Ajax will install 350,000 square yards of 13.5-inch non-reinforced concrete pavement totalling 22 lane miles of main line pavement and shoulders and 3.75 lane miles of ramps.

By Diane Calabrese

Open 24/7 means almost everything to the commercial driver who spends long hours on the road. But amenities count, too. And the Detroiter Truck Stop has them.

From a barbershop to a CB shop to Internet access, the 35-year-old Detroiter Truck Stop meets the varied needs of long-haul drivers. It also plays a pivotal role in an ongoing Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) rehabilitation project.

“We’ve got our concrete batch plant set up adjacent to the truck stop,” says Christine Poe, Vice President of Concrete and EEO Officer for Ajax Paving Industries, Inc. The Woodhaven location provides reliable access to the 3.71-mile segment of Interstate 75 encompassed by the project.

Ajax is working as a subcontractor to Dan’s Excavating, Inc., on the project. Dan’s was awarded the contract with a competitive bid of $53,517,860.86.

Ajax’s portion of the work amounts to $13 million; the reconstruction is scheduled to take eight months, ending in November 2007. The pavement for the entire project, which was initiated in late summer 2006, is scheduled for completion this fall.

Easy Access

This segment of I-75 south of Detroit extends from north of Gibraltar Road north to King Road and provides access points to Southgate, Taylor, Flat Rock, and Woodhaven in Wayne County. And the project entails much more than installing new concrete pavement.

Reconstruction involves bridges, storm sewers, signage, electrical, and pavement markings. Twenty-two bridges between Gibraltar Road and North Line Street to the north must be reconstructed or rehabilitated. A major thoroughfare, now factor in the 75,000 vehicles — 20 percent of which are commercial vehicles — that use the road each day.

MDOT wants the road readied for as many as 83,000 vehicles per day. And it wants it to last. The contract carries a five-year warranty for pavement materials and workmanship and a two-year bridge-painting warranty.

Complexity

Coordination and attention to detail are the keys to success on such a project, says Don Molitor, Project Manager for Ajax. There always are several things going on and multiple subcontractors working onsite.

Harmony must prevail, and ensuring it does is part of Molitor’s responsibility. It’s not atypical to have the “varied tasks of the excavator, bridge contractor, electrician, and the paving operation overlapping in the same timeframe,” Molitor says. Good communication among all principals keeps everyone in sequence and out of conflict.

In addition to its direct work on the rehabilitation of the 3.71-mile segment, Ajax has another important responsibility. “Ajax’s Asphalt Division will do temporary widening [of existing roadway] for temporary traffic control,” Molitor says.

Technology At Hand

Through the 19th century and even into the 20th century, experience mattered most in building a permanent trail or road. Today, high technology has entered the picture.

Not only can engineers sort through options with the assistance of global positioning satellite systems, but
they can do it quickly. They also can match materials to conditions — clay substrate vs. sand substrate,
for example.

“The concrete mix is called P1-modified, high performance,” Molitor says. “This name is attributable to the aggregate blend utilized in the mix. The concrete mix has performed exceptionally well on previous state projects in the past four years and is the result of extensive testing of many variations and mix designs.”

In total, Ajax will install 350,000 square yards of 13.5-inch non-reinforced concrete pavement, Molitor says. That installation extends to the temporary lanes created for use during the main line work. The total area amounts to 22 lane miles of main line pavement and shoulders and 3.75 lane miles of ramps.

Quality Assurance

	Ajax's Woodhaven location provides reliable access to the 3.71-mile segment of I-75 encompassed by the project.

“In conventional freeway construction, the shoulders are typically thinner than traveled lanes and contain no load-transfer devices at the joints,” Molitor says. “Because Phase 2 of the project directs temporary traffic onto the newly paved northbound shoulders, the entire [length of] shoulders along the northbound highway were constructed using the same 13.5-inch concrete section as the main roadway.”

Molitor points to the rigor and rigidity of specifications for the temporary shoulder lanes as something that benefits everyone. “This thoughtful insertion into the design of the project will assure no damage to the roadway as a result of the construction process and traffic phasing,” he says.

Indeed, MDOT puts a premium on attaining high quality for the long term. Knowing what a vital link I-75 is, the transportation department wants to enhance the freeway’s ability to serve. Safety and ease of movement, or minimal congestion, top the list of MDOT objectives for its I-75 corridor improvement projects.

And MDOT is receptive to suggestions from drivers as well as its contractors. A contractor can submit a value engineering change proposal (VECP), which gives a contractor the opportunity to work with its subcontractors and tap their expertise to ensure the best materials, prices, and methods come to the fore. Dan’s submitted a VECP that ultimately decreased the contract work by $316,071.78, with half the savings going to the state and half to Dan’s.

Ajax understands that what counts is getting the job done well and in a way that meets the needs of the community. A close working relationship between Dan’s and its subcontractors allows the subcontractors to be brought into the process during a VECP. The end result is the best product for the best price and a good value for the federal and state taxpayers that support highway projects.