The Virginia Department of Transportation has awarded a $4.8-million contract to Blakemore Construction Inc. of Richmond, VA, for work on Route 711 as part of the Robious Road Improvement Project. Construction, which is now under way, will extend from Polo Parkway to Salisbury Road in Chesterfield County, VA.

The major improvements to Robious Road include widening the road from two lanes to a four-lane divided highway for approximately 1.65 mi. (2.6 km). The contract also includes installation of a 16-ft. (4.8 m) raised median and four 12-ft. (3.6 m) travel lanes. There will also be 5-ft. (1.5 m) bicycle lanes on both sides of the roadway. Five-foot (1.5 m) shoulders and 6-ft. (1.8 m) ditches will complete the job.

Blakemore Construction will be performing the grading, asphalt work, stone work, storm pipe work and erosion control on the project. Richmond, VA-based InfraCorps of Virginia Inc. received a $560,000 subcontract from Blakemore to perform waterline relocation on the Robious Road project. According to Jim Aldous, project manager at InfraCorps of Virginia, the project consists of relocating an existing 16-in. (40.6 cm) asbestos cement waterline and replacing it with a new 16-in. (40.6 cm) ductile iron. InfraCorps of Virginia utilizes trenchless technology on many of its projects in addition to the more conventional methods.

“Trenchless is a small part of this project,” explained Aldous. “The only trenchless on this job is navigating water services across the road. Everything else is open cut.”

VDOT’s Robious Road Improvement Project is considered a “fast track” road improvement project designed to relieve congestion in this heavily-traveled corridor of Chesterfield County. Route 711-Robious Road serves as an important connection between Huguenot Road and Powhatan County. In 1994, traffic along this section of Robious Road was measured at 19,340 vehicles per day. By the year 2009, traffic is projected to increase to 32,400 vehicles per day.

Since there is such a large volume of traffic, working on the roadway can be very difficult.

“It’s challenging having to work around heavy traffic and maintain two lanes of traffic at all times,” stated Wadsworth Bugg, vice president at Blakemore Construction.

Construction on the Route 711 portion of Robious Road is scheduled to be complete by November 2001.

A separate project currently under construction as part of the Robious Road Improvement Project is Route 675, which extends from Midlothian Turnpike to Woodmont Drive. This project is scheduled for completion by December 2001.

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