Summer, 1998 -
Concrete Pipe News Feature Story - "Going for the
Gold - Concrete Pipe on Utah's Winning Team for 2002 Winter
Olympics"
Utah recently entered its second year of work on one
of the most enormous construction projects in the state's
history
- the Interstate 15 Corridor Reconstruction Project.
1-15, Utah’s most traveled highway, cuts through the
Salt Lake Valley, which gives rise to the Wasatch Mountains
to the east and the Oquirrh Mountains and the Great Salt
Lake to the west. Within 4 1/2 years, crews will completely
remove and replace each Interchange, each stretch of pavement
and more than 140 bridges, covering nearly 17 miles of highway.
The pavement replacement alone is estimated to require 2.5
million cubic yards of concrete.
With terrain composed primarily of old lake bed sediments,
the corrosive soils, mostly clay, require construction materials
providing strength and endurance. For the project’s
storm drainage systems, reinforced concrete pipe is the choice
for much of the work, particularly areas requiring larger
sizes of pipe and in areas with deep fill. In addition, for
areas with low grades, smooth-lined pipe, such as concrete,
is necessary.
The Utah Department of Transportation has cited numerous
reasons for the necessity of the massive project. I-15 was
built in the 1960s with a service life of about 20 years.
Now nearing twice its expected life span, the highway is
in immediate
need of replacement because spot repairs are no longer effective.
At Ieast 17 bridges could eventually pose a threat to safety.
None of the highway’s bridges were designed to withstand
significant earthquakes and most were built with vertical
clearances too low for modern over-the-road trucks.
What’s more, I-15 has long been a major throughway
for the entire Intermountain region, providing links from
the West to both Canada and Mexico. A major corridor for
cities along its route, including Salt Lake City, 1-15 is
also a vital economic link for cities in surrounding states,
which
receive goods trucked in from rail distribution points in
northern Utah. This same route will accommodate thousands
of travelers to the Olympic Winter Games, which Salt Lake
City will host in 2002.
The reconstructlon project also will reconfigure and revitalize
a piece of America’s history. The “Crossroads
of the West,” the intersection of interstates 15 and
80, has served travelers for more than 150 years, dating
back to foot and stagecoach traffic. With I-15 running north
and south through the country and I-80 stretching across
to both coasts, this major intersection has long enhanced
the West's economic and social development.
However, according to UDOT, because of the heavy congestion,
the current accident rate around the Crossroads junction
is estimated to be higher than the average for other urban
interstate systems. Considered one of the most dramatic portions
of the I-15 project, the Crossroads of the West will be completely
reconfigured, which is expected to take the entire 4 1/2
years of the project.
In March of 1997, after three months of examining three bids,
UDOT awarded the $1.325 billion design-build contract to
Omaha-based Kiewit Construction Co., Granite Construction
Co. of Watsonville, Calif., and Washington Construction Co.
of Boise, Idaho, which is a joint venture also known as Wasatch
Constructors. The design portion of the team consists of
a joint venture between Sverdrup Civil Inc. and De Leuw,
Cather & Co. The design-build contract allows construction
to be completed in half the time of a design-bid-build contract
by allowing construction to take place while other portions
of work are in final design stages.
In addition, the Wasatch team issued a promise to complete
the project three months ahead of schedule. That commitment
and Wasatch’s impressive track record, which included
completing California’s $790 million San Joaquin Hills
transportation corridor 3 1/2 months ahead of schedule, helped
the team land the contract.
Another attractive feature of Wasatch’s proposal was
the specification of reinforced concrete pipe for all the
required storm drainage pipe over 30 inches in diameter,
said Dave Nazare, UDOTs Technical Support Manager for the
l-15
project. Under UDOT specs, bidding contractors could choose
any pipe material as long as it provided a 5O-year service
life and the proper soil evaluations were performed. But
Wasatch chose concrete pipe for its strength and longevity,
Nazare said. ‘For the deep bury areas. that’s
something we like,” he added.
Concrete pipe also was chosen because it would be less susceptible
to damage during the span of the construction as opposed
to some types of steel pipe, making concrete more cost effective,
said Jerry Porter, Wasatch's Construction Design Manager.
Moreover, in areas along the highway's path where another
entity would own the finished sewer system, UDOT allowed
those communities to specify the the construction material
of their choice. Most of those communities chose reinforced
concrete pipe for their storm sewer drainage systems, including
Salt Lake City, South Salt Lake City, Sandy and Murray. "It's
their standard," Nazare said.
Armed with the knowledge that Wasatch intended to follow
an aggressive construction schedule, Geneva Pipe Co., based
in Orem, Utah, designed its proposal to supply the precast
concrete pipe for the storm drainage systems to be complimentary
to that type of construction pace.
Geneva Pipe, which vvas awarded the contract in May 1997,
included in its proposal the use of round catch basins in
lieu of square precast concrete boxes for many areas of construction
that required manholes. Wasatch needed large quantities of
construction materials supplied quickly and round catch basins
could be supplied faster than the same quantity of precast
boxes, said Vince Bussio, Vice President of Geneva Pipe.
In addition, round catch basins offered greater flexibility
in respect to the design-build plans because they are composed
of components which could he modified for various uses and
locations, Bussio said.
“We were trying to bring ideas to the table to help
Wasatch accomplish faster and easier installations." Bussio
said. The contract also called for large amounts of precast
reinforced concrete pipe.
Shipments of precast concrete materials began in May 1997
to three locations set up as holding areas for construction
materials. With orders for concrete pipe ranging from 18
inches to 72 inches, pipe is currently shipped several times
per week, often two to three times per day. Bussio said.
In addition, Geneva is supplying a total of 1,400 round
catch basins and box culverts to Wasatch Constructors. Shipments
of concrete pipe materials will continue during the next
two years. Because of the flexibility of the design-build
plan it is difficult to estimate how much concrete pipe will
be required in total, but it will exceed 30,000 feet of pipe,
Bussio said.
Once completed, Utah will boast one of the most
modern, technically advanced highway systems in the U.S.,
with pavement
designed to handle the region's growth for the next 50 years
and bridges to last at least 75 years.
Two new lanes in each direction will be added to the interstate;
a new interchange will connect high-occupancy vehicle lanes
to the Salt Lake City central business district; numerous
access changes are expected to enhance growth in the business
district; and new auxiliary lanes running between each interchange
will provide motorists with more time to merge in and out
of the main traffic flow. To alleviate one of the highway's
most congested bottlenecks, a collector/distributor road
system will be installed along I-15 at the junction of I-215
which loops around much of Salt Lake City.
The interstate project also is designed to make the freeway
a safer and more pleasant experience for motorsts. In addition
to decorative retaining and sound walls and landscaping,
an Advanced Traffic Management Syystem will be installed
and connected to other surrounding freeways. The system will
link about 550 traffic signals to manage traffic flow and
provide 48 variable message signs that will inform drivers
of unexpected events along the interstate and suggest alternate
routes.
To provide live action information, roughly 150 incident
detection cameras will be installed to monitor highway conditions
and dispatch emergency vehicles, and 2,500 sensors will be
placed in the pavement to monitor speed and count vehicles,
according to UDOT. More than 275 miles of fiber optic cable
will collect and deliver this information to traffic centers
manned by UDOT.
Upon completion of the work by October 2001, Utah will own
one of the most advanced interstate systems in the U.S. as
well as one of the strongest and most durable. With concrete
materials making up a huge portion of the project, from sewer
systems to pavement to bridge structures, Utah's residents
can be assured their new highway system will provide safe
and pleasant passage for travelers for many decades to come.
