Fresh from finishing ahead of schedule on two other giant bridge and viaduct jobs, George Harms Construction Co. Inc., Howell, NJ, has been moving ahead full-steam on another “need-it-done-yesterday” project — a $53-million rehabilitation and construction of a new interchange of Routes 1, 130 and 171 (Georges Road) in North Brunswick, NJ, for the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT). The job includes 1 mi. (1.6 km) of Route 1, .25 mi. (0.4 km) on Route 171 and 1.3 mi. (2 km) of the four-lane Route 130. It calls for full-grade separation of Routes 1 (northbound and southbound), 130 (southbound) and 171 (northbound) by removing the current traffic circle and the existing traffic signals on Routes 1 and 130 and replacing them with flyovers — four bridges. These will directly connect Route 1 southbound to Route 130 southbound and Route 130 Northbound to Route 1 northbound. From the air the completed interchange will look look like a modified three-quarter cloverleaf. The project also includes widening of and improvements on all three highways, particularly Route 130 south where several median crossovers will be closed or upgraded. The intersection of Routes 1, 130 and 171 was originally a full-traffic circle that was modified to a jug handle several times but still proved inadequate, especially for traffic going south on 130; in fact, it became an area to avoid during heavy-traffic periods. According to NJDOT, the heavily-traveled regional routes are used by more than 130,000 motorists each day. Because the current interchange is so overloaded, NJDOT stated, “All efforts will be made to curtail the length of this contract and alleviate construction impacts on motorists, local residents and local businesses.” Let late in 2001, the project is pegged for completion by mid-2003, with incentives for meeting early completion dates. By comparison, two comparable highway projects with roughly the same scope and contract value had schedules of approximately three years; a third full interchange reconstruction project has more than twice the dollar amount but still a schedule of a little more than three years. That’s why, said Ed Nyland, president of Harms Construction, his company is going “quick-time” on the job; currently projected to be open for traffic by the beginning of June 2003, a little ahead of schedule. “Some unforeseen delays in the utilities relocation work that was done before we got on the job resulted in us getting a little later start.” Harms is no stranger to fast-track NJDOT highway work — eight years ago the firm did the Route 1 bridge over Amtrak just a couple of miles south of the present job. More recently, Harms completed, both ahead of schedule, the key bridgework on the replacement of the Route 21 viaduct in Newark and the Route 9 Edison bridge over the Raritan River between Woodbridge and Sayreville. According to Nyland, fast-tracking this project is just good hard work —there’s no bag of magic tricks involved. “It’s a case of total cooperation among us, NJDOT and North Brunswick Township; a good team, and working our tails off.” Nyland noted that Tony Bene is the resident engineer for the NJDOT and “we have worked with him before on fast-track jobs.” “The township of North Brunswick has been very cooperative — they want to make sure the job gets done. The businesses in the construction zone have been very understanding, as well. North Brunswick Township has gone out of their way to accommodate the people in the township, especially those along the route, to make sure they are comfortable with the project.” As far as scheduling, Harms works six days a week, 8 to 10 hours a day or night, but with few if any scheduled double shifts or Sundays. (Night work is often necessary to minimize traffic disruptions, such as when Harms builds bypass lanes in order to work in the center of Route 1, or erects steel over active roadways.) “Right now it just isn’t practical to work double shifts, due to traffic and work force considerations. I’d rather put in one long day and work Saturdays. “After that, it’s just a matter of keeping track of all the areas of the project so you know where you are all the time. We have to manage our efforts, to pace ourselves, so we don’t fall behind or then go the opposite direction — too fast. “Material supply is a constant challenge — it seems as if we need everything yesterday.” Quantities on the job include 143,000-cu.-yd. (110,000 cu m) general excavation and 97,500 cu. yd. (75,000 cu m) of fill and 67,200 tons (60,500 t) of the new Superpave asphalt hot mix paving. The bridge decks will be concrete-poured into stay-in-place steel forms. Harms’ work also included water main and drainage pipe relocation, and the contractor is installing fiberoptic cable for new signals. Harms has a full complement of road and bridge building equipment, including Caterpillar D4H LGP, D5H and D6H LGP and John Deere 700H LGP crawler dozers; Caterpillar 245D, 315L, 330 and 350L and Komatsu PC228USLC2 hydraulic excavators; Cat 950F, 950G and 966G wheel loaders; Manitowoc 555 and 777 and Link-Belt LS218H lattice-boom cranes; Cat CS-573D and CP-563 rollers, and one or more (each): Bauer BG18 drill, Cat D400D articulated dump truck, Wirtgen 2100DC milling machine, Genie S-125 four-wheel drive lifts and a Blaw-Knox PF-5510 asphalt paver. For the bridge supports, Harms is using H-piles, some driven by vibratory units but the rest cemented-in holes, drilled by the Bauer auger. For the ramps, there will be only two poured-in-place concrete retaining walls; the rest will be mechanically stabilized earth walls —compacted layers of earth, separated by mesh sheets and faced with interlocking precast concrete panels that have architectural facings. The highlight of the project came later in 2002 when Harms erected the steel for the bridges, according to Nyland. The largest steel beams — the plate girders for the flyovers — were 104 and 134 ft. (31.7 and 40.8 m) long and weighed more than 150,000 lb. (68,039 kg). They required all the crane power Harms could muster. All steel girders came from High Steel Structures, Lancaster, PA, who has supplied other NJDOT jobs with standard and custom beams. Most bridges will have concrete pier supports. However, where the bridges span active traffic lanes, four steel box beams, anchored at each end, will provide a clear-span support for the plate girders. This story also appears on Construction Equipment Guide.
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