CMAdvisor May/June 2010 - 9

SPEC IAL ADV E RTI S I N G S U P P L E M E NT

S P E C I A L ADVE RTI SI NG SU P P L E ME NT

The recently completed I-64 Battlefield Boulevard Interchange Reconstruction was critical to moving commuter and vacation travelers through a congested part of Virginia and linking the state’s interior with its popular Atlantic beaches. Despite its complexity, the project was completed 71 days ahead of schedule, on budget and with no delay claims. Moreover, cost savings realized during the project enabled Virginia DOT to add several key enhancements, while remaining sensitive to the state’s challenging fiscal situation. According to designers Kimley-Horn and Associates, who were also an instrumental part of the construction phase services, “model project” and “exemplary” are accurate descriptions of the outcome. The biggest factor contributing to this success, says Design Project Manager William F. Mackey, Jr., PE, was the way McDonough Bolyard Peck created “an environment from the outset that allowed for the design engineer, owner and contractor to collaborate as a collective group instead of acting in each individual’s best interest.”

An active public relations and awareness campaign was also critical, given the traffic density and the centrality of these roads to citizens’ daily functions. The team included PR firm Seventh Point, based in nearby Virginia Beach. For Thomas L. Partridge, president of general contractor E. V. Williams, Inc., one of the most striking aspects of the project was the absence of the usual public turmoil. “The normal inflammatory e-mails, phone calls and bad press were for all practical purposes absent with each traffic switch, lane closure and detour,” Partridge says. “At times the quiet was disconcerting, and then I realized in each case it was because MBP had anticipated the potential problem and either minimized the effect or prepared all the stakeholders for the outcome,” he adds.

Innovation Saves Time and Money
Among the project team’s important innovations on this complex project were: • Phasing of construction enabled the contractor to mobilize a portable concrete crushing plant on site to recycle concrete from the demolition of the existing highway for use as aggregate in the base for the new lanes. This “green” strategy eliminated nearly 40,000 tons of debris that would have been hauled to landfills, as well as the 6,000 or so truck trips this would have required. • The team developed plans to better utilize the existing rightof-way and reconfigure the space to facilitate a permanent solution to the congestion at the adjacent interchange of I-64 and I-464. “This cost effective solution has permanently improved traffic flow, a solution that will permanently reduce incidents and mitigate congestion,” says Cacamis. • The project also relied on a computerized documentation control system jointly developed by MBP and VDOT in 2005. “The project team learned early that success was most achievable by collectively understanding the risks and working together to eliminate or minimize those risks,” says Mike Prezioso, PE, CCM, senior vice president of MBP. “The results,” he concludes, “speak for themselves.”
I-64 Battlefield Boulevard Project Team
Owner: Virginia Department of Transportation CM Firm: McDonough Bolyard Peck, Inc. Architect/Engineer: Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. General Contractor: E. V. Williams, Inc. CM Subs/Consultants: NXL Construction Services Greenhorne & O’Mara Rummel, Klepper & Kahl Consulting Engineers Seventh Point Advertising and Public Relations GET Solutions Other Stakeholders: Federal Highway Administration City of Chesapeake, VA American Concrete Pavement Association

Key Highway Project Takes A “New Road”
Teamwork Delivers $100 Million Virginia Interstate Highway Improvement
“Keep Virginia Moving” is the motto of the state’s Department of Transportation. A three-year, $100 million project to make major improvements to Interstate 64 has promoted that goal by improving highway safety and streamlining daily travel for some 100,000 motorists. In the process, the project team trimmed more than two months from the schedule and saved enough money to finance additional valuable enhancements. The secrets? Collaboration, communication and teamwork.

Impressive Complexity
The $100 million project included the expansion of Interstate 64 from six lanes to 14; four new Interstate bridges; demolition and replacement of the existing Battlefield Boulevard bridge over I-64, and widening the replacement bridge from four to six lanes, along with retaining walls, a sound barrier wall, and a fiber optic traffic management system (TMS) throughout the project area. In the process, the project team had to keep more than 100,000 vehicles per day moving through the site. The finished project also eliminates a “weave” on the old interstate, created by having entry and exit ramps only about a half-mile apart. Faced with all of these challenges, the McDonough Bolyard Peck construction management team “reduced the complexity through innovation and creativity,” says Mark E. Cacamis, PE, CPC, district construction engineer for VDOT. “By sequencing construction based on cost, schedule and safety, the team eliminated most of the traffic shifts in the original traffic management plan,” he adds. “It would take too long to list all the good decisions made day in and day out over the three-year duration of the project.”

Seamless Collaboration, Start to Finish
One key to the project’s success was the partnering approach the team adopted right from the start, even though the contracts did not formally require it. The entire team came together for a partnering workshop early in the project, reviewing all potential risks, stakeholders’ priorities and optimum ways of moving forward. Kimley-Horn remained an active team member throughout construction, facilitating quick responses to RFIs, submittals and resolution of construction issues. The MBP Team reviewed more than 300 submittals and 200 RFIs without a single delay to the project.

CMAdvisor May/June 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CMAdvisor May/June 2010