JTA Paves the Way

Area Transportation Authority has $800 Million in Projects Under Way

By Debra Wood

For more than half a century, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority has designed and built roads and bridges aimed at improving traffic flow in Duval County, and this year is no exception.

The agency has more than $800 million in projects under way and more in planning.
JTA began in 1955 as a toll-supported expressway authority and merged in 1971 with several bus companies. It still operates the area ’s mass-transit systems. In 1988, taxpayers approved a half-cent sales tax, eliminating tolls on the JTA roads. In 2000, voters gave a thumbs up to the Better Jacksonville Plan to build $2.2 billion in public works and infrastructure improvements, including 42 roadway projects managed by the JTA.

When projects wrap up, JTA turns the road or bridge over to the city or to the Florida Department of Transportation to maintain.

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Current Projects

Superior Construction Co. of Jacksonville has undertaken JTA’s largest current job, the $80 million Beach Boulevard Intracoastal Waterway Bridge replacement, which began in June 2006. Two three-lane bridges with 65-ft clearance will take the place of the existing bascule bridges crossing the narrow channel.

Muck at the western side of the bridges potentially could have caused settlement, so JTA extended the bridges to avoid the poor soil. The soil is so hard at two of the 16 piers that crews must put casings in the ground and drill through them with an auger drill, says Shane Rixom, vice president of RS&H Construction Services, the Jacksonville-based construction engineering and inspection consultant on the project.

Davis says he expects the northern bridge to open for traffic later this year. At that time, all traffic will switch to the new bridge and Superior will begin dismantling the existing structures, before starting construction on the new south bridge.

Rixom says the biggest task on the job is removing the old bridges. Extra concrete was added several years ago during a retrofit. Forty-eight drill shafts and the original wooden piles must be removed because the foundation for the new south bridge must be placed in the same locations.

“We still haven’t figured out that one yet, but we are working on it,” Rixom says. He adds that the contractor is considering using explosives.

The project is scheduled to finish in 2009.

Beach Boulevard is one of three routes to and from the beaches. Superior is working on the third segment of another road connecting Jacksonville with its beaches and the Mayport Naval Station, the Wonderwood Connector. JTA began working on the $150 million Wonderwood in 1985.

“When finished, it will provide a complete evacuation route for the beaches and a destination route for the northern beaches and the Mayport Naval Station,” Davis says.

Superior will wrap up construction this fall on the $40 million Regency Bypass I, which involves constructing two major flyovers connecting the Arlington Expressway with the Southside Connector. The job also includes modifying the interchange at Regency Square Boulevard.

The original contract called for repairing a box culvert, but when crews began working on it, the team realized it had collapsed and the only option was to replace it, adding $4.5 million to the project, Rixom says.

Design-Build

The authority awards about one design-build project a year, says Hamid Tabassian, JTA's manager of design.

“Every project is not a candidate for design-build,” Tabassian adds. “Once it’s determined that a project can be done design-build, it’s the preferred method.”

To avoid surprises and delays, JTA opts for a traditional design-bid-build procurement if the project involves complex permitting or right-of-way acquisition, such as approvals from the water management district or U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“If we take the uncertainty out of a project, the design-build team has less risk to shoulder and can better identify what the requirements are, the cost and what the delivery time will be,” Davis says.

The design-build team receives the specifications and a 30% design from JTA and can develop plans for the balance, choosing steel or concrete.

“We’ve had good experience with design-build projects,” Tabassian says. “You get the construction costs locked in 18 months earlier [than with design-bid-build].”

JTA prequalifies design-build bidders and considers experience with similar work and with the authority in its selection process. It will narrow prospects and request technical and price proposals. It evaluates the time and quality of the technical proposal and adjusts the price bid accordingly.

“It’s not just a low-bid procurement,” Tabassian says. “With design-build, you want to have trust and to think about win-win situations. Both sides have to have a win-win attitude for it to be able to work.”

Superior Construction-Arcadis, a joint venture between Superior Construction Co. of Jacksonville and Arcadis of Denver, had the second-highest score and the lowest price on the $43 million design-build improvement to the Beach Boulevard-Kernan Boulevard Intersection. The project will bring six-lane Kernan over the top of a future eight-lane Beach Boulevard.

“The grade separation will reduce the congestion that occurs in the vicinity of the intersection,” says Jeff Toussant, program manager for Reynolds Smith and Hills of Jacksonville, JTA’s general engineering consultant. “After we finished 30% plans, it was suggested this would be a good candidate for design-build. There was little right-of-way required and the permitting was straightforward.”

Clearing, grading and utility work is under way. RS&H recently completed reviewing design for the roadway and 90% bridge plans, which allows Superior to order girders.

JTA also will seek requests for qualifications this fall for a $12 million design-build widening of 1 mi of Interstate 95 between the J. Turner Butler Boulevard and University Boulevard interchanges.

Upcoming Projects

Davis says construction should begin on the $26.1 million, four-lane East/West Connector later this year. The approximately 2-mi road will run from the airport to I-95 in northeastern Jacksonville.

JTA anticipates going to bid this fall on a $59 million two-bridge replacement and 2-mi-long widening of Heckscher Drive. This second phase of the Heckscher project will improve access to JAXPORT.

Useful Sources:

Jacksonville Transportation Authority
http://www.jtafla.com