In Wilkinson County, Ga., work continues on the North Gordon Bypass, a new roadway that completes another piece of the puzzle that will make up the Fall Line Freeway.

The project, which covers 7.2 mi. (11.5 km), will provide two 12-ft. (3.6 m) lanes in each direction separated by a 44-ft. (13.4 m) depressed median. The roadway will serve as a bypass around the city of Gordon, Ga., and runs from SR 57 at the Twiggs/Wilkinson County Line to SR 243 at Lake Tchucoloako. The project also includes a bridge over Little Commissioner Creek and Central of Georgia Railroad.

The full dollar amount of the project is $29.9 million, and is under the direction of the Georgia Department of Transportation. Funding comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009.

The contract was awarded to Prince Contracting LLC. Notice to proceed was given on Sept. 1, 2009, and the completion date is set for July 31, 2012.

Gary Bracken is the project manager, and Joel Seagraves is the office engineer.

Seagraves noted that extensive clearing and earthwork operations are imperative to the project’s completion. The overall project will involve a total of 3.1 million cu. yds. (2.3 million cu m) of earthwork.

“The project presents the same challenges that come with other large earth-moving jobs,” Seagraves said. “Proper planning and use of time is imperative, considering that 2009 was the wettest year on record for the state of Georgia.”

Seagraves reported that another challenge is the fact that there is a wide variance in existing elevations from one end of the project to the other.

Currently, the project is running on schedule.

Including Prince’s bridge crew, there are approximately 45 to 50 personnel on the job site. Reeves Construction Company, Macon, Ga., is the main subcontractor, and is responsible for asphalt paving.

A fleet of Caterpillar equipment being used on the job includes a 330 excavator, a D6M GPS dozer, a D7R dozer, a 12H motorgrader, 623G self-loading pans, a D5N dozer, a 938G loader, a 928G loader and a D3 dozer.

Prince Contracting LLC is based in Tampa, Fla., and has several other Florida offices and one in Gordon, Ga. John Watson is the president of the company, Jack Calandros is the vice president, and Kevin Muncy is the general superintendent. The core market and focus of the business is transportation construction projects.

When completed, the Fall Line Freeway will be a corridor traversing the entire width of Georgia from the Alabama state line at Columbus to Macon and then to Augusta at the South Carolina state line. The corridor will cover approximately 215 mi. (346 km).

The estimated cost for the entire Fall Line Freeway project is currently $474,262,000. To date, approximately 178 mi. (286 km), or 83 percent, of the entire project is open to traffic or under construction. The final portion has not yet begun.

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