Commercial growth in and around State College, PA, has brought increased traffic and accompanying safety concerns. However, help is at hand with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) I-99 corridor project, now well under way.
When completed, the Route 26 portion to the east of State College will connect the Mount Nittany Expressway (U.S. Route 322) to the Bellefonte Bypass (Route 26) and Interstate 80 at the current exit 24.
Four prime contractors are currently overseeing construction of the new four lane, 8 mi. (12.8 km), limited access highway. To be designated I-99/Route 220, it runs roughly parallel to U.S. Route 26, which will retain its current name. Interchanges will provide access to local residential and business areas at Park Avenue (for Penn State and hospital traffic), State Route l50 (Nittany Mall and commercial/industrial hub), Harrison Road (residential, commercial and educational), and State Route 26 in College, Benner and Spring townships, while the Penn State University Research Park will have its own interchange.
“This project is important as it will provide safer, four lane limited access from Penn State’s campus to I-80,” said Chuck Yorks, community relations coordinator for PennDOT’s District 2. “For too many years people coming into and leaving the university area have had to fight through congested traffic.”
This project will cost $l90 million, said Yorks, with the Park Avenue/Research Park interchange alone costing $83 million. Funding is split between 80 percent federal and 20 percent Commonwealth sources, he added.
The four prime contractors working on the project are HRI Inc. and Glenn O. Hawbaker Inc., both of State College, PA; A&L of Belle Vernon, PA; and New Enterprise Stone and Lime Company Inc. of New Enterprise, PA.
The Specs of the Job
Glenn O. Hawbaker Inc. began work in March 1999 on the $47.5-million 3.9-mi. (6.24 km) stretch of highway between Rock Road in Benner Township and Route 144 in Spring Township. The job includes construction of interchanges at Benner Pike (State Route 150) and Shiloh Road in Benner Township, as well as reconstruction of parts of both roads. A new bridge was built over the new expressway (State Route 6026) at Shiloh Road plus another 10 bridges, including several over prison roads.
This portion of the project is unique due to its location within Pennsylvania Department of Corrections property. Security provisions included temporary fencing as well as guards at designated entrance points to the job site. An excellent working relationship with Rockview State Correctional Institution personnel resulted in little interference with the daily operations of either the institution or the contractors working on the project, the company noted.
Clearing and major earthwork activities were carried out in 1999 and through the summer of 2000. More than 2.31 million cu. yds. (1.75 million cu m) of excavation were completed, with about a hundred employees on site at the height of the summer work period. During peak production a fleet of Caterpillar equipment, including four 773D trucks, four 350E trucks and four 631E scrappers worked two shifts to complete the task. Truck loading was accomplished with Caterpillar 375L and 345BL excavators. Support equipment included several other pieces of Caterpillar equipment, including D8R dozers, 16H and 14G graders, 963C track loaders, a 938G wheel loader and CS563C compactors.
The section’s 11 bridges also were completed in 1999 and 2000, with 15,000 cu. yds. (11,400 cu m) of concrete and 2.5 million lbs. (1.1 million kg) of reinforcing bars placed. Nine of these structures are concrete I-beam design, totaling more than 7,560 linear ft. (2,290 m) of beams. The remaining dual structures over State Route 150 (Benner Pike) are of steel beam construction with single spans of 250 ft. (75 m) totaling 2.3 million lbs. (1 million kg) of structural steel.
Work remaining for the 2001 season includes 233,000 sq. yds. (177,080 sq m) of concrete pavement and 43,000 tons (38,700 t) of asphalt treated base course and bituminous pavement. Guide rail, concrete barrier, lighting, sign structures and landscaping will also be carried out for this part of the project.
As the company pointed out, with any project of this magnitude, the general contractor does not perform all of the work. Subcontractors and suppliers providing major contributions when working with Glenn O. Hawbaker Inc. include 21st Century Consultants Corporation, based in Mountaintop, PA, for drilling and blasting; Allied Steel of Altoona, PA, for reinforcing bar installation; Angelo Iafrate Construction Company, headquartered in Warren, MI, for concrete paving; Bronder Technical Services, Pittsburgh, PA, for lighting; Craig Fencing of Altoona, PA, for security and right-of-way fencing; G. A. & F. C. Wagman Inc., York, PA, for piling; High Steel Structures of Lancaster, PA, for structural steel; New Enterprise Stone & Lime of New Enterprise, PA, for precast concrete beams; Total Landscaping Inc., headquartered in Honesdale, PA, for seeding and landscaping; and Centre Concrete of State College, PA, for ready-mix concrete supplier.
Glenn O. Hawbaker Inc. is a second generation family business, with the founder’s three sons currently working in it. Founded as a grading and excavating company in l952, it subsequently moved into heavy construction, opened an asphalt plant in the mid ’70s and added aggregate crushing in l983. Serving Northcentral Pennsylvania, it now has annual sales of more than $70 million, offering clients heavy construction services, equipment rentals and concrete and asphalt production as well as utilities work.
New Enterprise Stone & Lime Company Inc. (NESL) was awarded the $23.4-million contract for the final section of the Route 26 project in April 2000. The expected completion date is late 2002. New Enterprise is constructing about l.5 mi. (0.68 km) of new highway between Rock and Big Hollow roads just north of State College, PA, as well as l.5 mi. (0.68 km) of ramps and one single-span and four dual-span bridges.
NESL’s work ties into the southern portion that A&L is heading. “In fact, said Geoffrey Clarke, vice president of construction, NESL, “A&L will do a majority of the grading work on the main line and the ramps in the area of the connection between the two projects. On the northern end of the project we tie into the project being completed by Hawbaker. This connection is clearly delineated by twin, four-span structures over Spring Creek and Rock Road. NESL has the responsibility for the structures while Hawbaker will have the responsibility for the area of the far abutment approaches to the structures.”
The grading part of the project involves 400,000 cu. yds. (304,000 cu m) of earthwork, he added, as well as nine structures, miscellaneous drainage and concrete paving and various subcontractor items like signing, lighting, guide rail, etc.
The company began earthwork operations in mid-January and finished in mid-March. Structure work will resume in early spring. NESL crushed its aggregate requirements during the winter and early spring. The company plans to crush its 2A stone requirements on site,
Clarke noted, “The company may be carrying out some concrete paving work this fall but it is more likely it will be done in 2002.”
Equipment NESL is utilizing for this section includes Caterpillar 235C, 225 and 426B excavators and D-8 and D-9 dozers as well as a G-16 grader. Caterpillar 825C compactor, 637D scrapers and 988F and 966D loaders also are being used, as well as a Nordberg HP300 rotary crusher, an LT105 jaw crusher and Reich C550DII and T650D drills. Also on the job: a CMI TR500 autograde, Hitachi EX1800 excavator and a Gomaco GT6300 Commander III concrete paver, 90-ton Euclid trucks, Volvo A35C articulated trucks and 777D Caterpillar trucks, a Rexcon Model S portable concrete batch plant and miscellaneous blacktop equipment along with support equipment rounded out the lineup. When peak construction is reached in the summer of 2001 the company expects to have between 80 and 100 people working on the entire site.
Founded in l934 and now one of the largest suppliers of aggregates in the United States, NESL operates 24 quarries and several ready-mix plants, while its hot mix asphalt division also provides services to the paving industry. In its 76-year history, NESL has carried out hundreds of projects in and around central Pennsylvania.
(A&L and HRI Inc. declined to contribute to this article.)
This story also appears on Aggregate Equipment Guide.
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