The Tennessee Dept. of Transportation (TDOT) awarded Kiewit Infrastructure South a $62-million contract for accelerated bridge construction, or ABC, involving the demolition and reconstruction of eight bridges along Interstate 40 in Nashville. Using ABC concepts to reduce the length of construction and minimize traffic impacts, the contractor was able to demolish and reconstruct each of the eight structures within separate 58-hour weekends.

The project team set the weekend dates for installing the bridges based on crane availability and had no room for adjustments. For each weekend closure, contractors developed a detailed hourly schedule that was accompanied by a play-by-play flip chart illustrating the construction plan. Kiewit also developed contingency plans for possible issues that could arise and ensured that contractor crews successfully delivered the planned work for each of the weekend closures safely and without any delayed openings. Preweekend preparation work included site access preparation, over-excavation and backfill, the installation of soil-nail retaining walls and mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) retaining walls and bearing seat preparation.

TDOT had some initial resistance to partnering, but Kiewit won over the agency with sessions that were kept informal and allowed all team members to openly communicate concerns. Described as “extreme partnering” by the project team, Kiewit’s Best Project nomination states that the Fast Fix 8 contract featured “some of the best partnering sessions [the firm] has ever had with a client.” The approach proved critical to project success. Though the project originally was bid with a 14-month construction schedule, the Kiewit-led team did even better, completing the project by Thanksgiving Day, 2015—seven months ahead of the contractual completion deadline.