| Rio Puerco
Freeway
Underway
By K. Robert Wendel Interstate
40, one of New Mexico's largest arteries, is no longer the "Mother Road,"
Route 66, where cars rumbled along at less than 50 mph.
But
the road where rickety old Ford Model T's rumbled along at 25 mph is now a high-speed
corridor with vehicles frequently exceeding 80 mph.
Combine the high speeds,
a widely varying climate with asphalt contraction and expansion and 32,000 big
rigs roaring through every day, and you have recipe for reconstruction.
Project
cost is $10 million.
Crews from Albuquerque's WW Construction are about
halfway complete on rebuilding 8 mi. of freeway west of Albuquerque in a hilly
area near the Rio Puerco Wash.
The project involves milling and repaving
the 8-mi. section with three, 2-in. lifts of Superpave 2 asphalt. Workers on the
job also have to deal with all the 18-wheelers passing through a construction
zone.
"You really pucker up when one of those big rigs flies by at
80 mph," said Dick Maley, a WW Construction superintendent. "Our best
friend out here is the New Mexico State Department of Public Saftey."
Like
many other states, New Mexico has doubled fines for speeding in construction zones,
as one unhappy trucker found out.
A state trooper clocked the big rig at
87 mph, nearly twice the 45 mph speed limit. The ticket meant a $440 fine. There
were also traffic jams at the beginning of the project, especially on Sunday afternoons,
when trucks left Albuquerque to deliver freight by Monday morning. Contractors
and the trucking industry gradually worked out issues, and now it is rare for
large backups.
Crews from WW Construction started work on the $10 million
project in September. The project is just one of a host of new construction and
reconstruction recently funded under the Gov. (Bill) Richardson Improvement Plan,
or "GRIP." The plan provides $1.6 billion in new funds for road projects
around the state. GRIP includes 42 expansion and critical infrastructure improvement
projects with more than 100 construction contracts across New Mexico.
The
plan is also helping ease the state's maintenance backlog, which is more than
$5 billion.
"This road was in really bad condition," said Barney
Jones of WW Construction. "It's not surprising considering that more than
30,000 trucks use this road every day."
In many sections, saturated
sub underneath of the asphalt was "pumping," or when the asphalt is
driven on, it deflects under the load and pops back up, creating cracks.
"Most
of the job was milling, but we did have some full reconstruction areas where we
had unsuitable sub grade," said Mike Plese, assistant district engineer for
the New Mexico Department of Transportation, which designed the project.
"We
came back with a new base and put in four, 3-in. lifts on top of 8-in. of sub
grade so it's a pretty thick road."
Plese said NMDOT does occasionally
use concrete for road surfaces, but with New Mexico's varying temperatures, the
flexible asphalt performs better.
The project also includes the replacement
of two bridges. Plans call for two tub girder spans to be erected over an arroyo.
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