Best Projects
Best Highway/Bridge: Hemphill-Lamar Connector
Photo courtesy of TranSystems
Hemphill-Lamar Connector
Fort Worth
BEST PROJECT
OWNER: City of Fort Worth
LEAD DESIGN FIRM: TranSystems
GENERAL CONTRACTOR: McCarthy Building Cos.
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: Aguirre & Fields
SURVEYING: A.N.A. Consultants LLC
GEOTECHNICAL: CMJ Engineering Inc.
ADA COMPLIANCE: K Plus K Associates LLP
SUBSURFACE UTILITY ENGINEERING: Surveying and Mapping Inc.
LANDSCAPING/IRRIGATION: Thompson Landscape Architects Inc. name
Related link: ENR Texas/Louisiana Best Projects 2021
The $31-million Hemphill-Lamar Connector in Fort Worth involved building a four-lane, 400-ft-long tunnel under the city’s primary east-west freeway and relocating four active rail lines near one of the country’s busiest rail intersections.
Photo courtesy of TranSystems
Through staged construction, detailed scheduling and coordination with 11 key stakeholders, the project team completed the connector five months ahead of schedule and nearly $4 million under budget.
Photo courtesy of TranSystems
Building the bridge for the new rail lines took place in four phases—two adjacent to live rail traffic and two in the middle of active tracks.
Photo courtesy of TranSystems
In excavating the area under Interstate 30 and the rail tracks, the team encountered extremely hard limestone approximately 7 ft below grade and faced the challenge of having to mine solid rock while working with low overhead clearance.
Photo courtesy of TranSystems
Underpass construction beneath active auto and train bridges required significant shoring, including rock anchors and sprayed concrete to prevent cave-ins. The horizontal and vertical curvature of the roadway under the bridges and between the two intersections complicated building the retaining walls and roadway alignment, so a full-time survey crew checked each wall segment to ensure accuracy.
-04_ENRready.webp?height=200&t=1668199635&width=200 "RFK Bridge Connector Ramp K to Northbound Harlem River Drive (RK-23C)")
