The contract was awarded to Dunn Roadbuilders in January 2022 and work began in February. It was funded by a mix of state and federal sources. (Mississippi Department of Transportation photo)

A $66.75 million project to improve one of the worst concrete roadways in Mississippi is almost 50 percent complete and on schedule, said Scott White, district construction engineer with Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT). The 14-mi. project on I-59 in Forrest County includes rubbilization of the concrete road surface from Lamar County to 0.3 mi. south of Moselle. The interstate pavement had been in such poor condition, the subgrade was beginning to collapse, White said.

"The project has been going fairly smoothly," White said. "That said, traffic control on a project of this size is always challenging. The interstate sees about 31,000 vehicles over four lanes in the area. The generally rough condition of the road was causing damage to vehicles, and there were a number of wrecks in the area as well."

The project is an unusual one for MDOT as it does not typically use rubbilization for road repair in the south central part of the state. Rubbilization is a technique that saves time and transportation costs by breaking up existing concrete and reusing it on site or hauling it to a different location.

Mississippi primarily uses asphalt in road construction, but in this case, the existing roadway is concrete.

"With a small number of concrete roads in the area, concrete rubbilization is not often needed," White said. "We have encountered soft spots in the base after it was rubbilized, which required additional work to repair. The soft spots were corrected by removing the unstable material and replacing it with a crushed stone base."

Equipment on site includes steel wheel rollers for seating the rubbilized concrete; track hoes; a high-frequency vibratory machine; and bulldozers for extending the drainage structures and widening the slopes.

One of the largest safety improvement projects in Forrest County, it had been held up for about five years due to a lack of funding. The contract was awarded to Dunn Roadbuilders in January 2022 and work began in February. It was funded by a mix of state and federal sources, White said.

Along with the rubbilization, the project includes improvements to the shoulders and slope; safety improvements along various points on the route; and some improvements to ramps on and off the Interstate.

Some of the safety features of the project include removing trees from the median and adding a new cable barrier in the median.

"These features will lessen the severity of accidents in the median and prevent vehicles from entering the opposite lanes of traffic should they drift off the interstate into the median," White said. "Another safety feature is the installation of pier protection at the overpass bridges, which prevents vehicles from damaging bridge structures."

The final phase of the project will address any aesthetic needs at the end of the construction, as well as the replacement of safety fencing. The aesthetic plan will be developed with municipal and federal guidelines. Work is currently taking place between Exit 73, Monroe Road and Exit 76, the Hattiesburg-Laurel Regional Airport. The project is expected to be complete by the end of 2024. CEG

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