90 80 6
OHIO STATE EDITION
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
November 5 2016
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Vol. XVIII • No. 23
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“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded in 1957.” Your Ohio Connection: Ed Bryden, Strongsville, OH • 1-800-810-7640
Great Lakes Construction Repairs 1970s-Era Lytle Tunnel By Irwin Rapoport CEG CORRESPONDENT
The Great Lake Construction Co. is nearly one year away from completing the Ohio Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) $30 million Interstate 71/Lytle Tunnel project in Cincinnati that began in May 2015. The work will be completed next fall. “The work is improving driver safety by bringing the tunnel and its systems in compliance with current fire codes and design standards,” said Brian Cunningham, an ODOT communications manager. “The project is upgrading lighting, repairing concrete and tiles and modernizing mechanical and ventilation systems. In addition, cameras and a fire detection system are being installed to allow more efficient and safer response time to incidents within the tunnel.” The tunnel, which opened to traffic in 1970, carries I-71 under Lytle Park and Fourth and Fifth streets on the eastern edge of Cincinnati. The tunnel has three lanes of northbound I-71 traffic, two lanes of southbound traffic, and a single lane, southbound exit ramp to Third Street. It took three years to build the tunnel, which carries 50,000 plus cars and trucks daily, and it received minor rehabilitations in 1991, 1995 and as part of the Fort Washington Way project in 2000. The existing tunnels are of a cut and cover type construction, according to project documents. The three traffic tubes are separated by continuous full height walls. The tunnels are approximately 900 ft. (274 m) in length, are in fair condition and are included in ODOT’s Bridge inventory.
The Great Lake Construction Co. is nearly one year away from completing the Ohio Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) $30 million Interstate 71/Lytle Tunnel project in Cincinnati that began in May 2015. The work will be completed next fall.
The repair and renovation work is expected to extend the lifespan of the tunnel for several decades. The project is funded by state and federal gas taxes. “It’s on the interstate system and it’s an important commuter and economic corridor for southwest Ohio,” said Cunningham. He said that the project was designed by Hatch Mott Macdonald LLC. Crews will be installing a new power supply, which replaces the existing underground vaults in the Fourth Street sidewalk, moving ventilation grating to a location conducive to future park plans and the installing new access hatches at several locations within the park limits that will not impact future park plans. A project of this scope impacts traffic, which includes weekend work at various times, ramp closures and detours. ODOT and Cincinnati have made an effort to minimize impacts for the 2015
Major League Baseball All Star Game organizers, Riverfest, Oktoberfest, Heart Mini Marathon and the Flying Pig events. The eastern portion of Lytle Park was closed during the tunnel construction work for nearly one year and the western side is currently closed. “The project has been an inconvenience for some entering and existing downtown Cincinnati,” said Cunningham, “but people are adjusting and understanding the need for the work. We did a good public information outreach to inform commuters about the detours and upcoming work, and in particular, are working with the downtown business community to provide information that they can send to their customers and suppliers.” Eric Reed, The Great Lakes Construction Co., project superintendent, has worked on similar projects and stressed the important
role pre-planning plays in a successful project. “Preparing for the project consisted of a lot scheduling meetings,” he said. “The initial ODOT project schedule was extremely aggressive, we spent the first couple weeks in scheduling and coordination meetings with our inhouse staff and our major subcontractors — those coordination and scheduling meetings continue to this day.” “The schedule is fluid — we are continually shifting manpower and subcontractors to get the work installed in the designated timeframe,” Reed said. “One of the advantages we have on a project of this scope is that we perform this type of work every day. Personally, and as a company we have built a lot of water and wastewater treatment plants, which are just as complex as this project. Coordination and scheduling is key. We are forecasting out sometimes as much as
a year in advance to ensure we have all the right pieces and parts in place. We’re not only working with ODOT, but Duke Energy, the city of Cincinnati, the Taft Museum, and coordinators of special events taking place in Cincinnati. It’s been a challenge.” So far the crews have completed the following benchmarks: structural concrete for the new fan vault, installation of all three 8-ft. (2.4 m) diameter axial fans in conjunction with the sound attenuators and soundproofing material, the removal of all the existing HVAC infrastructure, the removal of 95 percent of the existing lighting in the tunnels and the installation of new ventilation openings in the existing mechanical room. This had to be done via internal structural demolition so that the openings could be widened to allow for increased air-flow. The remaining work includes: see LYTLE page 2