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In an effort to minimize the disruption caused by construction, and more importantly as a courtesy to its paying customers, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission added a $10 million incentive for early completion of the Donegal project located just east of Pittsburgh from milepost 85 to milepost 94. The reconstruction was the first time the toll road has been replaced from the ground up since it opened in October 1940. Dick Corporation, a construction management company, and New Enterprise Stone and Lime Co., the general contractor who produced and placed 590,000 tons of new hot mix asphalt, proved to be up to the challenge and finished the nine-mile project a full year earlier than the original November 2005 completion date.

The $81-million project called for complete reconstruction of the roadway and bridges, which involved removal of the existing pavement and shoulders, replacing the Donegal interchange bridge, rehabilitation of seven other structures, and construction of 13 retaining walls. The entire roadway was relocated east of the Donegal interchange to improve safety by eliminating an “S” curve. A third travel lane was also added eastbound from MP 88 to MP 94, as well as a third westbound lane from MP 93.1 to MP 92.2

Some of the challenges posed by the project included maintaining drainage during the staged construction, relocating the road east of Donegal, maintaining quality and safety during the acceleration of the project, and minimizing the impact to daily commuter traffic during construction.

Soil stabilization problems required additional engineering changes and added drainage, which added costs to the original $67-million project, but the contractor’s crews methodically addressed each challenge and kept moving forward with early completion in mind.

Of interest, paving crews achieved density specifications with only static mode compaction. New Enterprise employed a Blaw-Know PF3200 paver equipped with an Omni 3 10-foot extendable screed, a Caterpillar CB 614 breakdown roller, a Hyster pneumatic roller and a Caterpillar CB 534C finish roller in placing the new road surface.