The turnpike was first built to provide a convenient, four-lane highway from Tulsa to northwest Oklahoma. Constructed in early 1970, the pavement lasted for more than 38 years, but D-cracking and base failures necessitated removal and replacement of some of the slabs, and patching in other areas.  

The contractor saw an opportunity to submit a value-engineering proposal to make some significant changes to the pavement section. This involved deleting the compacted subgrade; a 4 in. open-graded concrete base; a geotextile separator fabric; and silicone joint sealant. Instead, TTK Construction Company recommended (and the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority approved) a 10 in. cement modified subgrade and hot-pour joint sealant. The result was a greater than $456,000 net savings to the turnpike authority.

All pavement outside the slab replacement areas were dowel-bar retrofitted and diamond ground.   Prior to the CPR project, the pavement measured 27.5 in./lane mile using a 0.2 blanking band, but aft.erward, the smoothness was 4.75 in./lane mile. During the construction phase the contractor faced some weather delays, but neither those delays nor the design changes prevented the TTK crews from completing the project on time…and at a significant savings.

County Roads

Gold: William White Blvd. (defense access road), Pueblo County, Colo.

Contractor: Castle Rock Construction Co.

Owner: Pueblo County, Colo.

Engineer: Short Elliot Hendrickson Inc.

Rugged terrain, harsh weather, potential disruptions to local businesses, and the unique needs of a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) facility might seem the stuff of nightmares, but not for people involved in this unique county road reconstruction project.

William White Road connects State Highway 47 with the Pueblo County Airport, which is a DoD installation surrounded by a number of defense contractors. The existing asphalt was badly distressed and so, the decision was made to both reconstruct and build new sections with concrete. The 2.6-mile long project consisted of 98,700 sq. yds. of 10 in. doweled and grooved concrete pavement; 5,000 sq. yds. of concrete driveway; and 15,000 ft. of integral curb and gutter.   The concrete pavement was 65 ft. wide in the reconstruction area and 60 ft. wide in the new construction area. The entire reconstruction area required excavation to a depth of 3 ft., with no disruption to utilities, which included fiber optics, water, phone, and sewer.

To avoid disruption to area business access, the pavement was reconstructed in half-width sections, leaving gaps at businesses for access during peak hours. The reconstruction sections had to be completed within 120 days, which required some paving in the winter months.  

The terrain also was a factor, because the site is in the high-plain desert region, which has several arroyos (dry stream beds that tend to fill with water quickly and unexpectedly aft.er heavy rains). As such, reinforced concrete pavements or box culverts had to be installed before fill and subgrade preparations were made. Crossing the inlets was a challenge for the paver, so the side form was modified and special blocking was added to prevent the paver from falling into the inlets.   

There also was a bridge that had to be resurfaced to account for the raise in profile elevation. The bridge also presented a challenge because it was 6 ft. narrower than the concrete pavement, so a significant amount of the work was done by hand. In spite of the challenges, the crews completed the project on time, within the budget, and with as little impact as possible to the traveling public, areas businesses, and the airport.