Project Team
Owner: Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority
General Contractor: Granite Construction Co., Tampa
CEI: GAI Consultants-Southeast

This project completes the interchange between State Road 429, the Florida Turnpike and State Road 50 in Ocoee, west of Orlando. The owner for this project was the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority (OOCEA).

The project included the construction of six new steel bridges and five new concrete bridges, cast-in-place retaining walls, numerous earth retaining walls and two concrete box culverts. Work also included the construction of 10 ponds, the delivery and placement of over 3 million cu. yds. of fill, the installation of 40,000 ft. of storm drain pipe and over 220,000 sq. yds. of paving. One of the steel bridges was a curved structure, over 60 ft. in the air and almost 2,000 ft. long.

Granite Construction Co. also constructed Section 600 of the Western Beltway, which included the first part of the interchange between SR 429 and the Florida Turnpike. The majority of personnel for Granite, GAI Consultants - Southeast (the construction engineering and inspection firm) and the expressway authority, worked on both projects. This resulted in an experienced team of personnel with established relationships working together to build the project.

The biggest challenge on this $42 million project involved the crossing of a 130-ft.-deep muck hole. The hardest part of dealing with this location was that the cone-shaped hole was partially outside the right-of-way and opened onto an existing pond. The challenge was to install a stable work platform on top of the extremely soft muck without impacting the adjacent pond or losing equipment into the hole. Once the work platform was in place, wick drains and monitoring devices were installed. Embankment was placed at a very slow rate, with the placing of the next lift dependent on satisfactory readings from the monitoring equipment. By working carefully together, the project team was able to complete this work, without impacting the project schedule.

Another area of innovation on the project involved the erection of steel girders over existing Ramp G. This erection required the use of three cranes in combination, while minimizing impacts to traffic and while working 60 ft. in the air.

Careful planning and close cooperation between all parties avoided numerous potential problems, Granite officials stated. More than 800 truckloads of fill per day were delivered to the project over a 12-month period without major incidents. Four bridges had to be constructed across the Florida Turnpike. Much of the work for these bridges had to be performed at night to minimize impacts to traffic. One of the main phone cables to Miami is located in the median of the Turnpike, and had to be avoided during pile driving and drainage construction.

In summing up their project entry, Granite officials stated, "This project has been a safe project with one of the lowest accident-incidence rates within Granite. The whole project team partnered together to make this a successful project."