I-57 Approved

[Road Hog]

The Black River has been flood-prone since time immemorial. I guess the terrain's not conducive to upstream flood control reservoirs, otherwise the Corps of Engineers would've built them almost a century ago.

[I-39]

I wonder if they're going to build any of this stuff in an initial 2-lane configuration, like what they did with the Belle Vista bypass. AR-530 going South of Pine Bluff seems to be stuck in a 2-lane setup. Building an interim 2-lane road at least allows the agency to secure the ROW, if not get a lot of the grading work and utility relocation finished.

I'm sure that is what will happen. They did that on the freeway portion just north of Newport.

Regardless, I feel that Black River section will be the biggest obstacle to completing I-57.

[Road Hog]

[
Anyone can correct me on this but my understanding was FHWA design guidelines require new interstate builds to be above a 100 year flood plain. So if this is the case, I would expect a large number of retention ponds along the route where the contractor has extracted the needed soil to elevate the ROW. I also assume all of the ROW drainage will be gravity based via the median. Typically these exit to the outer ditch which is then pitched to the closest retention pond.

As for the number of bridges, I suspect most of the smaller crossings will be box culverts, including Murray Creek.

There needs to be additional "freeboard" above the 100 year flood plain (usually 2' or so) to reduce chance of overtopping floods over the pavement, and there is also compensatory storage required for any fill placed in the flood plain. Bridging over the flood plain is sometimes the more economical choice, or is done to address an environmental concern. Where fill + compensatory storage is used instead of bridging, it must be designed in a way that provides flood relief in a way that counterbalances the fill in the flood plain. Random borrow pits will probably not do it, it would need to be more methodical. 

Considering we seem to have 100-year floods every third year now, they'll need to exceed that by more than a couple of feet. Five minimum, maybe eight.

[edwaleni]

Considering we seem to have 100-year floods every third year now, they'll need to exceed that by more than a couple of feet. Five minimum, maybe eight.

I checked the topos for the proposed route from Walnut Ridge to the state line.

Generally the elevations run from 280 ASL near Corning to around 265 ASL near Pocahontas. The Black and Current Rivers flow about 3-6 feet below the nearby elevations. Some are larger variances (near Corning) and some are smaller (near Pocahontas). Which simply means the normal stage runs closer to the nearby bank level as you go further south.

As a baseline I also looked at the old MoPAC (now UP) line that runs east of the Black River up to Corning. That line runs at about 270 ASL east of Pocahontas and reaches a maximum of 286 ASL for the bridge that crosses over the Black River south of Corning and then comes back down to about 275-278 ASL.

Since the railroad has had more history here than the roads do (I also looked at the history of the rail route, and it had chronic flooding before it was elevated), but car and trucks are less adverse to grade than trains are, I would make an assumption that I-57 will probably run at around 270 ASL leading up to the Black River Bridge, elevate to about 285 ASL to cross and then come back down to 275 ASL except for around Duck Levee Road.

There is an exit ramp planned here for Reyno and it comes very close to the flood stage of the Black River, so depending on how the trumpet will be designed, it will require more elevation.

Just my opinion based on the topos and flood maps and the proposed routes.

[MikieTimT]

The Black River has been flood-prone since time immemorial. I guess the terrain's not conducive to upstream flood control reservoirs, otherwise the Corps of Engineers would've built them almost a century ago.

There is one.  Clearwater Lake up NW of Poplar Bluff, MO.

Trouble is, it's up on the Salem Plateau, and there really isn't any place once it hits Poplar Bluff that the Black River isn't also Mississippi/St. Francis River floodplain if you look at satellite imagery of the area.

Then, you have to consider that both the Current River and Fourche River join up with the Black River right at Pocahontas at the very edge of the Salem Plateau.  There's just no other place to impound upstream, and anything major storm systems that are big enough to cause flooding will typically cause all 3 rivers to flood, so Pocahontas is pretty much boxed in on the west side, so all the flooding spills eastward.  The further east from Pocahontas that I-57 bypasses, the less likely that all 3 rivers' floodwaters impact it.

[edwaleni]

The Black River has been flood-prone since time immemorial. I guess the terrain's not conducive to upstream flood control reservoirs, otherwise the Corps of Engineers would've built them almost a century ago.

There is one.  Clearwater Lake up NW of Poplar Bluff, MO.

Trouble is, it's up on the Salem Plateau, and there really isn't any place once it hits Poplar Bluff that the Black River isn't also Mississippi/St. Francis River floodplain if you look at satellite imagery of the area.

Then, you have to consider that both the Current River and Fourche River join up with the Black River right at Pocahontas at the very edge of the Salem Plateau.  There's just no other place to impound upstream, and anything major storm systems that are big enough to cause flooding will typically cause all 3 rivers to flood, so Pocahontas is pretty much boxed in on the west side, so all the flooding spills eastward.  The further east from Pocahontas that I-57 bypasses, the less likely that all 3 rivers' floodwaters impact it.

I also noticed that the rate of elevation change starts declining south of Pocahontas, which makes the rivers oxbow alot and widen due to more water than depth. Many of those "wide" spots are labeled swamps or bayous. No criticism to the farmers of the area, but they have created a massive system of ditches to get excess water off their fields. Many of these ditches are merely straight line affairs with no obstructions, or chicanes so when it does rain regionally, the water flows quickly away. Great for the farmer perhaps, but creates havoc downstream when all these ditches converge to dump their collected water into the next system.

[MikieTimT]

Curious if ARDOT would elect to replace the US-67 designation between Walnut Ridge and Pocahontas with an extension of Hwy 115 once US-67 is moved to the new freeway.

They might not necessarily move US-67 to the new facility.  Arkansas does want as much US highway mileage as possible, especially in this region with the proposed US-78 extension in the other thread and the ARDOT Chairman Alec Farmer being from Jonesboro.  They didn't move US-71 to I-49 between Alma and Fayetteville, and it's still US-71 in Bella Vista, after all.

I would suspect ArDOT will give the Corning Bypass a temporary designation (thinking...AR-557) until other sections of the extension are completed and the entire highway is ready to be designated as I-57. 

But a curious question...Will the first section around Corning be a full build or just the first 2 lanes, like what was done with the first stretch of I-69 around Monticello?

The Corning Bypass will have the designation of AR-657 according to CORNING BYPASS (FUTURE I-57) (S) CLAY COUNTY ROUTE 657 SECTION 3 JOB 101172 FED. AID PROJ. CPFCDS-NHPP-0011(66) Pg. 157 of 386.

Plans look like they'll do all 4 lanes, but maybe ARDOT always does the plans with 4 lanes, implementing only a Super-2 until full funding becomes available, but I don't see anything in the plans near the endpoints that looks like on or off ramps extending into the median like would be required for the temporary implementation of a Super-2.

[MikieTimT]

I wouldn't be surprised if new segments of future Interstate 57 were temporarily signed as AR 557, although I would sign them solely as US 67 (with old 67 becoming 367) and adding the Interstate 57 designation later.

It's going to be AR-657 as per the engineering plans in the above post.

[MikieTimT]

I think the Memphis situation is an urgent time bomb that will require a LOT of federal help and funding. The TN state legislature sure isn't going to do anything about the problem on its own. And it wouldn't have the money to do so even if the desire was there (which it isn't).

The existing I-55 bridge over the Mississippi River just sucks: 4 lanes, no shoulders. It's a traffic bottleneck. The Hernando de Soto Bridge (I-40) isn't too much better: 6 lanes, no shoulders, the outer third lanes drop at exit ramps on the East end of the bridge. Both bridges need to be replaced with safer, higher capacity structures. Good arguments can be made for building new Mississippi River bridges North and South of Memphis, extending the I-269 outer loop into Arkansas.

So, yeah, it's smarter of Arkansas to prioritize completing I-57. The project is pretty easy compared to what's involved with I-49. Plus there will probably be a greater, immediate benefit.

Once I-57 is completed it's likely the route will attract a lot more trucks. The I-57 bridge in Cairo is not so great. Again: 4 lanes, no shoulders. The thing was built in 1978, making it 46 years old. The New Madrid area does have a powder keg of seismic potential. But no one has any clue if/when a major earthquake there would occur. Life has to go on in the meantime. But there has to be some redundancy of Mississippi River bridge crossings in that region. It is of nation-wide interest multiple crossings remain functional.

It appears as though they are putting some seismic thought into the bridges in the Corning Bypass by using elastomeric bearings.  CORNING BYPASS (FUTURE I-57) (S) CLAY COUNTY ROUTE 657 SECTION 3 JOB 101172 FED. AID PROJ. CPFCDS-NHPP-0011(66) Pg. 191 of 386

[TBKS1]

Interesting choice of using AR 657 as the designation. I was initially thinking that they'd use AR 557 as the designation instead given that other future interstate highway projects have been designated with numbers in the 500s (AR 549 for I-49, AR 530 for I-530, etc). The 600s and even 700s are just as open for use in Arkansas, and this designation won't last forever either.

[I-39]

Interesting choice of using AR 657 as the designation. I was initially thinking that they'd use AR 557 as the designation instead given that other future interstate highway projects have been designated with numbers in the 500s (AR 549 for I-49, AR 530 for I-530, etc). The 600s and even 700s are just as open for use in Arkansas, and this designation won't last forever either.

If they are connecting it with the Missouri section, why not just use US 67?

The funding Missouri just passed allows for the remaining section to be built the state line right?

[MikieTimT]

Interesting choice of using AR 657 as the designation. I was initially thinking that they'd use AR 557 as the designation instead given that other future interstate highway projects have been designated with numbers in the 500s (AR 549 for I-49, AR 530 for I-530, etc). The 600s and even 700s are just as open for use in Arkansas, and this designation won't last forever either.

Me too.  AR-557 was my call upthread as well, but if they went to the trouble of putting the shields in the engineering schematics for AR-657, it looks pretty official to me.

[MikieTimT]

Interesting choice of using AR 657 as the designation. I was initially thinking that they'd use AR 557 as the designation instead given that other future interstate highway projects have been designated with numbers in the 500s (AR 549 for I-49, AR 530 for I-530, etc). The 600s and even 700s are just as open for use in Arkansas, and this designation won't last forever either.

If they are connecting it with the Missouri section, why not just use US 67?

The funding Missouri just passed allows for the remaining section to be built the state line right?

ARDOT always has new terrain Interstate designations as state routes until graduating to I-** designations.  Historically, they've used the AR-5** series, but I guess they're adding the 600 numbers in now as well.  Google Maps will jump the gun ahead of time anyway and throw and Interstate shield on it prematurely as soon as it opens, but the navigation also start routing traffic onto it after it opens as well, regardless of AR-657 or US-67 until it's I-57.

Has Missouri scheduled their lettings for Phases 3 and 4 yet?

[I-39]

Interesting choice of using AR 657 as the designation. I was initially thinking that they'd use AR 557 as the designation instead given that other future interstate highway projects have been designated with numbers in the 500s (AR 549 for I-49, AR 530 for I-530, etc). The 600s and even 700s are just as open for use in Arkansas, and this designation won't last forever either.

If they are connecting it with the Missouri section, why not just use US 67?

The funding Missouri just passed allows for the remaining section to be built the state line right?

ARDOT always has new terrain Interstate designations as state routes until graduating to I-** designations.  Historically, they've used the AR-5** series, but I guess they're adding the 600 numbers in now as well.  Google Maps will jump the gun ahead of time anyway and throw and Interstate shield on it prematurely as soon as it opens, but the navigation also start routing traffic onto it after it opens as well, regardless of AR-657 or US-67 until it's I-57.

Has Missouri scheduled their lettings for Phases 3 and 4 yet?

Don't know about Phases 3 and 4, but even if the Walnut Ridge-Corning section isn't built, I would imagine it will be signed as I-57 from Sikeston to Corning as soon as the US 60 segment is fully upgraded to interstate standards.

[MikieTimT]

Interesting choice of using AR 657 as the designation. I was initially thinking that they'd use AR 557 as the designation instead given that other future interstate highway projects have been designated with numbers in the 500s (AR 549 for I-49, AR 530 for I-530, etc). The 600s and even 700s are just as open for use in Arkansas, and this designation won't last forever either.

If they are connecting it with the Missouri section, why not just use US 67?

The funding Missouri just passed allows for the remaining section to be built the state line right?

ARDOT always has new terrain Interstate designations as state routes until graduating to I-** designations.  Historically, they've used the AR-5** series, but I guess they're adding the 600 numbers in now as well.  Google Maps will jump the gun ahead of time anyway and throw and Interstate shield on it prematurely as soon as it opens, but the navigation also start routing traffic onto it after it opens as well, regardless of AR-657 or US-67 until it's I-57.

Has Missouri scheduled their lettings for Phases 3 and 4 yet?

Don't know about Phases 3 and 4, but even if the Walnut Ridge-Corning section isn't built, I would imagine it will be signed as I-57 from Sikeston to Corning as soon as the US 60 segment is fully upgraded to interstate standards.

Don't know what Missouri's plan is regarding signing their portion and the timelines, but Arkansas is pushing to get I-57 signed from Little Rock to Walnut Ridge at least as soon as the Jacksonville reconstruction is completed in 2027.  Interstate 57 - Corridor Designation in Arkansas From Interstate 40 in North Little Rock to U.S. Highway 412 in Walnut Ridge

Arkansas doesn't have anything on the radar yet for anything north of Walnut Ridge at this point regarding signing I-57.  May change if Missouri gets all their segments up to FHWA approved conditions, though, and Arkansas has at least the northernmost 2 segments complete by then.

[MikieTimT]

Went through Jacksonville yesterday afternoon and last night on the way to and from Jonesboro and took a couple of blurry time lapse videos of the construction site.  Sorry if they frustrate more than educate.

[Road Hog]

You can slow the playback speed down to .25 and can see it pretty well. Looks like the southbound lanes are coming along pretty good. Might be driving on new concrete shortly after New Years by the look of it.

[Road Hog]

Is Weaver-Bailey the contractor on the Jacksonville job? If they are, major props on them for their work north of Vandenberg. They got that done at warp speed and it looks quality. They're getting Jacksonville knocked out too, looks like.