Interstate 15 is a vital corridor to the California ecosystem, carrying some 220,000 vehicles daily through deserts and cities.
And Skanska USA Civil West is enhancing travel in this area, beginning in the city of Rancho Cucamonga just east of Los Angeles and extending approximately 11 mi. I-15 is nearly 300 mi. long and carries motorists and trucks northward from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, connecting with Interstate 40 along the way, one of the nation's most important east-west corridors.
Skanska USA Civil West photo
Skanska's work will include building roads, retaining walls and sound walls, widening bridges and making utility improvements. The project is expected to cost approximately $400 million with a completion date in 2028. Slightly more than $50 million will be allotted for paving by Skanska JV partner Coffman Specialties.
Rafael Gutierrez, project executive at Skanska Civil USA, described said to Construction Equipment Guide, “We had to open up the whole job and work everywhere at once.”
Gutierrez and his team managed complex sequencing to work around the heavy traffic.
“We are widening 33 bridges while simultaneously constructing roadway improvements, retaining walls and express lane infrastructure across an active freeway corridor. To maintain our schedule, we needed to manage multiple work fronts throughout the project.”
The Skanska team worked closely with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the San Bernardino County Transit Authority to eliminate staging at the on/off ramps. This coordination increased the window of time for workers and led to improved quality. It also reduced the inconvenience to the traveling public.
Skanska USA Civil West photo
The construction team used digital planning and coordination tools to manage the construction activity occurring simultaneously across multiple locations.
The complex job required a significant amount of material including:
• 10 million lbs. of reinforcing steel;
• 300,000 cu. yds. of excavation;
• 60,000 tons of hot-mix asphalt;
• 22,000 cu. yds. of concrete for the bridges;
• 12,000 cu. yds. of concrete for the retaining walls; and
• 115,000 cu. yds. of jointed concrete.
The concrete and asphalt demolished for the project are being crushed and reused as Class 2 aggregate base for the paving.
“The project included infrastructure needed to support a managed express-lane system,” Gutierrez said. “This meant we needed to make improvements to electrical systems, tolling-related systems and upgrade the traffic management infrastructure.”
Work on the 33 bridges presented some special challenges for the construction team.
“We had to work on bridges over active railroad tracks and a bridge crossing over a flood-control channel,' he said. “The work on the flood control crossing was limited to a defined period. As soon as they were able in the first allowable work season, our team completed substructure work for multiple construction stages. During bridge construction, our team worked closely with Union Pacific, Metrolink and utility owners.”
Skanska USA Civil West photo
Because of the heavy traffic, project planners decided to use night construction. Planners observed that drivers began having difficulty during Friday night closures, so the team shifted much of the work to Sunday night through Thursday.
“These changes reduced the risks for both our crews and motorists,” Gutierrez said.
For construction on the project, workers used a full fleet of construction equipment, including excavators, bulldozers, loaders, compactors, haul trucks and cranes. The team operated specialized drilling equipment for bridge foundation work and piles, including areas adjacent to railroads and utilities.
Guiterrez sees that the work will have a great impact on freight haulers and regular drivers in Southern California.
“I believe this project will improve mobility and travel-time reliability,” he said. “When the work is finished, we will have four general-purpose lanes and two express lanes in each direction through much of the project area. The job will also add a third freight lane along a 2-mi. segment north of Interstate 10 to accommodate heavy truck volume.”
