11/29/2013
Reed Hollinshead
ITD Communication
208-334-8881
reed.hollinshead@itd.idaho.gov
Southwest Idaho highway construction report for Nov. 29-Dec. 6
BOISE - The following projects in southwest Idaho are now under way:
ADA COUNTY
BOISE - Idaho 16 Extension, river crossing and local road connections (GARVEE)
Construction continues on the 2.5-mile extension of Idaho 16 connecting Chinden Boulevard (U.S. 20/26) to State Street (Idaho 44), including a 1,726-foot-long, 11-span, 10-pier, 88-foot-wide bridge over the Boise River and a new crossing of the Phyllis Canal. More than 1.5 million pounds of rebar and over 36.6 million pounds of concrete are used in the bridge.
Work began in May 2012 and is expected to finish by the fall of 2014.
An overnight traffic shift on Idaho 44 in early December will allow for paving on Idaho 44 near Idaho 16.
Construction activities will be suspended Nov. 28-Dec. 1 to allow for Thanksgiving holiday travel.
After the traffic shift, all traffic will be on the south side of Idaho 44 through the construction zone.
Crews have completed deck placements and are currently working on installing the median barrier across the new bridge. They have completed the concrete paving, both north and south of the river. Crews also are sealing the pavement joints.
Crews completed asphalt paving of the bottom layer of the new roadway surface on Idaho 44. The pavement will be striped for the final configuration. The southbound lanes on Idaho 16 through the new intersection at Idaho 44 will remain closed until next fall, when all three projects are complete and the new highway can be opened
GARVEE (Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle) bonds allowed the Idaho Transportation Department to advance critical infrastructure improvements in vital corridors throughout the state.
Concrete Placing Co., of Boise, and Idaho Sand & Gravel, of Nampa, are the prime contractors on these projects. Knife River Construction, of Boise, and Nampa Paving are two of the main subcontractors for this work. The total construction cost is $38.94 million.
BOISE COUNTY
GARDEN VALLEY - South Fork Payette River Bridge
Crews are working to replace the old bridge over the south fork of the Payette River near Garden Valley.
The old bridge, located southwest of town, also called the Alder Creek Bridge or Silver Bridge, has a sufficiency rating of less than 50. Boise County is the local sponsor. The new bridge will be relocated upstream and the existing bridge will serve as a detour during construction.
Work on the initial phase of the project will continue until the winter shutdown in early December.
Construction on the other half of the bridge will begin next spring, after crews remove the existing bridge. Work is expected to take most of the summer.
Ralph L. Wadsworth Construction Company Inc., of Draper, Utah, is the contractor on this $2.3 million project.
This is an LHTAC (Local Highway Technical Assistance Council) project. ITD has oversight responsibility for this work.
VALLEY COUNTY
CASCADE – Bridge Replacement
Replacement of the North Fork Payette River Bridge in downtown Cascade is wrapping up.
The old, narrow, width-restricted bridge built in 1933 has been replaced with one more than twice as wide. The earlier bridge was 24 feet wide, and was replaced with a 60-foot wide, 393-foot long, three-span bridge. The new bridge has two 12-foot lanes, two 11-foot shoulders and a 14-foot median.
In addition, a paved extension to the dirt shared-use path under the bridge on the north side of the river was built to provide access from both sides of the bridge to the new riverside park.
Wadsworth Brothers Construction Co. Inc., of Draper, Utah, is the contractor on this $4.83 million project.
WASHINGTON COUNTY
WEISER – replacement of bridge over Weiser River
The replacement of a 78-year-old bridge over the Weiser River on U.S. 95 south of Weiser is nearly complete. The contractor’s schedule indicates they will finish prior to Thanksgiving.
The two-lane bridge, one of 99 remaining on the state system built before 1936, will be replaced with a three-lane structure. The existing bridge has 26 feet of drivable width, but the new one will be expanded to 48. An average of 7,300 vehicles use the bridge daily. More than 100 million vehicle trips have been taken across the bridge during its lifetime.
In addition to replacing the aging bridge, crews also will reconstruct more than 500 feet of bridge approaches at the north and south ends.
The existing bridge has a sidewalk and two 13-foot lanes, but no shoulders. The new bridge will be 346 feet long and 55 feet wide, with two 12-foot lanes and a 12-foot center turn lane. The project features a two-foot buffer next to the decorative bridge railing, a five-foot shoulder and a five-foot sidewalk on the west side. No bike lanes will be included in the project.
The temporary traffic signals were taken down Tuesday (Nov. 26) and all lanes opened except the right-turn bay. It remains closed southbound just before Commercial Street. The contractor will wait until after Thanksgiving to paint the crosswalk area. That will happen when they get all the parts for the Pedestrian Flashing Beacon. Both north- and southbound lanes are open to one lane.
Braun-Jensen, of Payette, is the prime contractor on the $4.8 million project.