By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
A 13-mile stretch of freeway in Juab County. From
Sevier River Northward, will be reconstructed this year.
The project has been tagged at $22 million which
comes, mostly, from Federal Highway dollars.
Two officials from the Utah Department of
Transportation met with the Nephi City Council to inform
council members of the re-surfacing and re-compacting of
Interstate-15 near Yuba Dam.
Brent Schvaneveldt, project manager, and Geoff Dupaix,
public involvement coordinator, representing UDOT, said the
project would begin this Spring. Work is tentatively
scheduled to begin in April and end in October.
"UDOT originally completed constructing I-15 south of
Nephi in 1984," said Dupaix. "The pavement worked well for
many years, but recently, the concrete pavement began to
sink in various locations along the freeway."
The highway work became essential because of the
concrete pavement settling deeper than was anticipated.
Construction crews will "rubbelize" the existing concrete
surface.
"This means the concrete will be broken up into small
pieces and used for road base," said Dupaix. "Additional
roadbase material will be added, then paved over with
asphalt."
The addition of the roadbase should help even out the
ride, he said.
"One mile of the road is built over collapsible soil
and another one-mile area is built in a place where the soil
expands," said Schvaneveldt. "Because we will see some
movement in the future, concrete will not provide the answer
we need. Asphalt will be easier to maintain ."
"Asphalt is more flexible," he said.
Water drainage will also be addressed as the road is
reconstructed.
Trucking companies which use the road quite heavily
should be notified in advance of the summer work and the
slower traffic which will result. UDOT officials will
appreciate the assistance of city and county officials in
identifying those companies so they can be notified in
advance.
The rough ride, he said, makes the road dangerous and
unsafe for travelers and the repair is needed to increase
public safety.
Motorists and truck drivers using the freeway between
Nephi and the Juab/Millard County line notice a rough and
bouncy ride along sections of the freeway. The rough ride is
caused, he said, by the sinking sections of concrete.
"We also plan to create more height clearance under
the bridge at the turn-off to Yuba Lake," said Dupaix. It is
a tight fit for semi-trucks as it is presently
constructed.
He said the bridge would not be raised, rather the
road going under it would be excavated. After it is made
deeper, it should create the needed clearance for
tractor-trailer unites to better utilize the underpass.
The freeway will be begin near milepost 199 near Yuba
Lake junction, and will extend northward ending at milepost
212.
"Sections of the road will be closed during
construction," said Dupaix. "Traffic will be detoured across
the median, restricting motorists to one lane in each
direction."
Schvaneveldt said a slurry mix was not the answer to
stabilizing the roadbase. It is good to use around utilities
but is too expensive for roadbase.
"There will still be concrete roads," said Dupaix. "It
is good for areas like Salt Lake City and provides a
long-term surface with less maintenance."
However, where the soil is unstable, as it is south
of Nephi, asphalt is a better solution because sections of
it can be resurfaced. Concrete slabs just sink and make the
ride uneven.
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