ALABAMA STATE SUPPLEMENT
231
65
72 Florence
2
Huntsville
20 Decatur
72
565 59
43 231
431
31
5
Gadsden
78 59 Anniston
20
Birmingham Bessemer
82 Tuscaloosa
65 280
20 82 Auburn
80
85
Selma
Phenix City
Montgomery
October 21 2009 Vol. XXII • No. 21
82 65
231
43 84 431 331
84
84 52 31
45
“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded in 1957.”
Dothan
65 98
Mobile
10
Your Alabama Connection • Rich Olivier, Atlanta, GA • 1-800-409-1479
’Cane Corridor: Ala. Eyes Another Route Out of Storm’s Path By Kerry Lynn Kirby CEG CORRESPONDENT
Not so long ago, two-lane Baldwin County 181 was a pastoral shortcut for local residents who wanted to avoid the more heavily traveled U.S. 98 and Ala. 59 going north or south. Then subdivisions and businesses began a kudzu-like takeover of former farmland and woods along the country road, increasing traffic to the point of congestion. A four-phase project to widen the roadway — now known as Ala. 181 — from just south of U.S. 90 down to U.S. 98 will not only ease that congestion but also will allow the state route to serve an important function: facilitate hurricane evacuation, according to Matthew Ericksen, division construction engineer for the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT). “This will provide another adequate evacuation route besides state route 59,” Ericksen said. Mobile Asphalt Company of Mobile, Ala., is the prime contractor on the first phase of the project, which was started June 4, he said. The job entails transforming the existing two-lane road into a highway, mostly a divided four-lane, from just south of U.S. 90 to just south of Baldwin County 64, Ericksen said. The $13.4 million project involves not only widening the road but also building up the existing two lanes, he said. “It was a rural, two-lane country road. The existing pavement did not have much of a structural buildup,” Ericksen said. “This project consists of adding … eight more inches of asphalt on the existing road, due to the condition it was in and increased traffic.” Mobile Asphalt is doing all of the job’s paving work, which will entail 95,000 tons (86,182 t) of asphalt, according to Josh McElhenney, project manager/estimator for Mobile-based John G. Walton Construction Co., a major subcontractor on the job. The job covers approximately 3.9 mi, (6.27 km), and the widening work involves installing new ditches, drainage pipe and
Main subcontractor John G. Walton, Mobile, Ala., has a variety of equipment on its $5.2 million portion of the $13.4 million project, all of which is company owned.
While much of the widening work will just cut a little into fields along the route, creating the wider highway has entailed clearing a direct path, when possible, though it’s sometimes necessary to work around things.
median turn lanes and leveling the existing road to match grades, McElhenney said. Mobile Asphalt has subcontracted John G. Walton for approximately $5.2 million of work on the job, said McElhenney, noting his company is performing all of the earthwork, drainage, erosion control and aggregate base material on the project. Other subcontractors on the job include: C. Thornton Inc. of Mobile, Ala., concrete work; Underground Inc. of Wilmer, Ala., water line; Ozark Striping Co. of Ozark, Ala., striping; and Southern Directional of Wilsonville, Ala., gas main. The job will entail 130,000 cu. yds. (99,392 cu m) of borrow excavation as well as moving approximately 130,000 cu. yds. of material onsite. John G. Walton has been averaging 10 to 12 workers on the job, McElhenney said. Equipment includes Komatsu 220 excavators, a John Deere 700 dozer, a Caterpillar D5 dozer, a John Deere 650 dozer, a see ALDOT page 6