpasses.” There has been a need for a rebuild for some time. “It’s a big bridge initiative and a tremendous investment on the part of GDOT,” said Tim Golden, who rep-
resents Georgia’s 8th congressional district on the state transportation board. “These bridges were a major priority for me when I was first elected to the board. They are vital entry points to Hahira and Valdosta and I am extremely grateful to the many people at GDOT and throughout the community who helped make this happen.” Exit 29 is the state Route 122/Main Street interchange at Hahira and Exit 22 is U.S. 41/SR 7/North Valdosta Road near Valdosta. According to GDOT, the existing bridges are narrow, which makes it difficult for motorists at the top of the ramps to see oncoming traffic. Both routes are two lanes and SR 122 doesn’t have turn lanes. A short SR 7 westbound turn lane for traffic to go south on I-75 often backs up, which blocks through traffic. The project was designed by Moreland Altobelli Associates Inc., Duluth, Ga. “Traffic projections are estimated for a 20-year period and the design must accommodate that figure,” said GDOT’s Nita Birmingham, district communications officer, southwest Georgia district office. “Staged construction and utility relocation pose the biggest challenges. They have to be resolved daily on a case-by-case basis.” The design life for bridges designed with the AASHTO Bridge Standard Specifications is 50 years, according to GDOT’s office of bridge design. However, this is more see INTERCHANGE page 2
Port of Savannah Building $127M Rail Hub to Target Midwest SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — The Port of Savannah began construction March 27 on a $127 million rail terminal designed for longer trains that can take advantage of bigger cargo ships arriving at the busy seaport and target new customers in the Midwest. The new hub for transferring cargo between trains and docked ships will be a “game changer” for Savannah, the nation’s fourth-busiest container port, said Jimmy Allgood, board chairman for the Georgia Ports Authority. It will replace two smaller rail terminals at the port. The new Mason Mega Rail terminal will
add thousands of extra feet of track to enable the port to load trains that are 10,000 feet long. It also will double Savannah’s capacity to move 40-ft. cargo containers by rail to 1 million containers per year by 2028. About half the added capacity will be available as soon as 2020. The port authority’s goal is to expand Savannah’s customer base farther inland and compete for cargo that currently moves through ports on the West Coast. Allgood said the new terminal will allow CSX and Norfolk Southern trains to carry cargo directly to cities such as Chicago, St. Louis
and Cincinnati, shaving up to 24 hours off transit times. “It will open a new corridor for American commerce to and from the Midwest,” Gov. Nathan Deal said in a statement. Port officials say the longer, more efficient trains will also reduce the need for trucks to haul cargo, removing about 200,000 tractortrailers from Georgia highways each year. The rail expansion comes as larger cargo ships are coming to Savannah through the recently expanded Panama Canal. The Army Corps of Engineers is about midway through
a $973 million deepening of the Savannah River shipping channel that links the port to the Atlantic Ocean. The big ships are already arriving, though they have to carry lighter loads and navigate the river at higher tides. Savanah is already seeing more cargo as a result. The port last year handled a record 4 million container units, each equal to one-half a standard 40-ft. shipping container. (This story also can be found on Construction Equipment Guide’s website at www.constructionequipmentguide.com.)