Contractor Nabs $11.4 Million For Houston Fast-tracking
The completion of a major interchange in Houston this month gives Texas Dept. of Transportation officials new confidence in techniques for building what will be one of North America's widest highways ever. A hefty incentive program plus a rare lane rental method spurred Williams Brothers Construction Co., Houston, to complete the Interstate 10/610 interchange in less than four years and win an $11.4-million bonus.
The $263-million interchange is the largest of ten sections along the $2.7-billion I-10 Katy Freeway corridor, currently under reconstruction and expansion to as many as 18 through lanes plus as six auxiliary lanes. Its completion gives Texas Dept. of Transportation officials confidence that the incentives and corridor-wide project management method is working. "It's not the first time we've had high incentives," says Clifford Halvorsen, TxDOT area engineer. But it is the first time incentives have been paid for various project milestones in such great numbers, he adds.