A $32.9 million pavement preservation project on Interstate 494 in Inver Grove Heights nears completion, wrapping up a multiphase initiative before the end of the year.

“The pavement was in poor condition and needed rehabilitation,” says Jason Hedeen, Construction Engineer with the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT). “There also are seven bridges to rehab at the Interstate 35E interchange.”

The 8-mile section runs from the Minnesota River to Hardman Avenue. The work includes milling and placing overlays on the main highway and ramps; resurfacing and replacing expansion joints on the bridges; rehabilitating the approaches; repairing and applying a paint-like substance to the concrete railings; improving drainage and constructing retention ponds; replacing lighting; and adding a turn lane at I-494 and Pilot Knob Road. The project should extend pavement life and improve traffic flow and safety.

I-494 in this region carries about 120,000 vehicles daily. The road is three lanes in each direction, plus exit and entrance lanes. The project is south of St. Paul.

Last year, Shafer Contracting Co. of Shafer, Minnesota, completed the $18.7 million Blaine Avenue to Hardman Avenue section in the fall. That project added an auxiliary lane, widened I-494 westbound, and included drainage improvements and construction of noise and retaining walls.

Minnesota Paving & Materials (MPM) of Rogers, Minnesota, received the contract for the Minnesota River to Hardman Avenue portion of the project, ending near Fort Snelling State Park. The company works in southern to northeast Minnesota.

The project began on July 8, 2019, and is scheduled for completion in November of this year. Crews finished the I-494 westbound roadway in 2019, the first year of a two-year project.

Allstate Pavement Recycling & Stabilization of Rogers, Minnesota, working with New Look Contracting, also of Rogers, completed the bituminous milling, and MPM placed a 3.5-inch bituminous overlay on the mainline of I-494 and a 2-inch bituminous overlay on multiple on and off ramps. PCiRoads of St. Michael, Minnesota, completed a 2-inch thick concrete mill and overlay on bridges over I-35E south and north bound. On those bridges, crews are removing the concrete and replacing it with a low-slump overlay. Additionally, some work took place on the piers of collector-distributor bridges.

“The bridge overlays were a big driving force of the scheduling for the project,” says Jesse Bowen, Project Superintendent with MPM. “Safety Signs [of Lakeville, Minnesota] had multiple traffic switches not just for the bridge work but also for some weekend shut downs in 2019.”

Two of the bridges were rehabilitated last year, and the other five will be finished this year. Three were completed at once and the other two split into two phases, Bowen says. Subcontractor PCiRoads is performing the bridge work.

MnDOT used echelon paving to eliminate cold joints and increase durability. According to Purdue University, echelon paving refers to paving with two pavers running next to each other and spaced so that the asphalt cools at the same time, creating an almost seamless road surface.

“It’s a robust wearing surface,” Hedeen says.

Allstate Pavement Recycling and Stabilization is milling more than 700,000 square yards of pavement, and MPM placed 150,000-tons of asphalt.

“The big milling and paving is done on weekend shutdowns, anywhere from 9,000 ton to 14,000 ton per weekend” Bowen says.

Paving primarily takes place on the weekends to manage the traffic, Hedeen adds. The contractor has a maximum of 14 weekend closures to complete the paving.

“There’s a limit to production that you can get done in the 56-hour time frame, which we gave to the contractor,” Hedeen says. “We did not want to do weekday closures, and we did not want to do the job under traffic.”

Last year, MPM had nine weekend shutdowns, and in 2020, it will have five shutdowns. “Every single one of the weekend shutdowns have been opened early, and we got the incentives,” Bowen says. He credits that to preplanning meetings and collaboration, with a little help from the weather.

The contract offers about $650,000 in incentives for early time completions. Incentives are mostly tied to the weekend closures, both the number of closures and the number of hours traffic is off the road during each closure, essentially about $500 per hour.

“We did not want the contractor to do the work and not open until Monday, so we wanted to incentivize early work on the weekend,” Hedeen says.

Additionally, there are some incentives for early completions on the bridges.

Safety Signs crews used a “Road Zipper System,” from Lindsay of Omaha, Nebraska, to move roughly 21,500 linear feet of the portable concrete barriers. The device straddles the barrier and moves it to a new configuration in real time.

At the river, MPM has initiated and followed a storm-water protection plan, using a double layer of protection.

MPM maintains a strong emphasis on safety. It places spotters near backing vehicles, forces the use of proper personal protective equipment, uses light plant use at night-time work, and uses multiple flaggers during paving operations. The highway patrol has assisted with traffic during weekend shutdowns.

“This project has been unique as we did not receive many complaints during the closures or detours,” says Kirsten Klein, Public Information Officer with MnDOT. “We did receive compliments on our social media.”

A gentleman from Hastings, Minnesota, wrote to Klein, I “was driving to work this morning on the newly resurfaced section of westbound 494 beginning from Hwy 52. Just wanted you to know it really looks nice and is much appreciated. This job was done in a very short period of time and appeared to have been managed very well. Thank you for doing such a great job.”

The COVID-19 pandemic lowered traffic volumes and allowed some acceleration of the project. For example, on the bridges, the department and contractor were able to close a lane. “I feel we got a better-quality product out of it as well,” Hedeen says.

Both Bowen and Hedeen praised the cooperation and collaboration between contractors, MnDOT, and local municipalities with attributing to the project’s success.

“These jobs take lot of planning and communication,” Bowen says. “From the laborers, truck drivers, operators, and the boots on the ground, these jobs would not be as successful, productive or safe without the men or women doing the work. If there are kudos to be given, it would be given to our labor force. That’s who should be given the credit.”

Collaboration has been key, and Bowen has praised the organization.

“We were fortunate that we have a great team with both MnDOT and MPM,” Hedeen concludes. “All of us worked well, collaboratively and kept an open mind to get a quality product and do it efficiently as well.”