I-196 at South Haven, MI

Project Focus
This $25.9 million MDOT project removed and replaced 7 miles of concrete pavement on I-196 between M-140 and 71st Street in South Haven. The project included removal and replacement of two box culverts, three bridge deck rehabilitations, concrete ramp repair and rest area parking resurfacing. The majority of the paving included 11” PCCP on a 6” modified aggregate base and subbase underdrain.

Project Details
Schedule & Complexity
The project was built in two phases using temporary crossovers at the project ends to move traffic to the opposite lane and dividing the head-to-head traffic with a temporary concrete barrier wall. It was complicated by an early April start date and a requirement to maintain two lanes open to traffic in both directions over the July 4 weekend. This forced the removal and relocation of the temporary barrier wall separating traffic, first to the median for the weekend and then to the newly reconstructed southbound roadway. The project was further handicapped with the removal and replacement of the two box culverts which prevented access across until that work was complete. Ramp traffic at all three interchanges was maintained at all times using two-stage crossovers.

Construction & Innovation
Concrete was mixed with a Rex Model-S central mix plant and delivered to the grade in a steady supply of trucks to maintain a continuous flow to the main-line paving train. The paving train consisted of Guntert-Zimmerman 850 paver equipped with a transverse dowel bar inserter and a tube finisher to smooth and seal the concrete. Two straight edge finishers also followed between the paver and tube finisher to remove any irregularities. Longitudinal texture was completed with a Guntert-Zimmerman four track cure/texture machine. The ride was tested every morning with a lightweight profilograph machine equipped with a line laser to ensure better accuracy on the longitudinally textured surface. Adjustments were made as necessary. After construction of the 26’ mainline, 4’ shoulders were placed using a Gomaco GT6300 Paver and RTP500 Rubber Track Placer-Spreader. The shoulders were designed as freeway shoulders. These have usually been asphalt but, with the recent increase in oil prices, concrete shoulders were more economical for this project.

Quality
The ride numbers on this project were outstanding, with very few of the tenth of a mile segments being out of tolerance, and several sections being in the low teens. The excellent ride was contributed to the 6” modified aggregate base and subbase underdrain. This eliminated the typical peastone, backfilled, open-graded underdrain section, and made for a firm, hard base track line. The Contract required a five-year material and workmanship warranty on the concrete pavement. The Contractor implemented a Quality Control Plan which included testing and inspection at a more stringent level than required by the Owner. A full-time CQC manager administered the plan, overseeing two employees whose primary responsibilities were to maintain process controls in order to ensure quality concrete. The placement of dowel bars, tie bars and the thickness and depth of the pavement was checked continuously during placement and cored for quality evaluation the day after placement.

Public Relations
MDOT took the lead on keeping the traveling public apprised of the construction scheduling, including detours and projected delays. Their sensitivity to the users mandated that the Contractor maintain the July 4 Holiday opening of two-lanes in each direction. The public was informed routinely in the press about the progress of the project and the restriction of the lanes.