While certain crews (left) utilized over 100,000 tons of asphalt on the project, others installed the 24-ft by 12-ft box culvert (right), requiring the highest level of sequencing to minimize the effects on not just vehicle traffic, but migrating wildlife that frequent the area.
Connecting the Freeway
The final component that tied this road project together was the electrical infrastructure that would allow UDOT to successfully integrate this section of the freeway into its existing systems. Hunt Electric placed conduits for cameras, weather stations, overhead message boards, and more. Crews installed variable speed limit signs in late summer 2022 to wrap up the project and its integration with the ITS.
Coleman said that this work to expands the system linked this portion of the freeway to ITS for UDOT to keep motorists safer by informing travelers with real-time traffic updates that utilize live data.
With the winding roads around Baker Canyon, combined Utah’s temperamental weather patterns, “You don’t realize how bad the conditions are ahead of you,” Monroe said of what prompted installation of such technologically advanced components in such a rural area.
Project Completed
So how does a project like this succeed, installing sophisticated technology like fiber optic cables and old-fashioned solutions like massive box culverts?
“Early planning,” said Schaugaard, where everyone can commit early to plan specific scopes as best they can. Ultimately, he said, it is “getting everybody to understand the importance of hitting these deadlines and milestones.”
From linking roadway assets to existing infrastructure or trade partners joining together to achieve project goals, connection, in its many forms, generated such a vital improvement to the freeway.
I-15 Passing Lanes—Baker Canyon
Location: I-15, Near Cove Fort between mile post 135 and 142.5
Cost: $34,000,000
Delivery Method: Design-bid-build, digital delivery
Owner: UDOT
Project Management/Design Lead: Avenue Consultants
Structural: Morrison-Maierle
Geotech: Gerhart Cole Inc.
Environmental: Express Environmental Services, LLC
General Contractor: WW Clyde
Excavation: WW Clyde
Drainage: Carlisle Excavating
Utilities: Hunt Electric
Trucking/Hauling: Rasmussen Excavation, Jonny’s Trucking
Paving: WW Clyde
Microsurfacing: Geneva Rock
QC: Central Utah Testing
Electrical: Hunt Electric
Concrete: Hales Sand & Gravel
Cast-In-Place Barriers: Comers Concrete LLC,
Precast Concrete: Geneva Precast, Harward & Rees
Concrete Cutting: Saw Jockey
Bridges: Wadsworth Brothers, Harward & Rees
Fencing: Taylor Made Fencing
Signs: Straight Stripe Painting
Striping: Straight Stripe Painting
Asphalt Milling: Construction Material Recycling
Seeding: Express Environmental Services, LLC
Cable Barrier/Guardrail: B&K Construction
Culvert Cleaning: Triple R Services