Update on I-69 Extension in Indiana

[ITB]

More pics. Photos were taken October 11, 2015, unless otherwise indicated.


The bridge carrying Harmony Road over I-69 in Monroe County, Indiana; looking north. It's roughly 90 feet from bridge deck to the I-69 pavement down below. Although the bridge has yet to be formally named, I tend to think it'll be Harmony Bridge. Photo taken October 10, 2015.

E. S. Wagner Co., prime contractor (Indiana I-69 Project, Section 4, Segment 8).



Looking north toward the bridges over Happy Creek and the overpasses carrying I-69 over Tramway Road in Monroe County. E. S. Wagner Co., prime contractor.



Drainage piping that will drain water from the median; looking north. Water will flow down the rocky channel, eventually emptying into Happy Creek.



Another perspective of the draining piping; looking west.



And one last view from about 1/2 mile south of Tramway Road; looking north. The helicopters were probably National Guard.

[ITB]

And some more. Photos were taken October 12, unless otherwise identified.


The view from near W. Carter Road in Monroe County, Indiana; looking north. This stretch of mainline is now completely paved, as is all of Segments 6 and 7.

E & B Paving, prime contractor (Indiana I-69 Project, Section 4, Segments 6/7).



Crews pave northbound mainline near W. Carter Road in Monroe County; looking south. In the background is the I-69/State Road 445 interchange.



Another view of the paving near W. Carter Road; looking southwest.



Yup, the pup was part of the paving team; from near W. Carter Road, looking north.



Crews prep the roadway and lay dowel bar assemblies about 1/4 mile ahead of the paving operation; looking north from near W. Carter Road.



Looking south toward the I-69/SR 445 interchange and the paving operation moving north; from near W. Carter Road.

[ITB]

And more. Photos were taken October 24, 2015, unless other identified.


Paving and embankment work at the I-69/SR 37 interchange in Monroe County, Indiana; looking south. Wish the pic could be better, but the angle of the sun was not favorable. Photo taken October 21, 2015.

Crider & Crider, prime contractor (Indiana's I-69 Project, Section 4, Segment 9).



On the outskirts of Bloomington, Indiana, the point where the fresh asphalt ends indicates the dividing line between Sections 4 and 5 of Indiana's I-69 Corridor Project. In the background is the recently built Rockport Road overpass, the first major component of Section 5 to be completed.

The road bracketed by the caution barriers is That Road. Indeed, that's the road's official name. Interesting story of how That Road became That Road, but, perhaps, now is not the time. Already reduced to a partial intersection, the SR 37/That Road crossing will soon be no more, as it's scheduled to be sealed off shortly. October 21, 2015.



Paving the northbound mainline near Harmony Road in Monroe County; looking east. For Segment 8, only 1.5 miles of northbound roadway still need paving, and that should be completed by the end of the month.

E. S. Wagner Co., prime contractor (Indiana's I-69 Project, Section 4, Segment 8).



A paving crew member operates a tining machine to apply a concrete curing compound to the recently paved mainline; looking down and east from Harmony Road bridge.



The view looking west from near Harmony Road bridge. The location where the fresh concrete meets the pale is the dividing point between Segments 7 and 8.



Another view of the paving operation as it moves northwest toward Rockport Road; looking northeast from Harmony Road.

[ITB]

And, finally, some pics of Section 5. Photos were taken October 18, 2015, unless otherwise noted.



Trucks transporting precast concrete beams for the Kinser Pike overpass are stationed in a staging area in the median of State Road 37 in Monroe County, Indiana, about 5 miles north of the Kinser Pike work zone; looking northwest. Photo taken October 14, 2015.

I-69 Development Partners/Isolux Corsán (Indiana's I-69 Project, Section 5).



A close-up of the trucks; looking north. October 14.



The apparatus used to attach to beams to the truck trailers. Is trailers the correct term?



Another perspective of the beams destined for the Kinser Pike overpass in Monroe County, Indiana; looking south.



The bridge for Kinser Pike after the placement of the beams; looking northeast.



Another perspective of the Kinser Pike beams; looking east.



Close-up view of the beams.

[thefro]

The Fall Project newsletter for I-69 Section 5 is now up.

[SW Indiana]

Read an article today from Saturday's Washington Times Herald (Daviess County) that quotes Will Wingfield with INDOT as stating I-69 is 90% complete and will open sometime in December. I tried to find the article on their website, but to no avail. I'll search some more.

He also stated they cannot say whether it will be early or late December.

We'll see I suppose. 

[EngineerTM]

Regarding information on the December opening of I-69 Section 4:

I have a good friend who is involved in the SW Indiana I-69 Innovation Corridor initiative, and he told me a few months ago that his organization had been informed that this section would be opened on November 19th with the understanding that some remaining work would still done while under traffic.  Not that this was written in stone, so I'd be interested in trying to find that Washington Times Herald article if it is available on-line.

I appreciate the update.

[mukade]

On the northern section of I-69...

... the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) will host public hearings regarding a preliminary selection of Milestone Contractors ... to widen and rehabilitate 15 miles of Interstate 69 in Hamilton and Madison counties as part of the state's Major Moves 2020 program.

Hearing set on I-69 widening (The Herald Bulletin)

[thefro]

INDOT's construction map has been updated for October on Section 4

Still a good amount of work to do on 4-6A, 8 & 9, which matches ITB's reports.

[andy]

Regarding information on the December opening of I-69 Section 4:

I have a good friend who is involved in the SW Indiana I-69 Innovation Corridor initiative, and he told me a few months ago that his organization had been informed that this section would be opened on November 19th with the understanding that some remaining work would still done while under traffic.  Not that this was written in stone, so I'd be interested in trying to find that Washington Times Herald article if it is available on-line.

I appreciate the update.

I was not able to find the article on line, but here are a few quotes from the Washington Times Herald (http://www.washtimesherald.com/) article;

"We are still far enough away from being done that we cannot say whether it will be early December or later in the month, but it should be substantially complete and open to traffic by the end of the year" said Will Wingfield, with the Department of Transportation

And regarding the delays, weather played a big role;

"The crews moved 24-million cubic yards of dirt on this project. Wet weather at the wrong time could really slow things down."

and finally there was also the understandable prediction work will remain for spring;

... said Wingfield. "We expect to get the construction done enough to put traffic on the road and then come back in the spring to close out some of the maintenance and other items."

It would be nice if that last quote was more confident.

[ITB]

A short update, then a few pics.

As of Wednesday, October 28, only about 2.5 mainline miles of roadway remain to be paved with Portland Cement Concrete. Milestone Contractors (Segments 4/5/6a) and E. S. Wagner Co. (Segment 8) each have about 1.25 miles to pave.

In Segments 4 and 5, the Milestone paving crew is paving the southbound roadway from about 1/2 mile south of Hobbieville Road in Greene County, moving toward State Road 54. After crossing the bridge, they will then pave the 1/3 mile between the SR 54 bridge and the bridge over Mitchell Branch, after which they will continue to and finish up about 1/3 mile north of the I-69/SR 45 interchange.

In Segment 8, the paving crew is working the northbound roadway from about 1/3 mile east of Harmony Road, moving northeast toward Rockport Road. They will then cross the Rockport Road overpass and finish paving at Lodge Road.

In total, about 1/2 mile of roadway will be paved each full day, barring any precipitation (roughly about 1/4 mile per day per crew). At most, paving the entire 2.5 miles remaining will take six days, but crews may kick into high gear to finish a day or two early. When these two short stretches of paving complete, all mainline concrete paving for Section 4 will be finished.

As for the asphalt paving in Segments 2, 3 and 9, it appears work is wrapping up for Segment 2. I haven't checked out Segment 2 first hand recently, but a month ago when I was down that way, they were very far along. Segment 3, which I had believed was to be all concrete, is, to my surprise, a combination of PCCP and asphalt. From a point just past the bridges over E. Mineral-Koleen Road west to the juncture with Segment 2 is asphalt. In the opposite direction from near Mineral-Koleen, it's concrete–all the way to where Segment 3 joins Segment 4 near the SR 45 interchange. At least the first layer of asphalt has been laid for all of the western section of Segment 3.

For Segment 9 and the I-69/SR 37 interchange, crews for Crider & Crider have made excellent progress and are now paving the 2nd and 3rd layers of asphalt.

By the end of next week, the entirety of Section 4 will be completely paved. A couple of very short stretches of roadway will still need an additional layer or two of asphalt, but the road is now a road.

[ITB]

Pics. Photos were taken October 25, 2015, unless otherwise identified.


Looking west toward the bridges over E. Mineral-Koleen Road in Greene County, Indiana, from near Old Clifty Road.

Just past the hump in the road is another set of bridges that cross over Dry Branch and Dry Branch Road. In the background, visible but only just, is the point where the road splits to again form a median. A very substantial section of Segment 2 features a concrete median barrier wall, in large part due to the decision to build one large four-lane bridge crossing Black Ankle Creek and valley instead of constructing two separate two-lane spans.

White Construction (Indiana I-69 Project, Section 4, Segment 3); Millstone Weber/Kolb J.V. (Section 4, Segment 2).



The I-69/SR 45 interchange in Greene County, looking east from about 1/2 mile east of Old Clifty Road.



The bridges carrying I-69 over State Road 54 in Greene County; looking northeast. The southbound roadway between the SR 54 bridge and the bridge over Mitchell Branch is prepped for paving scheduled for this week.

Milestone Contractors (Indiana I-69 Project, Section 4, Segments 4/5/6a).



The view looking north from the Hobbieville Road bridge in Greene County.



The Milestone paving crew was out working Sunday in the vicinity of Hobbieville Road. Yup, Sunday.



A dump truck transporting wet concrete heads toward the ongoing paving operation near Hobbieville Road; looking down and north from the Hobbieville Road bridge.

[andy]

http://loogooteetribune.com/
by Jessica Shinn  -  Thu, Nov 05, 2015

The fourth leg of I-69 from Evansville to Indianapolis is slated to open by the end of the year. INDOT Project Manager Janelle Lemon said the exact date of the opening will likely be announced around Thanksgiving. The route is expected be opened in its entirety between NSWC Crane to Bloomington. "Our goal is to open it all at once instead of in portions,"  Ms. Lemon stated.

The rest is behind a subscriber wall, but doesn't say anything new.

Also, I have reports that the area around the mixing plant east of SR45 has most of the rock piles depleted and the road has been graded and ready for paving.

Getting closer...

[thefro]

http://www.14news.com/story/30449877/gov-pence-vows-to-finish-i-69

SANTA CLAUS, IN (WFIE) -

We're about a month away from I-69 being opened to Bloomington.

Meantime, the state is working on funding the final portion of the highway to Indianapolis.

Governor Mike Pence told people in Santa Claus on Thursday that he will finish I-69 while he is still governor.

Pence says finding the funding for the final section of the highway is a top priority for him.

There's no official ribbon cutting date yet for I-69 to Bloomington, but Governor Pence did say it will be in early December.

[txstateends]

Amusing that something will be provided to the people of the Santa Claus area before Christmas...

[US 41]

Amusing that something will be provided to the people of the Santa Claus area before Christmas...

They already have Holiday World and Splashin' Safari to enjoy all summer. What more do they need before Christmas? 

[SW Indiana]

The concrete barriers are reportedly removed from the current end of I-69 at US 231 and striping has begun from that section on northward.

[IndyAgent]

It occurs to me that should the state move section 6 away from SR 37 many people would still use 37 to 465 regardless. It is short sided to think that moving 69 to 70 or 65 would take pressure off of 37.  I know some businesses and homes would be affected but 37 is the straightest and most cost effect route.

[Henry]

Amusing that something will be provided to the people of the Santa Claus area before Christmas...

They already have Holiday World and Splashin' Safari to enjoy all summer. What more do they need before Christmas? 

Well, as Andy Williams once said, it's the most wonderful time of the year!

[ITB]

What a difference two months of construction can bring. "Before/After" and "During" pics from Harmony Road bridge, looking east:


August 23, 2015



November 4, 2015



September 18, 2015

More pics to come.

[theline]

Governor Mike Pence told people in Santa Claus on Thursday that he will finish I-69 while he is still governor.

Hopefully without starting a political discussion, I'll observe that the voters will have something to say about the Gov's ability to keep that vow. There's no way to get it done by Jan. 1, 2017.

[andy]

The concrete barriers are reportedly removed from the current end of I-69 at US 231 and striping has begun from that section on northward.

I drove through there an hour ago and can confirm.  The lines were over the hill as far a I could see, which is only about half a mile.

[EngineerTM]

I noticed that the I-69 Section 5 Development Partners finally made an update to the construction schedule shown on their website through October 2015.  The last update was back in June.

http://www.i69section5.org/

Need to go to the "schedule" tab on the website to view.

The schedule now shows the Rockport Road overpass, That Road, and a section of pavement patching as being completed and opened to traffic.  I also noted that some of the schedule timelines had been extended a few months.  Some of this I would have expected, as it is always difficult for contractors to work under live traffic conditions.

[thefro]

The Bloomington Herald-Times has a new photo gallery up of Section 5 construction photos.

There's also an article behind the pay-wall.

[CtrlAltDel]

What is the grade on this bridge? It seems pretty steep.