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West Texas Triumph
Marsha Sharp Freeway reaches new heights
The Marsha Sharp Freeway project is on of the most ambitious highway projects in west Texas. The first three phases have gone for $245 million. The project will ultimately have five phases.
by Bruce Buckley
Crews are finishing up phase 3A of the five-phase 13-mi Marsha Sharp Freeway project through Lubbock and are creating the longest and tallest bridge in the history of the Texas Department of Transportation’s Lubbock District.
 Granite Construction of Watsonville, Calif., is leading the $35 million construction effort. The scope of work covers sections of the main lines of the freeway—designated as U.S. 82—and two major flyover bridges. The largest is the southbound direct connector, which spans 3,900 ft and reaches over 70 ft high. The second flyover, which is an eastbound direct connector, extends 2,080 ft.
Dannenbaum Engineering Corp. of Houston is the engineer on phase 3A. Construction began in spring 2005 and the job is scheduled for completion by September.
Phase 3A is one of four jobs Granite is handling on the Marsha Sharp project. The company was recently awarded the $37 million phase 3B job. In all, the first three phases cost $245 million. A total of five phases are expected to complete the projects.
With the new contract, Granite has signed on as the general contractor for every phase of the project awarded by TxDOT so far. Phases 4 and 5 should let in 2009 and 2012, respectively.
Once completed, the Marsha Sharp Freeway project will convert a principal arterial east-west highway to a controlled-access, four-lane freeway.
“We’re four for four on bidding this project so far,” says Tom Jones, project manager with Granite. “We must be doing something right.”
Fortunately for Granite, the work on 3B should begin after completion of 3A. Granite has had to complete nearly the entire 3A schedule while it works on the $140 million phase two. That project, which broke ground in May 2005, is the largest contract ever awarded in the Lubbock District. It includes creating controlled-access from Salem Avenue to Avenue L with interchanges at 19th Street, Quaker Avenue, Fourth Street and Avenue Q.
Jones says working on two phases simultaneously has required careful deployment of equipment and labor across the different jobs. Because the flyover bridges of 3A cross multiple roadways—even creating triple stack of roadways at certain points—the job has required numerous road closures.
“Traffic control has been a major issue on this job,” says Brian Wilson, Lubbock area engineer for TxDOT. “We’re being sensitive to the public.”
Full road closures have been limited to between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m.
“If we don’t get those roads back open by 6 a.m., we’re in trouble,” Jones says.
Jones adds that the job was also hit with several design glitches that threatened the schedule.
Bad weather also turned out to be a menace. West Texas contractors are used to shutting down work on high-wind days, particularly on higher-elevation jobs, but an unusually cold winter in early 2007 added unforeseen delays.
“We battled about six weeks of freezing temperatures as best we could, but we had to cease bridge-deck work,” Jones says. “On phase 2 we could tent some of those lower bridges and run heaters under them. We couldn’t do that on these flyovers.”
The large-scale bridges, which have both concrete and steel beams, have also required bringing in significant resources. Rather than traditional jacks and plywood decking, crews are using Symons steel overhang forms.
The job started with 1,900 lin ft of forms, but Granite chose later on to bring in an additional 2,500 lin ft of forms that it had been using on a TxDOT project in Austin.
“We’ve been able to keep more than 4,000 lin ft of forms up in the air to keep on top of this,” Jones says.
The team has also had to stay on top of retaining its workforce. This spring, 205 hourly craftspeople and 30 salaried employees worked the Marsha Sharp projects. With oil prices on the rise, Jones says many laborers have been lured to work in the oil fields for higher wages.
Granite has offered training for some of its workers to provide incentives to stay on the job.
“We have a haul driver that we’re training to be a crane operator,” Jones says. “That’s a skill that makes him more valuable both for him and for us. That’s the kind of thing we have to do these days.”
As 3A moves toward completion, innovative features will be added to the roadway. Crews will install an anti-icing system along the flyovers, the only use of such technology in the area., says TxDot. The system sprays the roadway before temperatures hit freezing to help prevent icing.
Rather than using a traditional broom finish, on some sections crews will use an open-graded friction course. The technique, which is not common on TxDOT projects, will help drain water off the road surface to lessen the potential of hydroplaning and spray.
As the Marsha Sharp Freeway is expected to help stimulate the Lubbock economy, the local district is showing its pride in the project by commissioning art projects on several of the phases. Phase 3A will include local scenes on the retaining walls.
Three different scenes will show typical West Texas landscape complete with windmills, post fences and a rising sun behind wispy clouds.
“It wasn’t part of the original scope, but TxDOT is big on aesthetics with this project,” Jones says.
Key Players:
Owner: Texas Department of Transportation
Engineer: Dannenbaum Engineering Corp., Houston
General Contractor: Granite Construction Co., Watsonville, Calif.
Electrical, Signs: Artex Electric Inc., Lubbock
Hauling: C&R Trucking Inc., Lubbock; Floyd Trucking Inc., Lubbock
Steel Girder Erection: Choctaw Erectors Inc., Grand Prairie
Reinforcing Steel: CMC/Lofland Co., Waxahachie
Concrete Admixtures: Pro-Mix Technologies, Rowlett
Retaining Walls & Artwork Panels: The Reinforced Earth Co., Euless
Reinforcing Steel: Rebar Specialists Inc., San Angelo
Precast RCB & RCP: Hanson Pipe & Products Inc., Fort Worth
Drilled Shaft Foundations: Texas Shafts Inc., Fort Worth
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