Connecting the Communities
by K. Robert Wendel

Crews from Pulice Construction, Edward Kraemer and Sons, Sundt Construction and FNF Construction are marching across the southeast portion of Maricopa County, building new highways for the rapidly growing area.

More than $720 million in funding has been designated for Maricopa County freeways, including $590 million for construction, $120 million for right-of-way purchases and $10 million for design.

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The Phoenix office of Edward Kraemer and Sons recently completed the Interstate 10-Loop 202 interchange in Chandler. The interchange is another link in the new network of roads, with plans to extend the San Tan Freeway east from I-10 to Power Road in Gilbert and then north to U.S. Highway 60 and the Salt River bottom.

Tempe-based FNF Construction is under way on a massive overpass and interchange that will eventually span U.S. 60. Work on the $41 million concrete interchange started in November with a target completion date of July. FNF bid the project under a time plus cost contract, cutting the projected construction time by nearly half. But the company faces liquidated damages of $16,000 a day if it's not completed on time. "It's an aggressive schedule, but it is doable," said FNF project manager Tom Billings.

The project is the eastern lynchpin for the massive Loop 202 that stretches through some of the fastest- growing municipalities in America.

Crews from Phoenix-based Pulice Construction are working on two projects on the Loop 202 immediately south of U.S. 60. In one, crews are preparing the final grade on a 2-mi. section between U.S. 60 and Elliott Road, and in the other, work is progressing on a 3.9-mi. section connecting Elliott Road and Power Road near Gateway Airport.

Pulice has 670 calendar days to complete the $54 million second project. Plans call for 90,000 cu. yds of PCCP, 66,000 cu. yds of structural concrete and 3.6 million cu. yds of earthwork. Most of the road is on grade.

The Loop 202 section from Baseline to Elliott Road varies in grade, with the section traveling under Guadalupe Road and over both Baseline and Elliott roads. Plans on the $39.4 million project call for 76,000 cu. yds of PCCP, 60,000 cu. yds of structural concrete and includes 1.2 million cu. yds of roadway earthwork.

The project features concrete tub girder bridges. The $39 million section contains a 2.1- mi. flood channel, 21,000 lin.ft. of storm sewer and four storm water pumps.

"We used sofit fill bridges because they are safer and faster, which translates into cheaper," said Pulice Construction vice president of operations Mark Soyster. "You don't have to contend with the false work, so that saves a lot of time."

Farther west, Pulice is also constructing an overpass and realigning Ray and Greenfield roads to accommodate a new interchange. Crews must also reroute a railway and construct new rail bridges and two new overpasses.

"It's preferable to use steel for the railroad bridges," said Arizona Department of Transportation engineer Sam Nhanna. "The bridges can be very narrow, so you don't need the big cross sections you would get from a concrete bridge."

Because of the tight right-of-way, contractors didn't have the room to lay the below-grade freeway's slopes far enough back, so contractors turned to a method that is increasingly becoming an option on heavy highway jobs.

"We had to use soil nails because those slopes were cut pretty steep," said John Gleason, a project manager with INCA Engineers Inc. of Phoenix. "I think soil nail walls have become part of the contractor's arsenal of means and methods. They aren't typically used in the West, but they are becoming more common because of the cost savings, and there is certainly a constructability benefit."

Pulice is also working on a $47.7 million project between Gilbert Road and Arizona Avenue. The 2.7 mi. project has 12 bridges and 1.1 million cu. yds. of roadway excavation.

Moving toward Chandler, Edward Kraemer and Sons is working on a Loop 202/101 interchange at Price and Frye roads. Kraemer started work on the $50 million project in August 2002, with plans calling for a July completion.

Unlike other sections of the Loop 202, traffic creates on going headaches for crews on the interchange project.

"We are working with traffic all around," said Ken Hudson, a superintendent with Kraemer and Sons. Tom Warren is Kraemer and Sons project manager. "Everything requires detours, closures and night work to accommodate the work."

The flyovers feature two lanes in each direction, along with two shoulders on each flyover. Crews from Chandler based McNeil Brothers Construction will use approximately 150,000 cu. yds. of concrete paving. For the most part, the road profiles on the Loop 202 are the same. Typically, 10 to 12- in. of concrete sit on top of a 4-in. base course, with an open- grade friction course of rubberized asphalt capping it off.

Crews working in the area had the usual difficulties with utilities, but the area, which is home to large semiconductor plants, had a few extra twists.

"We had to relocate a large nitrogen line that companies like Intel use, and we had to be extremely careful," said chief estimator Jon Walker of the Phoenix office of Kraemer and Sons. "Anytime you hear about potential damages of $7 million a day if the gas line is put out of action, it perks your ears up."

>ADOT Overview
>Where the Rubber Meets the Road
>Connecting the Communities
>I-10/I-19 Interchange
>Hoover Dam Bypass - Nevada Approach