Procurement News Notice |
|
| PNN | 9431 |
| Work Detail | A busy road construction season is entering its final phase, with the Labor Day weekend seeing the conclusion of projects, including Ind. 49 in Porter County, and the transition of others to new phases, including an extensive Interstate 65 patching project and a U.S. 421 intersection reconstruction. Two large projects, the state’s Restore 94 paving and maintenance work on Interstate 94, and 80/90 Push, the Indiana Toll Road’s rehabilitation project, will continue through this year and into next. The Indiana Department of Transportation has been engaged in 66 projects in Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties this season, valued at nearly $132 million. The two-year Indiana Toll Road project, being paid for by its private operator, will cost about $200 million. Interstate 65 A concrete pavement restoration project on Interstate 65 through Merrillville has required lane closures both on the highway and its on- and off-ramps. INDOT contractors are patching spots along the highway, some at a depth of 3 inches, and more significant damage at the full 14-inch depth. Crews are also embedding dowel rods to transfer some of the load on places where cracks have developed. The work also includes joint sealing and asphalt replacement in bridge joints. The first segment of the project, from south of U.S. 30 to 61st Avenue, will be complete by the end of this week, weather-permitting, according to INDOT Northwest spokesman Doug Moats. A second phase, from 61st to the Interstate 80/94 interchange, will begin this week and could remain unfinished at the conclusion of construction season because more patching is needed than originally expected. “I expect this project to still be ongoing and finish next spring,” Moats said in an email. “The goal is to have all barrels removed and the interstate back to normal before Thanksgiving and leave it that way over the winter.” Ind. 49 The summerlong repaving of Ind. 49 in the Chesterton area wrapped up last week, a month behind schedule due to below-grade issues and a chemical leak in late July. “We had subgrade issues with the State Road 49 project that delayed the project by four weeks,” Moats said. “We also had the slag problem that required crews to dig up parts of the road to contain and remove the substance.” The heavily traveled road is a main access point to Interstate 80/94, the Indiana dunes and a South Shore commuter rail station. “The motoring public were very frustrated by this project, as you can imagine,” Moats acknowledged. But the extra driving time didn’t appear to hinder visitors from flocking to the lakeshore parks, said Ken Kosky, promotions director for Indiana Dunes Tourism. He said INDOT worked with park and tourism officials through the summer to increase traffic flow at busy times. “The gate revenue at Indiana Dunes State Park, which motorists could only reach this summer by driving through the Ind. 49 construction, increased 10 percent when compared to 2015, which had been their highest year,” Kosky said Tuesday via email. “And the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center on Ind. 49 — a joint operation between Indiana Dunes Tourism and the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore — didn’t experience any decrease in visitors.” U.S. 421 Westville residents are dealing with a two-phase project on U.S. 421 that involves replacing its intersections with Ind. 2 as well as repaving work. “Our crews are completely tearing out all of the concrete and ADA (pedestrian) ramps and replacing them,” Moats said of the intersection project. Currently, the road is closed from the north intersection of U.S. 421 and Ind. 2 to approximately County Road 250 South. That phase of the project is scheduled to be completed by the end of the month. “Once this phase is complete, the south side of U.S. 421 and the west junction of Ind. 2 will be closed though November,” Moats said. Interstate 94 and Indiana Toll Road The two largest projects include rehabilitation of northern Indiana’s main east-west thoroughfares — Interstate 94 and the Indiana Toll Road. INDOT’s $45 million Restore 94 rehabilitation project is continuing through fall, and two concrete patching projects will need to be completed next year. Also, some pavement near I-94 and U.S. 421 will have to be repaired, according to Moats. “Drivers might have noticed a few bumps on the new pavement. We will go back in and fix those,” he said. Recent Restore 94 work requiring lane restrictions includes bridge maintenance work from the Illinois state line to Cline Avenue, and paving work from U.S. 421 to the Michigan state line. Indiana Toll Road work — involving resurfacing and bridge work from Lake Station to Elkhart — will continue through the end of 2017, according to toll road operator ITR Concession Co.’s plans. A third phase of the $200 million project concluded last week, with the exception of the Lake Station interchange, which will remain closed for structural repairs until mid-November. More than two-thirds of the project is complete — 200 out of 292 lane-miles — according to ITR. An interchange closure is scheduled for the toll road’s connection to U.S. 421 in Michigan City beginning Monday. It is expected to last until Sept. 26. All exit and entry ramps will be closed. When that work is done, work will begin on the Valparaiso/Chesterton interchange, which will close approximately Sept. 26 to Oct. 10, according to ITR Concession. |
| Country | United States , Northern America |
| Industry | Construction |
| Entry Date | 15 Oct 2016 |
| Source | http://www.nwitimes.com/business/local/region-roadwork-continues-into-fall/article_a0e6e048-b515-53f2-8899-9363aed62546.html |
