Stimulus Funding Benefi ts Rural Highways

ARRA funds rural highways across the state, provides incentive to rehab roads and bridges that were low on list. Also, AGC works to improve highway safety.

Reducing Work Zone Fatalities Should Be High Priority, AGC Says

Negotiating construction can be difficult, not to mention risky for both drivers and workers. Each year in Texas, there are more than 20,000 crashes and about 150 people are killed in highway construction and maintenance zones, according to information from the Texas Department of Transportation.

A worker directs traffi c in a work zone on FM 3423.( Photo by Stan A. Williams/TxDOT )

Because of statistics such as these, the Associated General Contractors of America is encouraging the federal and state governments to focus on the goal of reducing the decade-long trend of 1,000 fatalities and nearly 60,000 injuries on highway construction sites each year across the country.

“We think the one thing that has been missing across the board when it comes to the safety of highway work zones is the setting of a specific, easily measurable goal for reducing fatalities and injuries,” Brian Turmail, spokesman for the Associated General Contractors of America, told Texas Construction.

“The question we have to ask is why the number of fatalities and injuries has been relatively consistent for a decade now, despite repeated efforts to improve safety education, safety regulations and safety training. The sad answer is because work-zone safety needs to be more than just a news conference topic that comes around once a year, Turmail says. “If it were incorporated into state and national safety plans, with clear targets by which safety officials could be measured and held accountable, we feel we could see significant safety improvements,” he adds.

That is why the AGC suggests that officials not only set a specific goal, but that they set an ambitious, but achievable, goal of cutting the number of work-zone fatalities in half within two years, he says.

“Since most stimulus projects will be started and completed within two years, we think that time frame provides officials with an opportunity to show how the stimulus can be as safe as it is helpful to our economy,” Turmail says.

Amadeo Saenz, executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation, says at the Texas Transportation Forum earlier this year that enhancing safety is one of TxDOT’s top five goals in the coming year.

According to TxDOT, there have been 268 TxDOT employees killed in work zones since 1938. Since 1999 TxDOT has lost 10 employees. Eight of the 10 employees were hit and killed by a third-party motorist.

More than 150 people, most of them motorists, are killed in work zones across Texas each year. The two leading causes of work- zone crashes are excessive speed and the failure to remain alert while driving. As a result, one in three work zone crashes is a rear-end collision.

Three Highway Rehab Projects in West Texas Save State $2.3 Million

The Texas Department of Transportation got bargain bids in late spring on highway rehab projects in Pecos, Andrews and Martin counties to be funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, commonly known as the economic stimulus package.

Bids for the Odessa District projects came under engineering estimates – ranging from 38% under on the Pecos and Martin county projects to 6.81% under on the Andrews County project. The three were among roadway and bridge maintenance and rehabilitation projects let in Austin as part of the federal stimulus program.

Work will be started no later than the end of this month. Following review of the bids, contracts were awarded in May.

The apparent low bidders for the local projects are C&C Road Construction Inc.; Reece Albert Inc.; and Jones Bros. Dirt and Paving Contractors Inc.

El Paso-based C&C Road Construction, which is currently building passing lanes on U.S. 67 southwest of Fort Stockton, bid $1.5 for a nearby U.S. 385 rehab job –38% under the $2.4-million estimate.

Odessa-based Jones Bros. bid $1,435,027 for a State Highway 137 project in Martin County, 37.81% under the $2.3 million estimate. Reece Albert, a San Angelo-Midland company, submitted the low bid of $4 million for a SH115 project in Andrews –8.61% under the $4.4-million estimate.

The $2.3-million savings realized from the lower-than-expected bids will be put back into the state’s stimulus fund program and used for another needed highway project.

The U.S. 385 project will rehab a 7-mi section of roadway that has been taking a beating from heavy oilfield traffic south of Fort Stockton. The SH 137 project will rehab 7 mi of deteriorating highway in northern Martin County. The SH 115 project will rebuild an aging section of that roadway through the city of Andrews.

TxDOT Tyler District Contracts $17.5 Million in Stimulus Projects

The Texas Department of Transportation recently accepted construction contract bids for the first group of transportation projects funded by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, known commonly as the stimulus act.

The Tyler district’s part of the stimulus funds include nine projects totaling approximately $17.5 million. Work orders for construction are issued 30 to 45 days after contracts are awarded to contract bidders. Work must begin within 30 days after contractors receive work orders.

Projects approved in the Tyler District include repair and resurface between southern end of Kilgore Bypass and FM 850 on U.S. 259 in Rusk County for $2.9 million by Madden Contracting Co. Inc. of Minden, La.; repair and resurface between SH 198 in Malakoff and Loop 7 in Athens on SH 31 in Henderson County for $2.1 million by Big Creek Construction Ltd. of Lorena; repair and resurface between U.S. 80 and U.S. 69/ SH 37 split in Mineola on U.S. 69 in Wood County for $1 million and repair and resurface between U.S. 69/ SH 37 split in Mineola and FM 564 north on SH 37 in Wood County for $772,000, both by Longview Bridge and Road Ltd. of Longview; resurface between North Loop 323 and IH-20 on U.S. 69 in Smith County for $2.5 million by Reynolds & Kay Ltd. of Tyler; repair and resurface between Interstate 20 and U.S. 80 on U.S. 259 in Longview for $2.3 million by Knife River Corp. South of Waco; and repair and resurface between Spur 63/ SH 31 split and Harrison County Line in Gregg County on U.S. 80 for $1.8 million by Madden Contracting; repair bridge approaches, structures at Caney Creek, Caney Creek Relief, and Cedar Creek on SH 243 in Van Zandt County for $62,000 by Crown Civil Construction Corp. of Tyler; add shoulders and resurface between FM 3266 east of Palestine and FM 747 on U.S. 84 in Anderson County for $4.1 million by Big Creek Construction.

IH-35 Extension Project in Dallas Brings Traffic to a Temporary Halt

Interstate 35 in Dallas experienced rolling closures to set bridge beams as part of a $47.5-million project to extend Woodall Rodgers from IH-35E to Beckley Avenue at Singleton Boulevard.

The Texas Department of Transportation allowed intermittent, rolling road closures on IH-35E adjacent to downtown Dallas so that contractor crews could place bridge beams for the new Woodall Rodgers Extension.

The rolling closures stopped all traffic on the highway temporarily while bridge beams were set above IH-35E. Traffic was allowed to proceed at times between bridge beam settings.

The project extension also will feature the $69.7-million Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge over the Trinity River. Both the bridge and the remainder of the Woodall Rodgers extension are scheduled to open in mid-2011.

McKinney U.S. 380/U.S. 75 Project Moving To Fall 2010 Completion

Southbound traffic on U.S. 75 in McKinney recently was switched onto a newly constructed temporary U.S. 75 bridge overpass at U.S. 380 to keep traffic moving while the $25.6 million U.S. 75/U.S. 380 intersection improvement project moves forward.

The traffic switch allowed contractor crews to demolish and begin work to reconstruct the existing southbound U.S. 75 bridge overpass at U.S. 380 without detouring U.S. 75 motorists traveling south through the area.

Parts of U.S. 380’s main lanes and turnarounds in McKinney underwent nightly closures in late spring as part of the project under construction by Texas Sterling Construction Co. of Houston.

The closures were designed to ensure the safety of the traveling public, as well as contractor crews and TxDOT inspectors during the demolition of the existing U.S. 75 southbound bridge overpass at U.S. 380.

The project is scheduled for completion by fall 2010.

Laredo IH-35 Rehab Project Begins Set for October Completion

Removal and replacement of the top layer of asphalt pavement on more than 50 mis of northbound Interstate 35 main lanes in Webb County and north to the Webb/La Salle County line, north of Laredo, began in early May with a slated October construction date.

H.L. Zumwalt Construction began pavement rehabilitation mill and overlay work on the IH 35 northbound main lanes beginning in Webb County at milepost marker 13 headed north toward the Webb/La Salle County line. Work will consist of asphalt pavement removal (milling) and placement of new asphalt pavement (overlay).

Although road rehabilitation work will be done mostly on IH 35 northbound lanes, there will be some southbound lane work as well. The project will begin on IH-35 southbound at the Frio/La Salle County line at milepost marker 82 at the Frio County line south toward milepost marker 69. Other work will be done from milepost marker 14 in Webb County to milepost marker 28.

The La Salle County mill and overlay project is being constructed by H. L. Zumwalt Construction at a cost of $2.5 million. Completion time is estimated at approximately five months, weather permitting.