Alan Hayes of Hawkins Construction made a presentation to Lincoln South Rotary Club on March 12, 2021. His topic - the Lincoln South Beltway.
Alan indicated that the official information about the Lincoln South Beltway is maintained on the Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) website – click here to access the page: https://dot.nebraska.gov/lincoln-south-beltway/
We also learned that you can sign up for status updates, including road closures, on this page – scroll to the bottom and sign up!
The purpose of the Lincoln South Beltway is to connect Highway 77 to Highway 2 which will take traffic around Lincoln rather than through it. This will keep trucks out of the city and travelers can avoid the numerous intersections with stop lights.
The initial concept arose in the 1960s. But due to inadequate funding was not active until early in 2020.
From the NDOT website, we learned that the project was selected in a competitive grant process to receive federal funds which helped significantly reduce the construction schedule for the project.
Alan explained that preparing for this project – even to prepare to bid – took a great deal of time for their company. Alan previously had been out in the field on jobs, with the size and scope of this project, the company brought him and others into the office.
They had to review the project thoroughly and determine how they would handle it. Where would the superintendents come from? Could they get the laborers they needed?
They also spent a lot of time with the potential subcontractors. Hawkins would present how they wanted the project done and they would hear what the subcontractors recommended. They conducted an environmental review to ensure that they would not be affecting any significant waterways.
When they decided to bid, they had to provide very detailed submittals – specific materials to be used to meet the standards. Every item from the steel used for bridge supports to the type of rebar was detailed.
This is the largest job in Nebraska DOT History
- $350 million
- Over 5 million cubic yards of earthwork
- 800,000 square yards of new concrete pavement
- 21 bridges
- 41 box culverts
- 11 roundabouts
- 14 subcontractors, 9 of which have contacts with Hawkins of over $2 million
There were multiple design engineers involved including NDOT’s internal team, and engineers from Benesch and Schemmer firms. Alan indicated that it gets interesting when you hear from these various firms – they bring a different way to view the project from an outside perspective.
The project is done in phases – different parts of the project will be completed before others. The earthwork may just be starting on one section while bridges are already being built on another section.
One focus of the construction team is to reduce the inconvenience to the traveling public – keep road closures to a minimum. Keeping the construction on track can help ensure that there aren’t too many closures at any one time. They will not close a road unless there are sufficient alternate routes.
The west area of the project is very busy with travelers. There are also railroad and environmental issues to keep in mind. According to Alan, the biggest worry in the west area is getting the earthwork and paving done so that the traveling public is no longer affected.
The east end is not as intense – most of the work is offline and will not affect large amounts of current traffic. There hasn’t been much done there yet.
The planned work on 68th St, and required closures, caused the most concerns from citizens. The construction team is working diligently to reduce the inconvenience. Alan stated that this is one of the most important parts of the project that needs to get done within the next few months to allow this to open before they close other streets for construction.
- The project is a little ahead of schedule at this point
- 38% of the contract value has been paid by NDOT
- 20% of the contract days have been used
- 3.3 million cubic yards of earthwork has been removed (62% of total job)
- 30 Box culverts complete – really important for drainage as they work on the project
- 14 bridges have been started
- 36,000 square yards of pavement installed with 300,00 square yards expected to be done by end of 2021 (waiting for dirt work contractor to get further along)
BIO
Alan Hayes, Estimator
Alan Hayes is an Estimator at Hawkins Construction Company and has been helping with all facets of the Lincoln South Beltway project. While completing a B.S. in Construction Engineering at Iowa State University, Alan interned every summer with Hawkins before starting full time in the summer of 2017. He has worked on a wide variety of projects throughout his time with Hawkins Construction, but the Lincoln South Beltway has been the largest.