Rebuilding I-4 in Polk Co

Effort includes three design-build contracts totaling nearly $200 million

By Scott Judy

The Florida Department of Transportation's accelerated effort to expand nearly 30 mi. of Interstate 4 through Polk County is heading into an expected final year of construction as reconstruction and bridge work begins to give way to asphalt paving and widening.

Overall, the project will expand this stretch of I-4 between Orlando and Tampa from four to six lanes and lay the groundwork for the interstate's ultimate build-out to 10 lanes and the potential inclusion of a median-based high-speed rail system.

FDOT let the majority of the roughly $225 million project as three separate design-build contracts. They are:

• Contract 1 - Jones Bros. Construction of Tennessee teamed with designer CH2M Hill of Orlando on this $59.7 million, 3.8-mi. segment between Memorial Boulevard and U.S. Highway 98. HNTB is the construction engineering and inspection (CEI) firm.
• Contract 2 - The longest segment at 16.3 mi. is being handled by Martin K. Eby Construction of Maitland, with the Tampa office of HDR providing both design and CEI services. This $73 million section extends from east of U.S. 98 to east of County Road 557.
• Contract 3 - Hubbard Construction of Orlando teamed with designer and CEI firm Jacobs Civil Engineering on this roughly $63.3 million segment that runs approximately 9.5 mi. from east of County Road 557 to the Osceola County line.

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Additionally, the state used a standard low-bid scenario to award Hubbard's Tampa division a roughly $30 million contract to rebuild the I-4/U.S. 98 interchange.

Overall, the contractors are making good progress, said Ken Nelson, public information officer for the project.

"All of the contractors are saying they're going to be done on or ahead of schedule," he added. Nelson said all four teams - including Hubbard's standard-bid contract - have the potential to earn a $10,000-per-day bonus for finishing ahead of schedule, with a 200-day maximum. That's a maximum bonus of roughly $2 million per contract.

All of the contracts vary somewhat, but most of the design-build projects are scheduled for completion sometime in late 2005 or early 2006.

While all are hopeful of winning some of that early-completion bonus, Nelson said the Hubbard team on Contract 3 has been especially aggressive.

"Out of all of them, I would think that Hubbard project is going to be done way ahead of schedule," he said, adding that the contractor already has completed the new lanes for roughly one-half of its segment. "They're on the accelerated, 24-hour schedule. None of the others are doing that. They just seem to be pretty aggressive. They've always got something going."

Of course, projects of this scope mean all of the teams better have "something going" all the time. Overall, Nelson said, "Most of them are working on getting their bridges done, and they're also working on getting the extra lane done. They're all moving with dispatch."

Still, the potential for delay looms. Nelson said statewide materials shortages or delays have hit all the contracts, with granite aggregate - mostly imported from Canada - and concrete among the items contractors have sometimes found themselves waiting on. And contractors, always wary of Mother Nature, know that all of their gains to date can be wiped out by one wet summer.

Contract 1: Unexpected Challenges

Jones Bros. started construction in March 2003, nine months after the project was awarded. In addition to the widening of 3.8 mi. of I-4, the contractor is also responsible for new bridges at Bella Vista Street, Swindell Road, 10th Street and Griffin Road, as well as the reconstruction of interchanges at Memorial Boulevard and Kathleen Road.

Nelson said this team experienced the greatest amount of unexpected hurdles at the project's outset.

"In the early stages they had a lot of environmental permitting issues" with the South Florida Water Management District, which caused about three months in delays, he added. The design-builders also had to relocate a gas line.

Other issues remain as potential roadblocks to success, though.

"There's been materials issues on all fronts," said David Vogel, senior project engineer with CEI firm HNTB. "There have been problems with getting asphalt itself. There have been problems with aggregate. We're hearing there may be problems with cement, and there are issues with steel and steel prices.

"It's going to be quite a challenge to get done on time. There have been some impacts. But Jones Bros. has been very innovative with coming up with ways to accelerate."

A potential area for gaining ground is the roadwork phase, which Vogel said is still in the early stages.

"We're only about 15 percent (complete) on the asphalt, but so far it's gone quite well," he added. "The quality of paving has been very good. And through the summer we'll be doing more and more paving."

Central Florida Hot Mix of Eaton Park, a subsidiary of Lane Construction Co., is performing the asphalt paving on this contract, as well as for Eby's Contract 2 segment.

Contract 2: The Longest

Eby's 16.3-mi. contract is the longest, and therefore represents the greatest amount of asphalt paving. Kevin Stirewalt, senior project engineer for the firm, said it's this aspect of the project that's posed the greatest obstacle - and concern.

"There are a lot of large quantities to put in place, (plus) the challenges of access and traffic," he said. "The traffic has been pretty bad, with the speed of the traffic."

Central Florida Hot Mix is also the paving sub on this segment, and was roughly 50 percent complete in May. Progress on this activity should accelerate because paving was moving from mostly night work to being done during the day, Stirewalt said.

"Now that we've milled and resurfaced the existing two lanes in both directions, work on the outside can be done during the day," he added, explaining that workers should be able to get much more done this way.

When working at night, Stirewalt said the paving crews would normally average about 1 mi. each night. Now, daytime paving will continue until roughly December, when Central Florida Hot Mix will start paving at night again to place the final friction-course layer.

Throughout its contract, the paving contractor is using a material-transfer device to deliver the hot mix to the paver. This is being done to keep the paving train moving at all times and to produce the smoothest pavement possible.

As with the other sections, the existing pavement is being milled and 2 in. of asphalt is being placed back. On the new sections of roadway, the contractors are placing a total of 6.5 in. of asphalt on top of a 12-in. limerock base.

Here, too, aggregate availability has been an issue, due to the particular mix design mandated for the overall project.

"The Traffic Level E mix really hadn't been used down here much, and they've had some difficulty getting all of the mixes approved," Stirewalt said. "The supply of material for that mix has been limited. A couple times we had to wait on the rock."

Even so, Stirewalt remains optimistic about the project's timetable.

"We're trying to get it done a little bit early," he said. "We've got really a year left. We're definitely going to make that, and there's a potential to get done early."

Contract 3: Aggressive

Hubbard began work on its $63.3 million contract in January 2003 and has a completion date of Oct. 31, 2005. Activity was focused around the U.S. Highway 27/I-4 interchange, which the contractor is rebuilding, and the repaving of 2 mi. of U.S. 27. In May, the contractor still had about one-third of the U.S. 27 bridge to build but expected to complete this work by this summer.

Despite its aggressive, around-the-clock actions to date, Hubbard isn't overly confident.

"I wouldn't say we're ahead of schedule, but we're not behind by any means," said Mike Turner, the firm's project manager. "We're hitting it just as hard as we intended to hit it. But with the rainy season coming, everything you gain this week you could lose next week.

"We don't get any rain days for weather delays. So if it rains the whole month of July, that's our tough luck."

The contractor had completed roughly 4 mi. of the project's 9-mi. total by the end of May and was working on finishing the structure course for the remaining 5 mi. A final friction course is still needed for the length of its segment.

Opposed to the other contractors, Hubbard isn't using a subcontractor to perform its paving work. Instead, Orlando Paving Co., a division of Hubbard, is handling the work, which Turner said has benefited the project team.

"We bid the job together and we designed the job together," he added. "They were always such an integral part of the team, so everybody knows what the other's going to be doing."

Turner said design-build has "worked great" on this project.

"Giving the contractor the flexibility and the input is just great," he added. "We may know an easier way to do something that could save time and money. So the input during design is critical and can help a lot.

Overall, Turner added, "It's a good project. It should finish on time. Nothing is appearing to us on the horizon that could impact the project."

Useful Sources:

For more information on this project, please visit: www.i4polk.com

Project Team:

Owner: Florida Department of Transportation
Contractor, Contract 1: Jones Bros. Construction, Tennessee
Designer, Contract 1: CH2M Hill, Orlando
CEI, Contract 1: HNTB, Orlando
Contractor, Contract 2: Martin K. Eby Construction Co., Maitland
Designer, CEI, Contract 2: HDR, Tampa
Contractor, Contract 3: Hubbard Construction, Orlando
Designer, CEI, Contract 3: Jacobs Civil Engineering
Asphalt Paving Contractor, Contracts 1 and 2: Central Florida Hot Mix, Eaton Park
Asphalt Paving Contractor, Contract 3: Orlando Paving Co., Orlando