Location: Cox Doty Drain to M-19, St. Clair County Concrete Contractor: Ajax Paving Industries Owner: MDOT Huron TSC
This stunning reconstruction of I-69 spanned just over 6.5 miles on both east- and westbound (including five ramps) from the Cox-Doty Drain easterly to M-19 in St. Clair County. Additional work included fiber relocation, new culverts, guardrails, signing, and pavement markings. Even though this was an alternate bid project, no bids were submitted from the asphalt industry for this reconstruction, giving way to this stretch of I-69 to be concrete pavement.
Initially considered to be a two-season project, Ajax (after winning the alternate bid) partnered with MDOT to reschedule the reconstruction and opening to traffic in both directions within one construction season. Traffic was maintained by closing one direction of the freeway entirely and splitting the other, with eastbound I-69 being closed first followed by westbound.
Having the full width of the roadway available during reconstruction, Ajax sequenced the paving by completing the truck lane and outside shoulder first at 22 feet wide, followed by the median lane and inside shoulder at a 17-foot width. This level of organization and management allowed Ajax to successfully complete the reconstruction of over 260,000 square yards of mainline paving and 5 ramps all within the 2021 construction season.
.png "I-69 HEADER IMAGE (1200 × 300 px)")
