90 80
OHIO STATE EDITION
6
A Supplement to:
422
6 80 24
6
4
71
76
199 30 30 75
68
30 77
71 23 22 68
4
70 70
70
22 71
75
77
27
March 2 2013
22 74
50
50 25
Vol. XVIII • No. 5
35
52
“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded in 1957.” Your Ohio Connection: Ed Bryden, Strongsville, OH • 1-800-810-7640
Ensuring Business as Usual During I-75 Reconstruction Irwin Rapoport CEG CORRESPONDENT
While the reconstruction of 1.21 mi. (1.9 km) of Interstate 75 (I-75) in Dayton, Ohio may seem small, this nearly $60 million project financed by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) has an ambitious agenda that would test any general contractor. The work (three major stages and 18 substages) began in March 2010 and should be complete in June/July. The project has The Ruhlin Company and subcontractors adding an additional lane in each direction; the replacement of structures (bridges, etc.) over Stewart, Germantown, Albany, and Washington streets; work over CSX and Norfolk Southern Railroad tracks and Edwin C. Moses Boulevard; partial replacement of bridges over Cincinnati Street and U.S.-35; and the removal of the partial diamond interAn overhead view of project Interstate 75 in Dayton, Ohio.
At peak there were seven excavators (three Cat 336 EL, two Komatsu PC228 USLC, one Cat 345BL and one Cat M-318), four Volvo L-120 wheel loaders and five bulldozers (two Komatsu D37, one Cat D-4, one Deere 550 and one Cat D-6)
change with Albany Street and the bridge over abandoned Conrail Railroad tracks. There also is some road re-alignment work for new ramps on the I-75 and I-35. “This project contains many challenges including a requirement to maintain service to 125,000 vehicles per-day,” said Superintendent Jim Ruhlin Jr., “necessitating a complex maintenance of traffic plan and the work in the Great Miami River consisted of excavation of 100,000 cubic yards [CY] of channel material for use as embankment behind MSE retaining walls. The portion of the project over Norfolk Southern and CSX Railroads involved demolition and reconstruction of mainline I-75 bridges and ramps over heavily used tracks. A complex CPM schedule with over 1,200 activities was utilized to help manage the work.” The rerouting of traffic required three major diversions (via seven day notifications) and working with the city, ODOT and the University of Dayton to plan the lane
closures. This and the pre-planning and coordination with various stakeholders needed to be thorough. This included getting various utilities on-board. “Most of them did a pretty good job and they were out of our way by the time we got there,” said Ruhlin Jr. “One fiber-optic company that had wires along the railroad tracks was late and we had to delay that portion of the project, but once they did, we were able to accelerate the work and get back on schedule. Right now we are in substantial completion. We just have to complete the final re-alignment of the highway and put down the final course of asphalt. We’re actually a little ahead of schedule” Coordination with the railway companies was critical, especially for the setting of bridge beams and decking above the mainline tracks. ‘They had flaggers out every day to let us know when the trains were coming so we could stop our operations,” said Ruhlin Jr. “Plans to remove or set something in place, along with weights, had to be submitted 55 days in advance for reviews and comments and they could request changes. We basically had to submit our plans much earlier.” Bridges were either completely demolished and replaced or partially kept open to maintain traffic flow. The amount of materials used reflects the scope of this project — 220,000 cu. yds. (168,202 cu m) of embankment material and 94,000 cu, yds. (71,868 cu m) were excavated. Approximately 40,000 cu. yds. (30,582 cu m) of concrete will be brought in and 16 mi. (26 km) of steel H-piling were driven for bridge foundations. “We had a total of 35,000 linear feet of portable barrier utilized on the project during multiple phases to keep the traveling public and workers safe,” said Ruhlin Jr. “Approximately 2.5 million pounds of structural steel was used and several million pounds of concrete I-beams.” see DAYTON page 3