By Kerry Lynn KirbyCEG CORRESPONDENT

Not so long ago, two-lane BaldwinCounty 181 was a pastoral shortcut for localresidents who wanted to avoid the moreheavily traveled U.S. 98 and Ala. 59 goingnorth or south.

Then subdivisions and businesses began akudzu-like takeover of former farmland andwoods along the country road, increasingtraffic to the point of congestion.

A four-phase project to widen the road-way — now known as Ala. 181 — from justsouth of U.S. 90 down to U.S. 98 will notonly ease that congestion but also will allowthe state route to serve an important func-tion: facilitate hurricane evacuation, accord-ing to Matthew Ericksen, division construc-tion engineer for the Alabama Department ofTransportation (ALDOT).

“This will provide another adequate evac-uation route besides state route 59,” Ericksensaid.

Mobile Asphalt Company of Mobile,Ala., is the prime contractor on the firstphase of the project, which was started June4, he said.

The job entails transforming the existingtwo-lane road into a highway, mostly adivided four-lane, from just south of U.S. 90to just south of Baldwin County 64, Ericksensaid.

The $13.4 million project involves notonly widening the road but also building upthe existing two lanes, he said.

“It was a rural, two-lane country road. Theexisting pavement did not have much of astructural buildup,” Ericksen said. “Thisproject consists of adding … eight moreinches of asphalt on the existing road, due tothe condition it was in and increased traffic.”

Mobile Asphalt is doing all of the job’spaving work, which will entail 95,000 tons(86,182 t) of asphalt, according to JoshMcElhenney, project manager/estimator forMobile-based John G. Walton ConstructionCo., a major subcontractor on the job.

The job covers approximately 3.9 mi,(6.27 km), and the widening work involvesinstalling new ditches, drainage pipe and

median turn lanes and leveling the existingroad to match grades, McElhenney said.

Mobile Asphalt has subcontracted JohnG. Walton for approximately $5.2 million ofwork on the job, said McElhenney, notinghis company is performing all of the earth-work, drainage, erosion control and aggre-gate base material on the project.

Other subcontractors on the job include:C. Thornton Inc. of Mobile, Ala., concretework; Underground Inc. of Wilmer, Ala.,water line; Ozark Striping Co. of Ozark,Ala., striping; and Southern Directional ofWilsonville, Ala., gas main.

The job will entail 130,000 cu. yds.(99,392 cu m) of borrow excavation as wellas moving approximately 130,000 cu. yds.of material onsite.

John G. Walton has been averaging 10 to12 workers on the job, McElhenney said.Equipment includes Komatsu 220 excava-tors, a John Deere 700 dozer, a CaterpillarD5 dozer, a John Deere 650 dozer, a

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Main subcontractor John G. Walton, Mobile, Ala., has a variety of equipment on its $5.2 million portion of the $13.4 million proj-ect, all of which is company owned.

While much of the widening work will just cut a little into fields along the route, cre-ating the wider highway has entailed clearing a direct path, when possible, thoughit’s sometimes necessary to work around things. see ALDOT page 6

Page 2 • October 21, 2009 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Alabama State Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide

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Page 6 • October 21, 2009 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Alabama State Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide

Mobile Asphalt Tackles $13.4M Four-Phase Widening Project

Komatsu D65 dozer, a Caterpillarmotor grader, and Mack andPeterbilt dump trucks. All of theequipment is company-owned.

The job, which is expected totake roughly two years, is onschedule, McElhenney said.

“Utilities are being relocatednow. This has caused delays,” hesaid, “but we were aware of thedelays from the beginning.”

Relocating the water and sewerlines is part of the contract, saidALDOT’s Ericksen, noting thatutility relocation has been chal-lenging because of how right-of-way issues require the work toalternate from one side of the exist-ing roadway to the other.

Meanwhile, Riviera Utilities,Mediacom and AT&T are doingtheir own relocation work alongthe route, he said.

“The road shifts back and forthat three different locations,” saidMcElhenney, noting that one of thereasons why the new roadway

crosses the old road then comesback is to preserve some of thearea’s history.

While much of the wideningwork will just cut a little into fieldsalong the route, creating the widerhighway has entailed clearing adirect path, when possible, thoughit’s sometimes necessary to workaround things with the design,Ericksen said.

“We had a lot of large oak treesthat had to be removed. There werefour structures that had to beremoved,” he said. The structureswere Paul’s Restaurant at theBaldwin County 64 intersection, aswell as an old, abandoned houseand two sheds.

At the south end of the project,however, they had to design thehighway to go around a hardwarestore listed on the NationalRegister of Historic Places,Ericksen said.

On the north end, they wereallowed to set back the historic redbrick pillared entranceway to theCometti house, which was built by

an early family of the area, he said.Erosion control work on the

project included placing some fillthrough a swamp, which had to bedone in a way to minimize turbidi-ty in the runoff. The swamp por-tion fell under Walton’s subcon-tract, he said.

Workers went in, removedmuck, placed the GEOGRID and,to reduce turbidity, backfilled withwhitewash sand shipped up fromGulf Shores, Ala., and installed

riprap at the right of way, Ericksensaid.

Normally, you would just use asand-clay base in an area like that,he said.

Even with the relatively closeproximity of the beach to the proj-ect, going with whitewash sandmeant about four times the normalcost, Ericksen said. But with thesand-clay base, you can’t help butlose turbid water when it rains, sothe sand fill keeps the project in

ADEM compliance. The work has caused a few

delays for motorists, but the roadhas stayed open most of the time,McElhenney said.

Due to the utilities relocation,crews are working on the north andsouth ends first and then will goback in between to widen thoseareas, he said.

The first phase has an estimatedcompletion date of December2010, Ericksen said.

The next section of Ala. 181 tobe widened will stretch from justsouth of Baldwin County 64 to justsouth of Ala. 104 and is in the five-year plan, Ericksen said.

The remaining two stretches arein the right-of-way negotiationprocess, though with fundingissues, Ericksen said it is hard totimeline when the whole thing willbe completed.

(This story also can be foundon Construction EquipmentGuide’s Web site at www.con-structionequipmentguide.com.)CEG

ALDOT from page 1

John G. Walton putting its John Deere 700 J dozer to good use.

Two-lane Baldwin County 181 was a pastoral shortcut for localresidents who wanted to avoid the more heavily traveled U.S. 98and Ala. 59, but now work is underway to widen the road torelieve congestion.

Construction Equipment Guide • Alabama State Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • October 21, 2009 • Page 7

Page 8 • October 21, 2009 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Alabama State Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide

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