Crews Working to Complete $99M Orange County Upgrade

Wed February 24, 2021 - West Edition #5
Irwin Rapoport – CEG Correspondent

In California, Security Paving Company Inc. is on schedule to complete the SR 57 Interchange Improvement Project, a job that will enable future construction of the SR 57 Northbound Truck Climbing Lane between Lambert Road and the Orange and Los Angeles county lines. (Interwest Consulting Group photo)

Per design plans, the removal items include 1,425 cu. yds. of concrete pavement, 2,175 cu. yds. of concrete sidewalk and 1,284 cu. yds. of concrete island, with a grand total of 77,644 cu. yds. of roadway excavation and 28,190 cu. yds. of embankment.
(Interwest Consulting Group photo)

Construction crews from Security Paving Company Inc. are on schedule to complete construction on the $99.8 million  SR 57 Lambert Road Interchange Improvements project in the city of Brea, Calif., (northern Orange County) to improve traffic flow and prepare for future highway infrastructure construction to help freight travel.

The project wil l provide safe mobility for local residents; improve the operational performance of the interchange; enhance capacity; and relieve congestion. It also will enable future construction of the SR 57 northbound truck climbing lane between Lambert Road and the Orange and Los Angeles county lines. Pedestrians and bicycle travel will be enhanced to facilitate non-vehicle travel that will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The scope of the initiative is extensive — the reconfiguration of ramps, including construction of a loop on-ramp at the southeast quadrant; modify the northbound and southbound ramps; add 0.4 mi. of auxiliary lanes on southbound mainlines; widen Lambert Road and lower the profile to provide 15-ft. standard vertical clearance for the Lambert Road under-crossing; and widen the northbound Lambert Road under-crossing bridge to accommodate the future truck-climbing lane project.

The Lambert Road project widens the highway from three lanes to four lanes on both the eastbound and westbound directions for 0.3 mi. The work involves both concrete and asphalt pavement at different locations within the job site.

Construction began in July 2019 and is proceeding on schedule and budget in partnership with city of Brea and Caltrans. The project is expected to be completed approximately one year from now.

Construction Progress

"According to the project team members, some of the main challenges on the project are poor soil conditions underneath existing pavement and utility relocations for the SCE overhead lines," said Lena Maiah, Caltrans public information officer of District 12. "Over excavation is needed to remove/replace the poor soil for the new pavement. The project team was effectively working and coordinating with SCE to ensure the overhead lines are relocated during Stage 3 construction of this project. The lifespan for the proposed structures is a minimum of 75 years in accordance with Caltrans guidelines. The new pavement will have a 40-year lifespan."

To date, Security Paving Company Inc. has completed the construction of the retaining walls along Lambert EB and WB, and is in progress to complete the remaining retaining walls along SR 57 Lambert NB off-ramp and the SB on-ramp. The widening on Lambert EB and WB from Point Drive to State College is ongoing. The remainder of the work is focusing on constructing the new Lambert on-ramp bridge, Lambert/SR 57 bridge widening and the SR 57 bridge over the pedestrian tracks.

"The challenges on this construction project is coordinating all the major utility relocation with SCE, AT&T and telecom companies," said the Security Paving team. "The contractor, in partnership with Caltrans and the city of Brea, has been able to keep the construction progress on schedule through extensive coordination efforts with all stakeholders. Work continues during day and night time to facilitate early completion of construction. Complex scheduling of activities allows work to go on at multiple locations while utilities are being relocated. The work zone is within active traffic in a busy area, and with constraints by developments, makes it even more challenging.

"Security Paving has been able to work on all four freeway on-ramps and off-ramps concurrently," said the Security Paving team. "The original construction design shows the ramps to be completed in various stages. The team on this project was able to combine some of the stage construction phases to enable to the construction of four ramps concurrently and keep this project on schedule despite delays related to material shortages and utility relocation by other entities."

The northbound Lambert Road under-crossing bridge is being widened to accommodate the future truck-climbing lane project. The widening of the bridge with a slight slope shortens the vertical clearance between the road and the bridge, so Lambert Road is being lowered to provide for the standard vertical clearance. There are utilities embedded under the roadway and aerial utility lines that need to be protected or relocated.

Peak days have had a large number of Security Paving and subcontractor workers on-site. The key subcontractors are AM Concrete Inc.; Diverscape Inc.; AZ Construction Inc.; DBA Ace for hauling and disposing treated wood waste for MBGR; Forefront Deep Foundations Inc.; CGO Construction Company Inc.; Reycon Construction Inc. for CMU block and grout; DRS Rebar Inc. for furnishing and installing rebar; Global Road Sealing Inc.; MEX Electric for mobilization; and Condon-Johnson & Associates Inc. for drill and pour and mobilization for sub equipment.

Per design plans, the removal items include 1,425 cu. yds. of concrete pavement, 2,175 cu. yds. of concrete sidewalk and 1,284 cu. yds. of concrete island, with a grand total of 77,644 cu. yds. of roadway excavation and 28,190 cu. yds. of embankment.

"Security Paving is planning on reusing the material generated from demolition of the excavated asphalt and concrete pavement," said the Security Paving team. "The material will be crushed into small rock and reused and placed as a base under the new roadway concrete and asphalt sections. It is an important aspect of this project to recycle said material to save on trucking, material costs and manpower hours, and protect the environment through sustainable solutions."

New materials delivered on-site should include 34,900 tons of Class 2 aggregate subbase; 3,910 tons of Class 2 aggregate base; 3,260 tons of lean concrete base; 28,000 tons of HMA; 2,880 tons of RHMA; 6,540 cu. yds. of cold plane asphalt concrete pavement; 8,610 cu. yds. of JPCP; and 1,590 cu. yds. of JPCP (RSC).

Security Paving has a team of mechanics that takes care of day-to-day repairs and ensure that routine maintenance is carried out promptly.

The company owns a large and extensive fleet of vehicles and equipment, which is purchased from local and regional dealerships. It rarely needs to rent equipment from dealers or equipment rental companies.

Project Background/Need

The work is needed as SR 57 is a major interregional goods movement corridor that provides vital access between the counties of Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino.

"As stated on the project fact sheet, currently the interchange experiences heavy congestion during both the a.m. and p.m. peak periods stemming from conflicting traffic movements and inadequate signal queue capacity," said Maiah. "Traffic counts indicate truck volumes of 12 percent during peak hour and 17 percent during mid-day hours. This project will enhance movement of goods efficiently with lessened travel delays, so people and businesses can get essential supplies timely."

Prior to the work, 62,800  cars and trucks used the interchange daily and when delivered, it will be able to accommodate 73,100 vehicles and meet traffic demands for the year 2040.

The interchange upgrade was designed by Parsons Corporation. The ability to withstand earthquakes was crucial to the design.

"Seismic design is one of the main factors for retaining walls and bridges," said Maiah. "The design follows the latest Caltrans standards, policies and guidelines. The team is always looking for innovative measures to incorporate into the project. The materials proposed on the project follows Caltrans specifications and standard plans. The design maximizes the construction effort by estimating a feasible construction schedule to accommodate utilities relocation while keeping existing traffic open for all ramps and local streets during the daytime. It is designed so that it is constructed in stages that would allow construction to go on while traffic is moving."

"While the work is performed, alternate lanes, off-ramps and on-ramps along SR-57 will be closed during non-peak hours," noted the project web page.

Social media is being used to notify people about traffic updates and upcoming work. Quickmap is providing real time traffic updates.