SH-71, Fouke to Doddridge, AR

Project Focus
This $29.8 million Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department project completed 12.2 miles of a pre-graded, newly aligned 4-lane divided highway from south of Fouke to Doddridge. The new roadway parallels the old existing two lane US 71, is designated Highway 549, and will ultimately be Interstate 49.

The paving section of the roadway was 391,181 square yards of 12” Portland Cement Concrete Pavement with 15’ doweled transverse joints sealed with silicone joint seal. The pavement was textured with transverse plastic tining. The subbase was 71,500 tons of 4” open graded asphalt base course over 603,000 tons of 6” aggregate base course. Underdrains were placed bilaterally on the low side of the roadway.

Project Details
Schedule & Complexity
The terrain and weather caused many environmental obstacles in the course of the project. Storm water runoff damage to the surrounding area was eliminated through teamwork in the redesign of roadway sections and daily monitoring of storm water prevention and maintenance programs. The project was completed on time, even though severe weather delayed the project in the beginning. This was due to detailed project preplanning, scheduling and problem solving with full cooperation and involvement of the Arkansas State Highway Department, IHC and its Subcontractors.

Construction & Innovation
The Contractor batched the concrete onsite using a Rex double drum mixer and placed using two spreaders and a Guntert Zimmerman 850 paver with a dowel bar inserter. The PCCP was placed in a single pass, 26’ wide. Approach slabs at the bridges were hand placed prior to the paving operation, allowing for a smooth transition from the pavement to the bridge and minimized any grinding. Shoulders of the new roadway were used as a haul road to eliminate haul of wet concrete on existing US 71, and minimizing impacts to the traveling public.

Quality
A key reason for the project success was the full investment in partnering goals by the management of the DOT and the Contractor. The Contractor’s QC manager and the DOT Engineer were collectively involved in the day-to-day inspection and testing on the project. Due to this, problems were discovered early; and the vast majority were resolved in the field. Problems that could not be resolved in the field were quickly escalated and resolved in a timely manner and did not impact the project.

Safety
The Contractor had no lost time accidents on this project. To increase awareness of safety, every foreman was trained and then designated for a time as the project-wide safety officer. With this experience, each realized the importance and top priority of safety.

Public Relations
QC and QA systems were strictly followed on the project. Because quality was not sacrificed for production at any time, rework was eliminated and an excellent product was delivered. The as-constructed smoothness resulted in 89% of full bonus for ride incentive, with 239 of 370 sections having a profile index of 0 using a 2.5 mm blanking band.