By Jack Flanders

Famed Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry would be proud of his new freeway: It's getting bigger and faster and is way ahead of projections - just what he wanted from his football teams.

Since February, the Texas Department of Transportation and Fort Worth-based general contractor Gilbert Texas Construction LP have moved quickly on the first phase of the $97 million, five-mile widening project.

When completed in 2005, nearly two years ahead of schedule, the section of Interstate 30 dedicated to the late football coach will have a new reinforced-concrete surface, one and sometimes two additional lanes in both directions, and seven reconstructed bridges.

It is the second largest widening project in North Texas, topped only by the Loop 635 (LBJ Freeway) and U.S. Highway 75 interchange in North Dallas, better known as High Five. Statewide it's the third largest project TxDOT has under contract, according to highway department project engineer Bill Compton.

Built in the late 1950s, the 5-mi. "Tom Landry Highway'' stretch of IH-30 - from near downtown Dallas to Loop 12 to the west - has had only three lanes in each direction.

For many years, those six lanes have not been enough to handle burgeoning traffic along IH-30, the oldest interstate link between Dallas and Fort Worth.

When completed, the newly configured Landry Highway will have four lanes on each side and, in many places, a fifth lane for entering and exiting the freeway.

Although originally scheduled for completion in 2007, the project has moved so quickly it's expected to be finished in late summer of 2005, said Gilbert Texas project engineer Knute Henning. A revised construction sequence implemented by TxDOT and Gilbert Texas is saving a considerable amount of time, Compton said.

Construction Continues

Last spring, work began on the north side of the project where a three-lane, 4½-mi. detour is being constructed. When the detour is completed, traffic will be shifted to the north and work will begin on the eastbound lanes. The final phase of the project will include the reconstruction of the westbound lanes, erection of median barriers, lighting, and landscaping.

Throughout the summer, Gilbert Texas' crews worked to erect retaining walls between Sylvan Avenue and Hampton Road.

"About every 5 ft., we placed a drilled shaft 30 to 36 in. in diameter. A steel reinforcing cage and concrete are placed in each shaft,'' Compton said. "Once the shafts have cured, the earth along one side of the shafts is removed down to a new finished grade, and a precast panel wall fascia is installed by the contractor. There are about 103,000 sq. ft. of wall like this, totaling about $9 million."

An additional 230,000 sq. ft. of retaining walls are being built using various wall systems, including soil nailing, rock nailing and mechanically stabilized earth. These walls will add another $7 million to the project, Compton said.

"We incorporated a large amount of retaining wall so we could limit the need for additional right of way, which is generally expensive and difficult to obtain in urban areas," he added.

By mid-August, Gilbert Texas crews had excavated 346,000 cu. yds. of material, and is expected to remove 1.3 million yds. by the time the project is complete. To remove the material, workers are using scrapers and excavators, including 400-series and Cat 365 equipment. The material is being removed in 35-ton Volvo off-highway trucks, tandems and semi-trucks.

On the south side of the eastern end of the project, the area nearest to neighborhoods, 4,700 ft. of noise wall will be added to retaining walls. The cast-in-place noise walls, measuring either 8 or 12 ft. in height, will be visible from the freeway, but not the retaining walls.

"For the noise walls, we're using an architectural form liner that allows us to add murals," Henning said. "The murals will be in-relief, and nearby architectural columns will include steel emblems of Tom Landry's famous hat.''

Addition By Subtraction

While constructing retaining walls, crews also replaced the Edgefield and Fort Worth avenues overhead bridges. The Edgefield Avenue bridge was closed, but will be reopened later in the project. The Fort Worth Avenue bridge is being reconstructed and expanded in stages to include sidewalks and architectural railing.

To keep from closing the bridge entirely, Gilbert Texas crews demolished half the bridge and moved all traffic onto the remaining older section. When the new section was completed, the process was repeated on the older half.

The ramp to the southbound Hampton Road overhead also has been removed and will be rebuilt later to accommodate the wider freeway.

Structural steel beams and reinforced concrete decking are being used on all three bridges. Each has a conventional concrete substructure supported by a drilled-shaft foundation.

Along with its extra lanes, the freeway will have an upgraded surface. Previously a concrete roadway with asphalt overlay, the new surface will be strictly reinforced concrete.

Due to soil types along the existing roadway, it was determined that the use of lime-treated subgrade not be used. In its place, the western portion of the project, which contains poor in-situ soils, is being excavated 2 additional ft. and the soil replaced with better material. To compensate for the additional strength usually provided by the addition of lime, a thicker than usual asphalt-concrete pavement base is being used.
The final pavement section will have 7 in. of asphalt-concrete pavement and 13 in. of continuously reinforced concrete pavement. The project will require about 490,000 sq. yds. of reinforced concrete pavement and 230,000 tons of asphalt, according to TxDOT.

Because so much concrete will be needed, Gilbert Texas erected its own batch plant near the site. The plant is able to produce about 250 cu. yds. of concrete per hour, which allows placement of up to 2,500 yds. per day.

"We'll pour sections 12 to 24 ft. wide, and there will be hundreds of pours,'' Henning said. "How much we will pour each day depends on how much material the batch plant can turn out.''

Various equipment will be used to lay the concrete, but the two main units will be a Gomaco 2600 placer and a Gomaco 4000 paver. They have expandable frames that allow for different widths.

Scheduled to begin next year, concrete pours on the permanent roadway will start on the west end and move eastward. Traffic will be moved north and south as new lanes are constructed.

Despite its high profile, the widening of Tom Landry Highway is only one phase of a broader IH-30 widening program that has been under way for 10 years. When completed, the interstate highway will be expanded from downtown Dallas to the Tarrant County line - a distance of about 20 miles.

USEFUL SOURCES

For additional information regarding this project, check these sources: