February 2011
Pontiac receives APWA PROJECT OF THE YEAR AWARD
ALLAN SHECK, CITY OF PONTIAC DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS & UTILITIES, ACCEPTS THE AWARD ALONG WITH CITY STAFF AND THE NFE PROJECT TEAM
Nowak & Fraus Engineers is pleased to announce that its client, the City of Pontiac, has won the American Public Works Association (APWA) Metro Detriot Branch Project of the Year Award for Transportation Projects Less Than $2 million category for the South Boulevard Concrete Overlay Project located between Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard and Opdyke Road in the City of Pontiac. The project was designed by City staff and Nowak & Fraus Engineers had the honor of assisting the City as their lead engineering consultant responsible for the construction engineering of this project.
South Boulevard is the main thoroughfare within the Centerpoint Business Campus located in the southeast section of the City of Pontiac. This corridor supports daily commuter and commercial traffic to the numerous businesses located within and around the campus. Since the road was last reconstructed in 1979, 30 years of deterioration has plagued the roadway with numerous joint and slab failures, resulting in the City's Department of Public Works & Utilities spending a considerable amount of its roadway maintenance budget on keeping the roadway useable for the motoring public.
CITY OF PONTIAC DPW&U CREWS PERFORMING MAINTENANCE ON SOUTH BOULEVARD PRIOR TO STARTING CONSTRUCTION IN OCTOBER 2008
Allan E. Schneck, P.E., DPW&U Director/City Engineer for the City of Pontiac, recognized that South Boulevard required unique repairs in order to withstand the high volume of industrial traffic and avoid the maintenance issues inherent with asphalt overlays.
As a result of Mr. Schneck's efforts, Federal STP and State TEDF funds were used to cover the cost of the improvements.
SIX-S, INC. CONSTRUCTS THE CONCRETE OVERLAY UNDER TRAFFIC IN SPRING 2009
The construction project was awarded to Six-S, Inc. on Oct. 28, 2008. Due to the lateness of the construction season, the Contractor had originally anticipated to start the project in April 2009.
However, in an effort to reduce City maintenance costs expected over the winter, Mr. Schneck determined that it was imperative to complete repairs to the base course and construct the asphalt separator layer prior to seasonal restrictions on paving. The work was expeditiously completed over a three week period and opened to traffic on Nov. 18, 2008. In April 2009, the Contractor remobilized on site to construct the concrete overlay. Due to the early spring construction, concerns were raised regarding the potential thermal movement in the underlying concrete base.
NEW SOUTH BOULEVARD CONCRETE OVERLAY UPON COMPLETION IN SUMMER 2009
NFE consulted with SME, MCPA and Six-S to develop a mix design that would allow the Contractor to begin their sawing operations much sooner, thus effectively preventing premature reflective cracking in the concrete overlay. The mix design was modified by reducing the GGBFS and increasing the Portland cement quantities, as well as utilizing heated sand to speed up the curing process. The project was opened to traffic on June 15, 2009 and serves as a tremendous improvement to the area. We congratulate the City on the design and administration of this award winning project.
For more information concerning this project please contact Justin Wellman at jwellman@nowakfraus.com.