Construction Plan Rationalization

The plan for construction was formulated after conducting numerous meetings with design and construction staff. The premise for this plan was to “get in and get out quickly,” and to provide a rehabilitated interstate that won’t require extensive maintenance for decades to come. Rehabilitating this section of interstate through traditional methods would require lane closures on both sides of I-385 for up to two mile lengths and could result in the construction phase of the mainline exceeding two years.

This plan would complete the mainline construction in approximately eight months and reduce the overall construction duration by well over one year. Using this construction plan will also greatly reduce traffic control costs. The total construction cost for this detour plan is $60.9 million which provides savings in the amount of $34.6 million when compared to a traditional staged construction plan that would cost approximately $95.5 million over three years.

Engineering analysis indicated that the original pavement, which was designed and built over fifty years ago, was inadequate to meet the future traffic growth in the next twenty to thirty years. The new pavement is designed to meet the projected traffic demand with the least maintenance for the foreseeable future.