This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
This Website Uses Cookies
By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Learn More
This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
  • News
    • Newswire
  • Southeast
  • Features
    • Projects
    • Companies
  • Top Lists
  • Current Issue
  • Blogs
  • Submit Your Photos
    • People
    • Events
    • Projects
  • ENR Home
  • Resources
    • Proposals & bids
    • Industry Jobs
    • Subscribe
    • eNewsletter
    • Events
    • Advertise
    • Reprints and Plaques
    • Staff Directory
    • Construction Cities
  • Other Regions
    • ENR Home
    • California
    • MidAtlantic
    • Midwest
    • Mountain States
    • New York
    • New England
    • Northwest
    • Southwest
    • Texas & Louisiana
Home » Tampa's Elevated Connector Tests the Team
Southeast Construction ProjectsSoutheast

Tampa's Elevated Connector Tests the Team

Southeast Contractors Finally See Revenue Increases
Because sensors would be thrown off by metal in the pavement, a mechanically stabilized-earth wall structure�which will be topped with fiber-reinforced concrete pavement�surrounds the tolling gantry.

Photo by Scott Judy
Southeast Contractors Finally See Revenue Increases
The highway linking Interstate 4 (background) and the Selmon Expressway (foreground) is just 1.1 mile long, but the overall project is full of hurdles.

Image courtesy of Florida Dept. of Transportation
Southeast Contractors Finally See Revenue Increases
The project includes 23 bridge structures, including 12 precast segmental structures�and more than 2,700 precast segments.

Photo by Scott Judy
Southeast Contractors Finally See Revenue Increases
For some short spans, PCLAW uses an overhead launching truss system to form a complete section and then lower it onto the piers.

Photo courtesy of PCLAW Joint Venture
Southeast Contractors Finally See Revenue Increases
The joint venture of PCL Civil Constructors and Archer Western Contractors is using a variety of erection methods, include segment lifters for top-down placement on some of the project's balanced-cantilever sections.

Photo courtesy PCLAW Joint Venture
Southeast Contractors Finally See Revenue Increases
The Connector project requires building numerous bridges over both Interstate 4 and the Selmon Crosstown Expressway.

Photo courtesy PCLAW Joint Venture
Southeast Contractors Finally See Revenue Increases
The project will link the Hillsborough County Expressway Authority's Selmon Expressway with Interstate 4 to expedite traffic related to the Port of Tampa

Image courtesy Florida Dept. of Transportation
Southeast Contractors Finally See Revenue Increases
Southeast Contractors Finally See Revenue Increases
Southeast Contractors Finally See Revenue Increases
Southeast Contractors Finally See Revenue Increases
Southeast Contractors Finally See Revenue Increases
Southeast Contractors Finally See Revenue Increases
Southeast Contractors Finally See Revenue Increases
July 2, 2012
Scott Judy
Reprints
No Comments

An elevated Tampa toll road with 23 spans, a tangle of flyovers and unexpected foundation issues is challenging the project team, while it is also revealing the limitations of contractor-obtained financing. The 65%-complete job, currently estimated at $412 million, instead of the original $389 million, is now expected to finish up next fall, or about six months later than originally planned.

Designed to boost the Port of Tampa, the 12-lane Tampa Interstate 4/Selmon Expressway Connector involves constructing a 1.1-mile north-south toll road to link the east-west I-4 and the expressway. The project is in part a response to the expansion of the Panama Canal, which port officials say will deliver "significant new trade opportunities" to Tampa.

"The I-4/Selmon Expressway Connector will provide a vital connection between two of the most important surface transportation facilities in the region," says Richard Frank, construction project manager with the Florida Dept. of Transportation (FDOT).

Getting Started

Despite its perceived economic importance, the connector remained just an idea until the economic downturn. But thanks to the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Tampa-area transportation officials pushed the languishing plan to the top of their stimulus-package wish list. By the time an industry forum was held in May 2009, the project-owner partnership, which includes FDOT, Florida's Turnpike Enterprise and the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority, had dusted off plans and announced that more than $105 million in stimulus money, coupled with $298 million in contractor-obtained financing, would largely fund the design-bid-build-finance project.

Going in, the main challenge appeared to be the project's tangle of flyovers at each end. FDOT offered bidders four designs to consider. Working with the engineers, the winning joint venture of PCL Civil Constructors and Archer Western Contractors (PCLAW) decided the most cost-effective option was the mix of 12 precast bridges and 11 bulb-tee girder structures.

The first problem surfaced soon after work began in March 2010. Initial pilot borings for some of the more than 1,100 drilled-shaft foundations revealed inconsistent subsurface bearing conditions, thanks to pinnacle limestone formations.

The conditions affected some of the 36- to 90-in.-dia foundations, designed with typical depths of 65 to 70 ft. The south end of the connector project, near the Selmon Expressway, was the most troublesome.

"There are a lot of unforeseen conditions," says Greg Fullington, PCLAW's lead project manager. "In the same footing, we'd have a shaft that went down 50 ft and 4 feet away the depth would be 120 ft," he says.

Crews cast the concrete shafts using temporary casings. Still, there was difficulty thanks to the subgrade's high porosity. In some instances, once the casings were removed, the concrete filled the voids, resulting in significant head loss in the shaft. After a few of these instances, PCLAW crews stood ready to recharge shafts with extra concrete, if needed.

A.H. Beck Foundation Co., San Antonio, had expected to complete two drilled shafts per day. The pace was often half that, says Fullington.

Extra Cost

The extra time and labor required for the shafts has added about $5.8 million to the project's cost. PCLAW says it will seek reimbursement from FDOT under a supplemental agreement.

Previous 1 2 3 Next

ENR Subscribe

Recent Articles by Scott Judy

Final Collapse Report Details Miami Bridge Team's Failures

FIGG's Theory of Collapse Failed to Sway NTSB Team

ENR Southeast's 2020 Class of Top Young Professionals Announced

Scoot-judy

Scott Judy is Deputy Editor for Regions, and editor of ENR Southeast, one of Engineering News-Record's 10 Regional publications. His roughly 27 years as a construction journalist began with an 11-year stint covering Midwest construction projects. In 2000, Judy helped launch the publication now known as ENR Southeast. He often delves into controversial aspects of the construction industry such as bankruptcies and fatal accidents, and wishes he would never have to cover another accident but suspects that he might.

Related Articles

Buried Bridges Elevate Fort Lauderdale Runway

Complex SunRail Project Tests Design-Build Delivery

Related Products

The Integrative Design Guide to Green Building: Redefining the Practice of Sustainability

Post a comment to this article

Report Abusive Comment


Top Lists

Top Design FirmsTop Design Firms
Southeast Design Firms Saw More Momentum in 2018



Top ContractorsTop Contractors
Contractors Keep Active as Southeast Region Stays Hot



Top Specialty ContractorsTop Specialty Contractors
Southeast Specialty Firms See Slight Slowdown Ahead




Industry Jobs

Videos

ENR Proposals and Bids


ENR Twitter
Tweets by @ENR_SE

ENR

ENR December 16, 2019 cover

Dec 16, 2019

To attract a broader and more diverse workforce, companies and unions are courting the LGBTQ+ community and strengthening recruiting and retention efforts.

View More Create Account
  • Resources
    • advertise
    • contact us
    • about us
    • photo submissions
    • customer service
    • digital edition
    • Survey And Sample
  • Subscription Center
    • Subscribe
    • Website Registration
    • Privacy Policy
    • eNewsletters
    • FAQ
  • Multimedia
    • Videos
    • Slideshows
    • Photo Contest

Copyright ©2019. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing