Inhospitable terrain

Four-laned US 167 slices through hills, swamp & city

By Sam Barnes

There were a few residents along U. S. Highway 167 south of Ruston decidedly not pleased with the progress of the state's Transportation Infrastructure Model for Economic Development.

They were the nine beavers that made their home along the swampy southernmost edge of the jobsite.

"It was real boggy, so we had to hire a trapper to remove the beavers. We then destroyed the beaver dams," said project engineer Eric Lafitte with James Construction Group's Ruston office.

Once the dams were gone, the area drained quickly and enabled construction equipment to haul new fill into the area to create the road embankment.

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The latest $13.6 million stretch of U. S. 167 is the furthest along of several projects under construction along the north-central Louisiana highway and has perhaps the most diverse terrain of any TIMED project.

While the site's southern section cuts through a Jackson Parish swamp, the center section consists of clay hills and the northern section enters urban Ruston.

This has led to a jobsite that is anything but "cut and dry," said project manager Charles Poole.

"The southernmost section (about half a mile) is being realigned, so we're able to work on the new north and south lanes while traffic uses the existing road," Poole added. The existing road will later be removed.

The center section of the jobsite will use the same path as the existing highway, so crews are building the new southbound lanes first before switching traffic to begin reconstruction of the northbound lanes this summer.

The northernmost urban section required yet another approach.

"It consists of four lanes and a turning lane, so we built the new outside lanes first, then moved traffic to the outside and began building the new inside lanes," said Lafitte. "It was a pretty typical approach to urban construction." The urban sections are lined with curbs, gutters and subsurface drainage.

Construction of the road embankment is the most formidable task for all three sections of the job.

"We've moved about 535,000 cu. yds. of material for the new embankment and excavated about 264,000 yds. of material," Lafitte said. "About 66,500 cu. yds. of muck excavation was necessary through the swamp areas."

A fleet of articulated trucks and excavators were operated during the cut, fill and mucking operations.

"The southern section required the bulk of the new fill, but the area north of the Lincoln Parish line had some good soil so it was cut and filled to level out the hills. We essentially re-used what we excavated to level the site," Poole said.

Once the embankment is in place, crews begin building the highway.

"The new road consists of 134,600 sq. yds. of cement-treated subgrade with a limestone base and asphalt driving surface," Poole said. D&J Construction of West Monroe is performing the asphalt laydown at the site.

Once traffic is switched to the new lanes, a crew with Midwest Asphalt Corp. of Gainesville, Texas, will mill about 6 to 8 in. of asphalt.

"We'll then break up the concrete base with a guillotine hammer and haul it to another TIMED project on US 167 in Dubach," he added. A 4,500 section of concrete will not be removed "because it is in good condition."

Crews will then cut and fill the embankment to bring it to grade and construct a cement-treated subgrade, a stone base and asphalt binder course.

New 8-ft. and 4-ft. shoulders will be made of a stone subgrade and 2 in. of asphalt.

"The stone will allow moisture under the roadway to migrate out beneath the shoulders," Lafitte said.

Once the new road is completed next summer, about 38,630 tons of asphalt, more than 100,000 tons of limestone and more than 11,800 ft. of pipe will have been placed.

Other work requires the installation of cross drain pipe and catch basins for road drainage by PAC Unlimited Inc. of Calhoun and the construction of a 200-ft.-long bridge.

"The bridge is supported by precast piles and cast-in-place caps and decks," Lafitte said. F. S. Prestress LLC of Princeton supplied the piles and Century Ready Mix of Monroe supplied the concrete.

The TIMED progress on US 167 should pick up momentum during the next couple of years. Three other projects have been awarded in recent months:

• The $14.7 million four-laning of U.S. 167 in Bernice by Highway Specialists Inc. of West Monroe
  
  
• The $12.6 million four-laning of US 167 project in Dubach by James Construction Group
  
  
• A $6.28 million embankment project between North Hodge and Quitman on U.S. 167 by James Construction Group
  

The U. S. 167 corridor is divided into 22 segments that will be widened to four lanes. Each segment involves several phases, including strategic planning and design, right-of-way acquisition, utility relocation, environmental impact studies and ultimately construction.

Four-laning the corridor will eventually cost an estimated $560 million.

Useful resources:

For more information about future projects along the U. S. 167 corridor, go to: http://www.timedla.com/improvement/pdf/us167/schedule_us167.pdf