Construction Equipment Guide
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Wed October 11, 2000 - Northeast Edition
R.A. Audley Construction Company’s crews could say that working for the company is a real ’blast.’ This Bow, NH-based company recently began work on the F.E. Everett Turnpike in Nashua, NH, with a three-day blasting schedule to begin modifications to the first two exits of the turnpike.
The $2.8-million project for the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) will consist of the construction of two connector ramps between Exit 2 and Exit 1 of the Turnpike.
In the highway’s original configuration it was not possible for motorists using one exit ramp to get on the highway and then use the other exit to leave the highway.
Originally, according to Don Lyford, project manager, NHDOT, it was planned to have a tollbooth at the very beginning of the highway near the border. When the ramps for Exit 1 and 2 were built it was intended to prevent local motorists from avoiding the tollbooth. However, the tollbooth was never built and so it was eventually decided to build connecting ramps between the two exits.
A unique element of the project, according to NHDOT’s Mark Cesare, is the use of recycled overhead signs. The project calls for five overhead signs, and instead of building new ones, NHDOT is using signs from other highway reconstruction projects that would normally be discarded.
“Three of the signs are coming from Concord, NH, and are to be taken down by the prime contractor at the Concord site, Weaver Brothers of Concord, NH,” said Cesare. “The other two signs are coming from Rochester and the NHDOT is going to take them down themselves … All the signs are going to be erected by L&C Flashing Barricades of Avon, MA.”
The ramps are expected to be completed and opened to motorists by Nov. 15. However, control elements of the construction project, such as landscaping, signs and putting on the final overlay will not be completed until the following summer on July 1, 2001.
Cesare pointed out that in addition to the usual penalties for delays in completing the project, there is a new twist for NHDOT projects. During the construction phase, one lane has to be closed down for 10 days and another lane has to be closed for five days. For every six hours that a lane is closed beyond the limit called for in the contract there is a $2,000 penalty. On the plus side for completion before the deadline there is a $2,000 bonus for every six hours saved.