磨损和增加容量的需求需要一个4550万美元的项目，以扩大和修复路易斯安那州Calcasieu Parish的2.5英里10英里的10英里路程。但是，带来该项目的相同大量流量也挑战了团队的建设。

Creative sequencing and detailed planning have helped the team work around traffic and other obstacles, including utility relocations and repeated jobsite shutdowns amid a historic hurricane season and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Louisiana Dept. of Transportation and Development (DOTD) awarded the bid-build contract to Gilchrist Construction Co. LLC, which specializes in state highway construction and is working on other I-10 projects in the state. DOTD oversaw internal structural designs. Construction began in January 2020.

Gilchrist首席项目官Marc Dinnat说，在开展交通量很高的高速公路项目时，广泛的计划至关重要。18luck官网Dinnat说：“在我们一时兴起并开始建造一些东西之前，我们会做很多详细的工作计划。”“我们确保我们有一个好的计划，这是一个很好的过程，可以在开始之前确保成功。”

该项目涉及将路易斯安那高速公路108号和I-210之间的I-10向东和向西从三个车道扩大到四个车道。它还需要充分修复道路表面并取代枫树叉桥的每个跨度。DOTD发言人Tammy York说：“ I-10的这一部分的表面需要频繁维护，并已达到服务寿命。”

With average daily traffic of 81,000 vehicles, Louisiana’s I-10 corridor is essential to the nation’s freight industry and an important piece of the highway system for the traveling public.

约克说：“通过重建混凝土区域，修复沥青部分并安装辅助车道，社区货运拖运者和旅行者将经历一条更平稳的道路，增加的容量和最小的维护延误。”

In replacing the Maple Fork Bridge, the project will raise the spans to above the 100-year flood elevation so they can operate continuously throughout weather events. Other work includes new drainage structures, median barriers, guardrails, cable barriers and permanent striping.

屈服于交通繁忙

The project team had to maintain two lanes of traffic in each direction at all times, and strict limits on lane closures meant that construction could take place only at night and during off-peak hours.

复杂的测序对于在州际公路延伸的稳定进步至关重要。在项目开始之前，团队重新设计了整个工作的测序，并重新配置了绕道道路。通过修改后的测序，团队能够最大程度地减少交通互换的数量，这意味着旅行的公众可以在没有不必要的更改的情况下将旅行方向保持更长的时间。

“We spent an extensive amount of time planning, resequencing the job, laying it out with Google Earth and going out and taking shots to make sure things would fit,” Dinnat says.

In addition to the lane closure restrictions, the project is being constructed without an offsite detour, requiring workers to maintain the full flow of traffic within the project limits.

“Fortunately, there are collector roads at the nearby interchange, which along with temporary widening allows diversion of the mainline traffic to the collector roads,” York says. “In other areas where widening is occurring, it is being done to the inside of the roadway, leaving the outside lane and shoulder available to traffic.” Crews are partially building the bridges in each direction to serve as an onsite detour while they complete the remaining portions of the bridges.

DOTD提供了一辆专用的拖车，临时交通信号和工作区执法人员，以帮助最大程度地减少交通延迟。

Adjusting for utilities, median

The project team had to troubleshoot some unexpected site conditions, including hidden concrete footings that conflicted with drainage and the discovery of unknown utilities that conflicted with the bridge foundation.

The need to move additional utilities presented significant challenges beyond what the contractor anticipated.

When a preconstruction meeting took place between the contractor and the utility providers, the contractor discovered the job would require moving more underground utilities than originally anticipated. Fiber optic lines, specifically, hindered progress underground. Not only were there more lines, but more utility owners would also need to be brought into the process.

Dinnat说：“因此，它大大延长了这些搬迁的时间，并改变了构造的顺序。”

To accommodate the relocations, the project team switched up sequencing for the bridge construction. Instead of building the eastbound structure first, they built the westbound bridge so the utility relocations could take place without significantly delaying the project, Dinnat says.

Among other site concerns, elevation differences made it difficult to construct the concrete median barrier that divides the eastbound and westbound lanes. A standard median barrier is about 42 in. to 54 in.; because of the variances in elevation, some segments of the wall will be 120 in. tall. “A significant portion of that barrier wall was very tall, which made it unique and challenging to construct,” Dinnat says.

To build out the structure’s components, the contractor designed a forming system to accommodate not only the wall’s height, but also its geometric design, which runs through an elevated curve. Because of uncertainties regarding how long it would take to design and construct this atypical wall, the project team has had to closely monitor costs and time spent on this portion of the project.

该项目总共包括8,000英尺的混凝土道路屏障。

东行和西行车道之间的另一个问题是，该项目需要将交通车道扩大到将它们分开的沮丧中间。扩大要求对基座进行路堤和沥青，并在顶部进行路面的标准部分。

The project team proposed an adjustment to the pavement section that did away with the earthwork portion, eliminating 27,000 cu yd of embankment. “Without having to put dirt and earthwork in the median, we were able to go back to work quicker after weather events,” Dinnat says.

总之,使用98000吨的项目phalt paving, 10,000 cu yd of concrete and just over 2.5 million lb of reinforcing steel.

Hurricane, pandemic shutdowns

With work taking place in Calcasieu Parish, the project team encountered multiple shutdowns because of hurricanes and the COVID-19 pandemic. In the fall of 2020, hurricanes Laura and Delta and Tropical Storm Beta hit the area within six weeks of each other, with Laura making landfall in southwest Louisiana as a devastating Category 4 storm. “You always have the threat of storms; you don’t always have multiple hurricanes in one season come through,” Dinnat says.

The project team had to suspend the project and secure the jobsite in advance of each storm. For Laura, the eye passed directly over the project. “Luckily our equipment was salvaged, and there was no significant damage,” Dinnat says.

In the aftermath of Laura, the project team had to contend with increased traffic volume because of rescue efforts and debris cleanup. “That affected our administration of the project. And we had to remain shut down for a period of time,” Dinnat says, adding that work was put on hold for several days leading up to the storm, and then about two weeks afterward.

飓风引起的一个单独的问题是，临时住房变得稀缺，承包商的旅行人员需要一个住宿地点。“没有房间。没有酒店。他们中的许多人被关闭，损坏或填满了失去一切的人，” Dinnat说。

The contractor had to figure out creative ways to find alternate accommodations, including hotel rooms that were farther away and required a longer commute.

The COVID-19 pandemic further complicated efforts to bring in out-of-town crews. “Living arrangements had to be modified because of social distancing requirements. We had to separate people more than we typically would have,” Dinnat says.

Not only did housing issues create logistical challenges, but they also resulted in additional expenses that the contractor had to absorb.

The pandemic temporarily interrupted work on the jobsite, which the project team voluntarily shut down for two weeks to figure out logistics and implement safety practices to protect workers. “Things we had taken for granted and never worried about came to the forefront,” Dinnat says.

On track through tech

尽管遇到了障碍和中断，Dinnat表示，迄今为止，该项目能够按时保持计划，部分归功于技术。管理团队每周两次部署无人机来远程查看工作现场，并解决出现的任何问题。

精确，团队依靠3D型号和机器控件。Dinnat说：“在我们构建该项目的紧密狭窄空间中，机器控件对于具有高效的结构至关重要。”

Throughout construction, the project team used Oracle Primavera P6 planning software to maintain a tight schedule, along with Microsoft Teams and Zoom for collaboration and meetings.

“Any time there’s an issue that a particular field manager or foreman may be having, we can get the parties on a video conference very quickly, resolve the issues and move forward,” Dinnat says.

As of mid-January, the project was 56.5% complete, York says, with remaining work including the replacement of portions of the Maple Fork bridges, asphalt, drainage, signage, centerline concrete barriers and permanent striping. Embankment, guardrail and cable barrier work also remains.

该项目已步行到2021年秋季完成。