A major phase of Ohio’s Mill Creek Expressway (MCE) projects is months ahead of schedule. The general contractor for this phase — The Great Lakes Construction Co. — plans to complete the self-perform work and put traffic in its final configuration at the end of 2024 — a full five months early.
“We anticipate finishing all contract work in summer 2025, prior to the September 1, 2025, completion milestone,” said Tom Hackett, DB Project Manager, The Great Lakes Construction Co.
The phase — called 5B — reconfigures the southbound I-75 connection to westbound I-74; performs additional improvements to westbound I-74 with the addition of a through lane on I-74 west between I-75 and the Montana Avenue interchange; and constructs a new ramp from I-75 south to I-74 west.
“We’re also redoing several bridges, rehabilitating and expanding a pedestrian overpass, and building structures over Spring Grove Avenue, Elmore Street, and Beekman Street, as well as installing noise walls, a median barrier, lighting, and drainage,” said Kathleen Fuller, Public Information Officer, Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT).
Phase 5B is one of 14 phases. All phases from 1 to 8A plus Phase 9 are complete, except for 5B, which the contractor plans on completing ahead of the September 2025 deadline. However, the phases are not broken up sequentially, so most phases can be completed independent of one another.
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When ODOT awarded the first contract for the MCE projects in 2010, there were fewer phases. However, ODOT has since divided Phase 8 into 4 phases — 8, 8B, 8C, and 8D.
Although Phase 8 was originally programmed to be sold in the summer of 2022 and constructed as a single project, due to cost overruns it is now being sold as four, separate projects:
- Phase 8 - Railroad Bridge Reconstruction
- Phase 8B - CSO 490 & Pump Station
- Phase 8C - North Project
- Phase 8D - South Project
“At the time of the initial letting, bids for the single Phase 8 project came in over budget, so the department broke it into four, separate projects,” Fuller said. “Phase 8 and 8B are getting under way this summer, and Phases 8C and 8D are in design and will be sold at a later date. Phase 8A was completed in 2019.”
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Funding for this project has always had a great influence over the number of phases and the schedule. “The Mill Creek Expressway project is of incredible magnitude, and we simply can’t secure all the funding needed to award the entire project under a single contract,” Fuller said.
The total cost for all the completed phases is $322.6 million. The awarded contract cost for Phase 5B is $84.9 million.
Phase 5B, which included reconfiguring the highway, constructing a new ramp, and bridge replacement/rehabilitation, is significantly complete. One of the major parts to the project was the construction of the new ramp, which is complete and open to traffic.
“We have completed a significant portion of the contract to date,” Hackett said. “All design, retaining walls, roadway widening, and new vehicle bridges are complete so far. This includes the 1,872-foot-long curved steel structure that spans five railroad bridges, a United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) waterway, an interstate, and two local streets.”
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Both The Great Lakes Construction Co. and ODOT wanted to minimize traffic disruption.
“Because the project was contracted out in such a way that so many elements of the project could be completed independent of one another, it allowed for a lot of flexibility, which allows contractors to decrease traffic disruptions,” Fuller said. “The only current traffic disruption is the closure of the Beekman Street exit on I-74 west. Drivers entering I-74 west from I-75 south who want to take that exit, drive past it to the next one approximately 1 mile away, take a detour that leads them onto the entrance of I-74 east, and they exit at the Beekman Street exit.”
“We are currently in Maintenance of Traffic Phase 6 of 7,” Hackett said. “Phase 6 completes the last of the vehicle bridge rehabilitations and rebuilds the interior roadway on eastbound and westbound.”
Great Lakes Construction also designed the reconfiguration in a more sensible, cleaner-looking way.
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“The new layout looks much better and logical when viewing an image of it taken from above,” Fuller said. “Also, drivers have reported they no longer need to decelerate to the degree that they did prior to the reconfiguration.”
According to The Great Lakes Construction Co., constructing the flyover bridge on time was the biggest challenge. They started this work the same week they received the contract.
“The bridge had almost a dozen stakeholders, but our immediate first move was to engage the two railroad companies and get their take on the design,” Hackett said. “Achieving multi-agency design buy-in early was key to design lock-in, ordering materials at risk, and delivering the girders on time.”
Acutely aware of the challenges with this many stakeholders, the company also partnered with the state to modify contract requirements by allowing a year-long closure of a local exit ramp. This closure added another six months of float into the structural steel delivery dates, especially those surrounding the railroads.
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“Once we got the design approved, our crews hit the ground running, but this time scheduled the railroad work last to accommodate construction approvals,” Hackett said. “This strategy proved successful, and we went into Maintenance of Traffic Phase 5A as planned in the spring of 2024.”
The Great Lakes Construction Co. also holds the contract for Phase 8 — a $46.8 million design-build contract, which included the replacement of three railroad bridges located over Prosser Avenue, I-75, and SR 562, as well as reconstruction of the railroad tracks between the bridges. Construction also includes minor realignment of I-75 lanes to accommodate the new railroad bridge pier location on I-75.
The company credited their commitment to investing in their staff as one of the reasons this project has been successful.
“This multi-year project was a fast-paced, multi-scoped, alternative delivery project, and that fits the mold of a Great Lakes employee,” Hackett said. “From top to bottom on this project, our people have gained invaluable experience. Many of the employees that began on this project have been promoted or given more responsibility and are fit for future leadership positions within the company. We like challenges, and we like to go fast. I am extremely proud of every team member that has been a part of this project.”
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Construction projects bring together numerous stakeholders. If contractors have good relationships with those stakeholders, it can have numerous benefits from getting agreement to meeting deadlines.
The Great Lakes Construction Co. identified two key relationships that greatly contributed to the success of the project — the asset owner and the company’s suppliers.
“ODOT and Great Lakes Construction are great partners,” Hackett said. “We have established a project-first attitude and attempt to resolve all issues at the lowest appropriate level. Both ODOT and Great Lakes are open and up front about risks and potential disputes.”
A significant act of partnering was when a relatively narrow bridge deck had three phase lines in the pour plan due to contract requirements, and this made all work involving two different railroads schedule critical.
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“To reduce the phase lines and build a significant amount of float for high-risk items into the schedule, we proposed to shut down an interstate ramp for an entire year,” Hackett said. “Ultimately, we built a Texas Turnaround a couple miles down the interstate, closed the desired ramp, and successfully mitigated a lot of high-risk items.”
No construction project can move forward without building materials, so having a good relationship with vendors can help contractors get building materials on time and when supplies are scarce or the usual distribution systems are down. They can also make contractors aware of any potential supply disruptions and help them source alternatives.
“Our vendors are an integral part of the project, and we treat them as team members. This was a design-build contract, so we paired the experience of our vendors with our designers to create the best value for the project and for the vendors,” Hackett said. “Enabling the vendors to be a part of the design process established buy-in from the start. One of the highest risk procurement items was the delivery of structural steel on time, and we were able to partner with our steel fabricator to order steel and deliver it on time.”
The Great Lakes Construction Co. used a lot of different equipment on the Mill Creek Expressway projects, including four cranes, four excavators, three loaders, and three dozers.
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- 230-ton Manitowoc 888 Lattice Boom Crane
- 120-ton Grove GMK5120B Crane
- 80-ton Link-Belt 138 Crawler Crane
- 50-ton Link-Belt RTC8050 Rough Terrain Crane
- Komatsu PC400 Excavator
- Komatsu PC300 Excavator
- Komatsu PC220 Excavator
- Komatsu PC120 Excavator
- Caterpillar 938 Wheel Loader
- Caterpillar 950 Wheel Loader
- Caterpillar 963 Tracked Loader
- Caterpillar D3 Dozer
- Caterpillar D4 Dozer
- Caterpillar D6 Dozer
