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[MaxConcrete]

http://www.dot.state.tx.us/insdtdot/orgchart/cmd/cserve/bidtab/12053001.htm


Estimate   $457,835,184.73   % Over/Under   Company
Bidder 1   $447,614,999.99   -2.23%   WEBBER, LLC
Bidder 2   $450,335,835.45   -1.64%   FLATIRON CONSTRUCTORS, INC.
Bidder 3   $462,453,683.28   +1.01%   AUSTIN BRIDGE & ROAD SERVICES, LP
Bidder 4   $463,689,446.76   +1.28%   BALFOUR BEATTY INFRASTRUCTURE, INC.
Bidder 5   $468,602,893.87   +2.35%   JOHNSON BROS. CORPORATION, A SOUTHLAND COMPANY


This is the largest conventional (non-design-build) single contract amount I've seen awarded by TxDOT. This job will rebuild and widen the freeway to 4x4 through Waco.

[Beltway]

http://www.dot.state.tx.us/insdtdot/orgchart/cmd/cserve/bidtab/12053001.htm
Estimate   $457,835,184.73   % Over/Under   Company
Bidder 1   $447,614,999.99   -2.23%   WEBBER, LLC
Bidder 2   $450,335,835.45   -1.64%   FLATIRON CONSTRUCTORS, INC.
Bidder 3   $462,453,683.28   +1.01%   AUSTIN BRIDGE & ROAD SERVICES, LP
Bidder 4   $463,689,446.76   +1.28%   BALFOUR BEATTY INFRASTRUCTURE, INC.
Bidder 5   $468,602,893.87   +2.35%   JOHNSON BROS. CORPORATION, A SOUTHLAND COMPANY
This is the largest conventional (non-design-build) single contract amount I've seen awarded by TxDOT. This job will rebuild and widen the freeway to 4x4 through Waco.

About $100 million per mile!  Any major bridges?  Major interchange rebuilds?

[sparker]

http://www.dot.state.tx.us/insdtdot/orgchart/cmd/cserve/bidtab/12053001.htm
Estimate   $457,835,184.73   % Over/Under   Company
Bidder 1   $447,614,999.99   -2.23%   WEBBER, LLC
Bidder 2   $450,335,835.45   -1.64%   FLATIRON CONSTRUCTORS, INC.
Bidder 3   $462,453,683.28   +1.01%   AUSTIN BRIDGE & ROAD SERVICES, LP
Bidder 4   $463,689,446.76   +1.28%   BALFOUR BEATTY INFRASTRUCTURE, INC.
Bidder 5   $468,602,893.87   +2.35%   JOHNSON BROS. CORPORATION, A SOUTHLAND COMPANY
This is the largest conventional (non-design-build) single contract amount I've seen awarded by TxDOT. This job will rebuild and widen the freeway to 4x4 through Waco.

About $100 million per mile!  Any major bridges?  Major interchange rebuilds?

Looks like all of the above plus relocation of a sizeable number of local utilities; pretty typical when going to 8 lanes within an urban zone.  Moving the city sewers alone, according to the bid sheet, comprises many of the "miscellaneous" tasks involved in the project.

[Beltway]

About $100 million per mile!  Any major bridges?  Major interchange rebuilds?

Looks like all of the above plus relocation of a sizeable number of local utilities; pretty typical when going to 8 lanes within an urban zone.  Moving the city sewers alone, according to the bid sheet, comprises many of the "miscellaneous" tasks involved in the project.

Per Google maps aerial, it already has 6 lanes and looks like a reasonably modern design with decent interchanges and a bridge over the Brazos River that is about 500 feet long.  Ample space for adding the new lanes.

[longhorn]

Crap! Just when I thought construction on I-35 would done when Temple finishes up next year this happens. Crap, it will a bottle neck going through  Waco. No doubt it will be two lanes through the construction area.

 I guess the bridges between TSTC and the river will all be replaced even though only 30 years old and the cluster of bridges over intersections across from Baylor will be redone and the Valley Mills interchange.

[kphoger]

I thought construction on I-35 would done

Construction on I-35 will never be done.  Ever.

[wxfree]

I thought construction on I-35 would done

Construction on I-35 will never be done.  Ever.

Some old timers claim that I-35, some part of it between the split and San Antonio, has been under construction continuously since it first opened.  I don't know if that's an exaggeration.  The first time I went to Austin was less than 20 years ago, in 2001.  Maybe by the time they're wrapping up in Waco they'll be starting in Austin, and by the time they finish that the six-lane intercity sections will be under construction for expansion to eight.

[kphoger]

I thought construction on I-35 would done

Construction on I-35 will never be done.  Ever.

Some old timers claim that I-35, some part of it between the split and San Antonio, has been under construction continuously since it first opened.  I don't know if that's an exaggeration.  The first time I went to Austin was less than 20 years ago, in 2001.  Maybe by the time they're wrapping up in Waco they'll be starting in Austin, and by the time they finish that the six-lane intercity sections will be under construction for expansion to eight.

I first started driving that way in about 2009, and I don't remember any reconstruction projects going on through there in March 2011 or June 2012.  Of course, I could just be forgetting something.

edit:   Hmmm, I see orange barrels in one of my pictures from 2012.....

[In_Correct]

I thought construction on I-35 would done

Construction on I-35 will never be done.  Ever.

Some old timers claim that I-35, some part of it between the split and San Antonio, has been under construction continuously since it first opened.  I don't know if that's an exaggeration.  The first time I went to Austin was less than 20 years ago, in 2001.  Maybe by the time they're wrapping up in Waco they'll be starting in Austin, and by the time they finish that the six-lane intercity sections will be under construction for expansion to eight.

It is not an exaggeration. They have never stopped construction of Interstate 35 and Project Tracker indicates there are no plans to ever stop.

[Bobby5280]

Nearly half a billion dollars and all they're doing is adding one lane in each direction? There has to be more to this project than that. I wonder if they will add more direct-connect flyovers to the I-35/TX-6 interchange on the South side of Waco to complete that stack. Most of the other interchanges are pretty conventional. It looks like there's enough space to fit the new lanes inside the existing frontage roads. That would eliminate the need to take any properties adjacent to the highway.

[wxfree]

There are no new direct connectors, but they aren't just putting new lanes beside the old ones.  The freeway and ramps will be rebuilt, with some changes in ramp placement, including a few elevated ramps.  In some places the frontage roads will be moved or widened, and in some places they'll be farther apart, requiring new right-of-way.  At one intersection frontage road grade separations will be replaced with grade crossings.  Some of the side roads will be rebuilt, including longer stretches of state roads, and some city streets redesigned to remove intersections with the frontage roads.  Some parts of the frontage roads will be unaffected.  The estimate calls for movement of more than 1.2 million cubic yards of dirt, cuts and fills.  I don't know if that's a lot, but to me it sounds like a lot for a project where the ground was already shaped for a road.  The price is very high, but this isn't just two new lanes or two new sets of freeway lanes.

[Beltway]

1.2 million cubic yards of excavation for a 5-mile long freeway project is unremarkable.  That is about average.  Figure about $10 per cubic yard for regular excavation and about $20 per cubic yard for borrow excavation, for those quantities on a highway project, although that can vary depending on the locale.

[longhorn]

There are alot of bridges with this kind of construction that will be replaced. I don't know what you call this kind of bridge construction but it was common place in the 60s, and 70s.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.5079542,-97.1424868,3a,46.2y,299.26h,86.01t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s12MPK7FmQ211r8fmqRDdlw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.5537089,-97.1204778,3a,60y,308.67h,80.64t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s5TTPz14yhEBasFGP_P6TsQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.5849587,-97.1091626,3a,60y,240.25h,88.45t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sVSjMQJWP_SNdjJ6z62sdhQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[Beltway]

There are alot of bridges with this kind of construction that will be replaced. I don't know what you call this kind of bridge construction but it was common place in the 60s, and 70s.

Cast-in-place unitary reinforced concrete superstructure.  That is what it is, although I don't know what is the official or industry name.

If they are building new 8-lane bridges with full shoulders to replace all the existing mainline bridges, that would account for a major portion of the high cost of this project.  If they are building all new pavement and shoulders, that would likewise account for a major portion of the high cost of this project.

[longhorn]

There are alot of bridges with this kind of construction that will be replaced. I don't know what you call this kind of bridge construction but it was common place in the 60s, and 70s.

Thanks, sounds more labor intensive (building and supporting teh casts or molds) than the simple support beam method thats prevalent today.

The section of I-35 in the on the north side of Waco is pavement and old concrete laid probably back in the 80s, so I expect TxDot to rebuild from the base up and concrete the whole thing from TSTC to Hwy 6 on the south side. A total concrete reconstruction (except for Belton..............for now) as they have done with I-35 from south of Salado to Hillsboro.

[kphoger]

There are alot of bridges with this kind of construction that will be replaced. I don't know what you call this kind of bridge construction but it was common place in the 60s, and 70s.

Cast-in-place unitary reinforced concrete superstructure.  That is what it is, although I don't know what is the official or industry name.

Reinforced Concrete Haunched Slab
Haunched Slab, for short

[J N Winkler]

It is worth pointing out that the complete construction plans are online, if anyone wants to delve into the details of how it costs this much.

ftp://plans.dot.state.tx.us/State-Let-Construction/2018/12%20December%202018/12%20Contract%20Plans/

Scroll down to "McLennan 0015-01-243"--there are two volumes of plans aggregating to over 1.2 GB.  (There was once a time when it was very unusual for TxDOT to advertise a contract whose plans ran to over 700 MB.)

[Beltway]

It is worth pointing out that the complete construction plans are online, if anyone wants to delve into the details of how it costs this much.
ftp://plans.dot.state.tx.us/State-Let-Construction/2018/12%20December%202018/12%20Contract%20Plans/
Scroll down to "McLennan 0015-01-243"--there are two volumes of plans aggregating to over 1.2 GB.  (There was once a time when it was very unusual for TxDOT to advertise a contract whose plans ran to over 700 MB.)

Having produced highway design plans and engineering estimates, I can say that is a rather laborious process.  You have a list of pay items which are totaled for each in quantity and unit price.  For example, 1.5 million cubic yards of regular excavation at $10 per cubic yard, $15.0 million.  Doesn't necessarily provide the total cost for each bridge, for example.

What would be ideal would be for the DOT to produce a news release that summarized why the costs are so high.

[J N Winkler]

Having produced highway design plans and engineering estimates, I can say that is a rather laborious process.  You have a list of pay items which are totaled for each in quantity and unit price.  For example, 1.5 million cubic yards of regular excavation at $10 per cubic yard, $15.0 million.  Doesn't necessarily provide the total cost for each bridge, for example.

My understanding is that when construction of a highway is secured through a unit price contract, and certain activities are subsidiary to various pay items, the unit price quoted for a given pay item can go up if the contractor perceives unusual difficulty in providing the elements covered by that item.  This is somewhat compensated for by the contractor's incentive not to be underbid, but he or she also has to take into account how much of his or her resource is available for deployment on a new contract and how this compares to the contracts that are likely to be available for bidding in the immediate future.

The plans will give an idea of how complex the contract is, but it is equally possible that the contract is not out of the ordinary for urban widenings in Texas but is coming in a bit high because the contracting community in Texas is finding itself somewhat stretched.

[longhorn]

It is worth pointing out that the complete construction plans are online, if anyone wants to delve into the details of how it costs this much.

ftp://plans.dot.state.tx.us/State-Let-Construction/2018/12%20December%202018/12%20Contract%20Plans/

Scroll down to "McLennan 0015-01-243"--there are two volumes of plans aggregating to over 1.2 GB.  (There was once a time when it was very unusual for TxDOT to advertise a contract whose plans ran to over 700 MB.)

Link doesn't work for me.

[J N Winkler]

It is a good link, but the server appears to be down at present (10.15 AM CST).

[longhorn]

The next five years or so will be miserable, take loop 340.

With that out of the way, why rebuild (tear up and relay concrete) the I-35 stretch in Waco? The concrete must be only 10 years old. The intersections near Baylor and the river with its 1960s designed cast concrete bridges need to be replaced but to reconstruct the whole highway?

[Bobby5280]

The main lanes of I-35 through Waco were expanded to 3 lanes in each direction in the mid 1990's.

I don't know anything about this new project. Is it going to add any additional traffic capacity (like 4 lanes in both directions)?

[kphoger]

Is it going to add any additional traffic capacity (like 4 lanes in both directions)?

Yes.

Overview
This project includes widening the mainlanes to four lanes in each direction and improving frontage roads and interchanges from 12th St. to N. Loop 340.

[...]

Project Description
This project will improve I-35 in Waco from 12th Street to N. Loop 340.

Improvements include:

*  Widening mainlanes to 4 lanes in each direction.
*  Improving frontage roads and ramps.
*  Reconstructing bridges and improve interchanges.
*  Adding U-turns.
*  Improving bicycle and pedestrian access.

[Plutonic Panda]

A thread for this topic already exists: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=24048.0

Threads now merged.  --J N Winkler