One Tough Job

Hubbard Construction's I-95 Widening Project in Delray Beach Had Its Problems

By Scott Judy

Orlando-based Hubbard Construction Co. was able to complete a complex, problem-filled Interstate 95 widening project in Palm Beach County on schedule this summer and to the satisfaction of the owner - all despite the contract value growing by more than 25 percent.

Originally awarded at $49 million, the Florida Department of Transportation design-build project escalated to $62 million as redesigns and unexpected site conditions caused additional work.

By finishing slightly ahead of the Aug. 17 completion date - the original deadline for the 1,385-calendar day job, Hubbard expected to earn considerable bonus funds, and had already received over $1 million for finishing up early on two major interchanges for the city of Delray Beach.

advertisement

"The construction is good, high-quality craftsmanship," said Scott Burrie, construction project manager for FDOT. "(There is) no problem with Hubbard as far as the overall construction."

Bill Capehart, vice president and division manager for Hubbard, summed up his company's feelings at the end of the job when he said, "It was a tough job."

Thomas O. Craft, Hubbard's construction manager for this project, assisted Capehart. Other key Hubbard staff included: Jim Cardaman, project manager; Mike Dempsey, project superintendent; and Gary Montgomery, bridge superintendent.

The Project

Bid in June 2000, the project consisted of widening approximately 3.86 mi. of I-95 from six to 10 lanes, the reconstruction of eight ramps, demolition and rebuilding of 10 bridges at five different locations, plus major rebuilds of Linton Boulevard and Atlantic Avenue at those respective interstate interchanges. The I-95 project is bound by the L-30 canal on the north end and Linton Boulevard on the south.

It was definitely a big job. Project quantities included 534,000 cu. yds. of excavation, approximately 275,000 sq. ft. of temporary or permanent mechanically stabilized earth wall, over 310,000 tons of limerock base (including temporary) and about 170,000 tons of asphalt (including temporary).

The bridge work required about 200 prestressed concrete beams, ranging from 80 to 131 lin. ft. each, and nearly 400 concrete piles. Storm drainage necessitated 20,200 lin. ft. of pipe and 185 inlets/manholes.

Despite the huge materials quantities, a bigger issue was the project's plan for maintenance of traffic, or MOT, the contractor's plan to work with, in and around the estimated 165,000 vehicles traveling through the project daily - many of them at high speeds. The MOT plan includes the contractor's project staging, use of barrier wall or other devices, and other efforts to keep the stretch of roadway open to traffic.

"The maintenance of traffic is probably the most important thing on these jobs," Burrie said. "Our typical speeds are running between 80 and 85 mph in a posted 55 mph work zone. We've got narrowed lanes in all of our phases of construction. So we've got lots of motorists doing white-knuckle driving trying to go through the construction zone at 60 or 55 and people passing on the left and right at 75, 80 and 85."

Winston Lucky, senior project engineer with designer HNTB, called this job's MOT "the biggest challenge," not only because of the fast and furious traffic, but because of design changes and unexpected site hurdles.

The Problems

The original idea was to build the project in thirds, starting from the north end and heading south in a slow-but-steady and orderly fashion. Delays encountered driving sheet pile necessitated a change in plans.

"We had a lot of problems installing the sheet pile that was needed to shore up the existing roadway in order to build the new road right next to it," FDOT's Burrie said. Engineered fill used to build the road approximately 30 years ago proved difficult to pass through.

"We couldn't drive the sheet pile," Burrie added. Hubbard officials explored and thought it may have been a case of differing site conditions. However, Burrie said, "Upon coring the job we found the site conditions were exactly as presented in the plans, but it still didn't reveal the problem." (The identical problem would eventually be encountered at every location - mostly at every corner of a bridge - where engineered fill was found.)

After several months of analysis, the team decided on the ultimate solution of predrilling or soil disturbance where the sheet pile was to be driven.

"We did test piles in accordance with all DOT standards," Lucky said. "But all they could do was predrill it to help with the penetration." Though this method added considerable cost, it worked.

Burrie said that prior to this solution, "We were making a lot of noise and things were delayed months and months and months."

To partly address the delay problems, the team introduced a new MOT scenario that, instead of thirds, split the job in half. By committing to this new traffic switch, Hubbard agreed to not ask for extensions due to the pile-driving problems. This enabled the contractor to work on more areas at once, such as multiple bridges, so that instead of being built one after the other, they were constructed concurrently.

Hubbard kept the job on track as much as it could, Burrie said.

Ramp reconstruction would stymie the design-builders as well and eventually add further cost to the project. Initial cross-sections of the ramp areas were problematic. If built as designed, the ramps would not be able to be kept open during construction. That consequently changed the engineering of all eight ramps on the project - and caused a further escalation in price.

By making these changes, the construction team was able to keep several ramps open during reconstruction, but ultimately some had to be shut down.

"Maintaining traffic just became insanity," Burrie said. "It was nightmarish."

Further costs were incurred because additional signing was required to route traffic.

"The MOT on this job was so complex, if you change one portion of it, it's like a ripple effect," said HNTB's Lucky, adding that side-street detours were especially problematic.

The Progress

Hubbard's Capehart agreed that the required phasing was the most difficult part of the job. The contractor first expanded the road to the outside with temporary lanes and then started working in the median. Here, safety was the key factor.

"You've got to be safe," Capehart said. "Accessing the median was a tremendous concern of ours." Getting trucks in and out of the median as cars whizzed by, for example, was one item the contractor had to deal with. Another change to the MOT to enhance safety was made here by expanding the shoulder to a full breakdown width.

Even by expanding the roadway to the outside, working in the median "was a tight fit," Capehart said.

The contractor self-performed the vast majority of the project, with company subsidiary East Coast Paving handling the asphalt work. Johnson-Davis of Lantana installed the storm-drainage pipe.

The new road was built with 11 in. of limerock on stabilized subgrade, with 6 in. of asphalt and a 1-in. friction course. East Coast Paving was placing the final lift of friction course in early summer.

Burrie said that going into the final stretch, he was becoming more pleased with HNTB's efforts, and with Lucky in particular.

"In the past year, we've stabilized with a single designer (Lucky), and he's come to work very closely with the team," Burrie added. "We've had good response from HNTB in the past year. The problem was in the first year-and-a-half, when we had all of these monumental problems.

"In the beginning it was a little touch-and-go and I really wasn't happy, but here in the past year they've come around."

As for the efforts of Hubbard, and of the job overall, Burrie said: "We had monumental problems and the contractor was handicapped by us not having designs for them when needed when we encountered these problems. But we've got a good job coming to completion."

Project Team:

Owner: Florida Department of Transportation
General Contractor: Hubbard Construction Co., Orlando
Designer: HNTB, Miami
Construction Engineering and Inspection Firm: Greenhorne & O'Mara, West Palm Beach
Asphalt Contractor: East Coast Paving, a subsidiary of Hubbard Construction
Utility Contractor: Johnson-Davis, Lantana