Surpassing all of the expectations established by community leaders, state officials, environmentalists, elected representatives and even the company itself, Fluor Corporation and the state of South Carolina dedicated the new Conway Bypass highway near Myrtle Beach on May 4, months ahead of schedule, well under budget, with an industry-leading safety record and a refund to the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) of more than a quarter million dollars.
Partners since the project’s inception three years ago, officials from Fluor Daniel, the engineering and construction unit of Fluor Corporation, the SCDOT, the Federal Highway Administration and Horry County were joined by Gov. Jim Hodges and a host of local, state and national leaders at the dedication ceremonies.
As hundreds of guests watched from atop one of the many bridges linking the roadway, Hodges sliced the symbolic ribbon, opening the final section of the $386-million highway. Almost immediately, members of the motoring public then began traversing the 28.5-mi. (45.9 km) roadway.
Despite three hurricanes and a slew of sensitive environmental issues requiring special methods of construction, the ceremony marked completion of the highway in its entirety, more than half a year early.
As a result of completing the project early, Fluor will return to SCDOT, the agency governing the road, an estimated $250,000 in budgeted construction costs. These savings, along with other efficiencies realized during the construction process, have allowed the state to begin work on other transportation needs throughout the region. Earlier sections of the road were opened last June and December.
“On behalf of the citizens of South Carolina and the Department of Transportation, I am proud to dedicate this important and invaluable addition to our state highway system,” said Elizabeth Mabry, executive director of SCDOT. “This road is symbolic of a much brighter future concerning the modernizing and upgrading of our highway systems both here and throughout the state.”
Veteran’s Highway, as the road is now called, which broke ground in 1998, links North Myrtle Beach at Highway 17 to U.S. Route 501 in Conway. In addition to being another major state highway to meet South Carolina’s growing demand for surface transportation, the highway also is a major hurricane evacuation route from the Grand Strand region. Separate interchanges will be named for South Carolinian recipients of the Medal of Honor from each branch of the U.S. Armed Forces.
The rest of the construction team includes CP & J, Knoxville, TN; A. O. Hardee, Little River, SC; Willis Construction Co., Florence, SC; Recchi America Inc.m Miami, FL; Traylor Brothers Inc., Evansville, IN; APAC-Carolina Inc., Myrtle Beach, SC; and APAC-Ballenger, a division of APAC-Georgia, Greenville, SC.
The project covered approximately 9 million cu. yds. (6.8 million cu m) of earthwork, 15 flat slab bridges, 16 girder bridges, 318 acres (129 ha) of wetlands. About 188,000 cu. yds. (143,737 cu m) of concrete was used on the 28.5 mi. (46 km) span. The Conway Bypass overhaul had a peak workforce of 552 crew members. In addition, about 618,000 tons (556,200 t) of asphalt was laid on the job.
Mabry also cited the project as an example of how the public-private partnership process can benefit the citizens of South Carolina. Conway Bypass is the first design-build project of South Carolina’s Partners-in-Progress Program that was designed to accelerate the completion of five significant projects within the state.
“We are proud to be a major part of this very important building program,” said Ron Oakley, group executive of the Fluor Daniel Infrastructure Unit. “The visionary leadership of SCDOT, the Federal Highway Administration, the South Carolina General Assembly, Horry County, the RIDE program and many others who saw a need and acted to make it a reality, should be recognized for their efforts by citizens of South Carolina.”
As the largest design/build project ever undertaken in South Carolina, the project has become a model for projects around the world. Fluor is utilizing the project to demonstrate the value of the design/build process to government agencies throughout the nation and in a handful of foreign countries. In spite of an accelerated schedule and challenging working conditions, innovative work practices allowed the project to achieve 2.6-million effort hours without a single lost-time accident — a record that ranks this project as one of the safest major transportation projects in the United States.
Some interesting facts of the job include if all the concrete trucks used on site were lined up, bumper-to-bumper, they would span 125 miles; if all the asphalt trucks were lined up the same way, they would span 150 miles. The 9 million cu. yds. (6.8 million cu m) of earthwork that was moved could fill the Empire State Building 2.2 times.
The Conway Bypass project has won many awards including: 2001 Engineering Excellence Award — Best of Show; 2001 Engineering Excellence Award — Structural Category; 2001 Pride in Transportation Construction Award — second place from ARTBA; 2000 Project of the Year; 2000 Safety Award and 1999 Safety Award, both from the SC Occupational Safety Council.
With 2000 revenues of $10 billion, Fluor Corporation provides services on a global basis in the fields of engineering, procurement, construction, operations, maintenance, project management and business services.
For more information, call 749/349-7661 or visit www.fdconway.com.
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