INDIANAPOLIS, IN — For 31 consecutive years, the American Concrete Pavement Association’s (ACPA) Excellence in Concrete Pavement awards have honored quality concrete pavements constructed in the United States and Canada. The awards program encourages high-quality workmanship and serves to highlight industry best-practices and processes and the professionals who deliver them.

The 31st Annual National Excellence in Concrete Pavement awards for projects completed in 2019 were presented virtually at the end of ACPA’s Annual National Meeting. Fifty-six judges selected 28 projects representing 23 contractors and 12 chapter/state organizations.

Indiana Chapter members and their clients scored five of the national awards, which are listed below:

Level: Gold
Winner: Ryan Road Reconstruction; Allen County, Indiana
Owner: Allen County Highway Department
Contractor: Primco, Inc.
Consulting Engineer: DLZ Indiana

Also known as the Ryan-Bruick Road corridor just outside of New Haven, this segment runs from its interchange with U.S. 24 south to Dawkins Road — the historic Old Lincoln Highway alignment.

This project required widening and reconstruction of the road to accommodate truck and commercial traffic between U.S. 30 and U.S. 24 when the southern phase is completed. This 2.2-mile-long phase encompassed utility relocations and upgrades to two railroad crossings in addition to the pavement widening and reconstruction. Pavement is 10-inch dowelled PCCP (Portland Cement Concrete Pavement) with 15-foot transverse joint spacing on typical 9-inch subbase on cement treated subgrade.

Throughout the project, Primco encountered railroad and utility delays as well as some very early freezing conditions in early October. They were still able to complete all the paving and get the project open before the end of 2019, well before the original completion date of September 12, 2020. All that remains for this project in the spring of 2021 is permanent pavement marking and some seeding.

Level: Gold
Winner: Eastside Parkway; Gas City, Indiana
Owner: Gas City, Indiana
Contractor: E&B Paving
Consulting Engineer: Municipal Civil

This quarter-mile-long section of roadway serves warehousing operations related to the massive Walmart Distribution center on the edge of Gas City. This is a straightforward six-inch Structural Fiber Reinforced Concrete overlay on milled HMA. A crown was established through the milling process, and the overlay was placed in two days using the GOMACO Commander III set at 12 feet wide. E&B used dual string lines for control, and finishers used 12-foot straight edges with two-inch face bottoms and 10-foot road mops for a smooth finish. The mix contained four pounds per cubic yard of INDOT-approved structural fiber, which adds additional resilience to the pavement. The mix was produced and delivered by IMI transit mix trucks to the grade.

Since there was a secondary access to most of the businesses in the park, the roadway was closed during the very brief construction period. Work began May 31 and was completed June 4. One business on the route had no alternative access but had an important delivery that needed to be delivered during the first of two paving days. E&B met with the owner, and they worked out a satisfactory solution. This project came about following one of the workshops with Indiana LTAP in Lafayette. The city had a TIF District supporting such improvements, and they opted to pursue this solution for Eastside Parkway improvements. Just under 3,500 square yards of pavement and just over 8,500 linear feet of joints were placed and cut on this quarter-mile-long industrial service road. Paving costs were $148,000 and the entire job cost just over $300,000.

Level: Silver
Winner: State Road 37 Restoration; Mitchell, Indiana
Owner: Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT)
Contractor: Milestone Contractors, LP
Consulting Engineer: HNTB

This nine-mile-long segment of SR 37 between Bedford and Mitchell, Indiana, carries 20,000 vehicles per day including 1,500 trucks. The original pavement was 27 years old, but poor drainage and poor subgrade soils were contributing to rapid deterioration. Initially designed as a patch job, the scope was adjusted during preliminary engineering to include six areas of pavement replacement between 1,000 feet and 6,500 feet long. A crossover maintenance of traffic scheme was adopted to accommodate the change, improving production rates and giving the public a better bang for its buck.

Since the soils were so inconsistent throughout the project, INDOT and Milestone collaborated to perform a more customized approach. Where shallow rock was encountered, a combination of geogrid and a wicking fabric was installed on a 300-foot-long test section. This may prove to be useful on future projects with similar challenges. Good communication was paramount to address this situation and, in the end, the project team produced a cost-effective approach.

Level: Silver
Winner: I-74 Road Reconstruction; Decatur, Franklin, and Ripley Counties, Indiana
Owner: INDOT
Contractor: Milestone Contractors, LP

This project was the first “Next Level” project for the Seymour District and was part of a $60-billion program fostered by Governor Eric Holcomb’s administration.

This three-season job started in September 2017 and is 13 miles long, encompassing 665,000 square yards of 12-inch PCCP built under traffic. Some unique and innovative aspects of this project worth noting: the aggregate gradation in this mix was optimized using the now infamous tarantula curve, adding some one-inch QA material along with their No. 8's and No. 23 sand. The project began with two approved mix designs, but due to fly ash and sand supply challenges, the team ended up with 23 different mix designs. Alternative suitable materials were substituted to keep production schedules and rates up to par.

Trucks for wet batch hauling were also a bit scarce due to a robust program across the state, but the Milestone team managed to stay on target all the way through. Milestone partnered with INDOT and their representative throughout the entire job, sharing a site office, meeting “open door” whenever needed, focusing on quality, safety, and process for consistency.

Level: Silver
Winner: Taxiway C Repair; Grissom Reserve Air Base; Miami County, Indiana
Owner: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Contractor: E&B Paving, Inc.
Consulting Engineer: CEMS Engineering

Grissom Air Reserve Base still serves the giant fuel tankers for the Air Force and has remained operable even following full base closure in the mid 1990s. This project addressed Taxiway C — a primary link from the apron to the 12,000-foot-long runway. While paving for this project occurred in August 2020, preparations began in 2019 with a series of rigorous material tests (including gradation, ASR, and a three-point-mix proportioning study) that altogether required 200 days to complete.

The base preparation was somewhat unusual; pre-bid coring showed there was an eight-inch layer of concrete under many layers of HMA and concrete overlays placed over the years. The demolition plans showed the removal of many composite layers reaching the eight-inch concrete. After cleaning all debris, a wedge and level HMA section was placed, then a two-inch HMA separation layer was placed on top, leaving room for the 16.5-inch PCCP.

E&B Paving met numerous other challenges of this project, most of them tied to the stringent specifications of USACE. E&B worked to meet and exceed all of these demands: finishing and smoothness requirements, lot and sub-lot testing, stockpile moisture, and mix gradation monitoring daily edge thickness, paste content, and more. The job was completed three days ahead of the paving schedule and hit all the marks on the stat sheet.