The work will require some 1.4 million tons of asphalt.
(NCDOT photo)
A map of the United States reveals that I-95 snakes its way from northern Maine all the way to southern Florida. This interstate is the major link between most of the cities on the eastern seaboard. With a length of nearly 2,000 mi., I-95 is the longest north-south interstate in the country. According to the Corridor Coalition, this interstate serves more than 100 million people and carries 40 percent of the United States' gross national product.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) and its partners have embraced an ambitious multi-year plan to make a key section of this vital corridor more navigable with less congestion. The current focus is to widen an 18-mi. section of I-95 from four lanes to eight. The section extending from exit 55 (Murphy Road) to 71 (Long Branch Road) also will see several bridges demolished and built higher, in most cases up to a minimum of 17 ft. clearance, to accommodate today's larger loads being hauled by trucks.
Begun in 2019, the initial contract is approximately 50 percent complete. S.T. Wooten is the prime contractor on the project, with some 20 subcontractors playing a role in the undertaking. The road-widening project began near Fayetteville and will extend just past the interchange with I-40 and will include modernizing off ramps and realigning some of the service roads near the ramps.
The estimated cost to widen all 25 mi. from mile markers 55 to 81 is $710 million. The work will be partially paid for from federal funds with the majority coming from NCDOT's highway trust fund. Project overseers plan on rebuilding at least six interchanges with new ramps, loops and overpasses. Bicycle and pedestrian accommodations also will be added to some of the overpass bridges.
Traffic Volume
I-95 through this area has a high traffic volume reaching about 65,000 vehicles per day. The work on the first contract will require pouring some 50,000 cu. yds. of concrete; using some 1.4 million tons of asphalt and installing over 60,000 linear ft. of storm drainage systems. The surface paving was with Superpave asphalt, which is standard for most interstates in the country.
The work on I-95 will ease congestion and make the section safer. Since the work zone was installed, this section of the interstate averages just over one crash per day. Also, the construction will replace some sections that were built in the late 1950s. Overall, I-95 is one of the oldest routes of the Interstate Highway System.
The work between mile markers 55 and 71 is scheduled to be completed by fall 2025.
"We are focused on modernizing the roads where the biggest needs are," said Andrew Barksdale of NCDOT. "We are looking to make changes where traffic volume is the greatest and traffic safety must be improved. We wanted to do all this without raising taxes or tolling."
Major construction projects like this are not without a little pain. NCDOT had to acquire right-of-way for the room to accommodate more lanes and for the area to stage the construction activities.
"Not only will we have doubled the number of lanes through this area, but the new travel lanes will be wider, at 12 feet, with the paved shoulders being wider also. This is all been done to upgrade the roads to modern standards for safety and easing congestion," said Barksdale.
The current lanes are 11.5 ft. wide.
Another important element of the construction is that I-95 is a hurricane evacuation route, meaning that it must be safe for emergency use.
Contending With COVID-19
As with most current construction projects, NCDOT had to contend with COVID-19 and other changing economic conditions.
"COVID-19 and the labor shortage did have an impact on the work," said Barksdale. "It was a challenge for many of our contractors to get the right people to work and contend with the COVID-19 restriction. In addition, the cost of fuel and asphalt has seen large fluctuations."
Because of heavy traffic flow and the ongoing construction, NCDOT decided to deploy a 24-hour tow truck service. This service is available to remove vehicles involved in accidents or in need of maintenance. Thomas Sowers, assistant project manager for ST Wooten, appreciates the service.
"Traffic along this interstate is so heavy that if there were any kind of incident impacting the flow of traffic there could be back-ups extending for miles. By implementing the on-call towing contract NCDOT was able to respond to incidents quicker, expediting the reopening of the road," he said.
Redesigning for Modern Times
Working on a road that was built in the 1950s and 1960s is "interesting," according to Bowers.
"Design standards were a lot different then," he said. "So is today's traffic volume. Today's roads are built to account for this and are more durable than they were before. We also are building more lanes than what is currently present with wide shoulders to increase capacity, resulting in a safer end product."
The shoulders on this section were not thick enough to support traffic if it needed to be shifted onto them. In many cases, workers from ST Wooten removed the asphalt shoulders and recycled them at the asphalt plants to use in the base and intermediate layers for new shoulders and roadway.
ST Wooten workers installed temporary guard rails in the median to help prevent motorists from crossing into opposing traffic. The median is narrow; when construction is complete the narrow median with guardrail will be replaced with a paved median with a 46-in.-tall concrete median barrier running the entire length of the project.
Workers from ST Wooten handled both road construction and bridge reconstruction. Four bridges have been rebuilt, four are in the process of being built. Road building and bridge building teams have coordinated efforts to keep road shutdowns to a minimum.
"When we were demolishing the bridges, we were allowed 30-minute road closures on I-95," said Bowers. "But whenever possible we tried to detour traffic to keep it flowing."
The second contract to rebuild and widen I-95 was awarded last year and will encompass the interstate from exit 72 to exit 81 (the I-40 interchange). The work began last year with the plan to complete it in four years. This project will be led by a joint venture of Flatiron and Fred Smith.
NCDOT believes that the I-95 project is important to the state.
"Studies show that if I-95 is not widened congestion will increase as will traffic jams," said Barksdale. "This project will accommodate future growth and relieve congestion. It will ensure that I-95 continues to be a vital part of our state's transportation system." CEG
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