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Updated: July 8th, 2008 05:26 PM EDT

Florida’s largest road project underway

Ajax Paving Industries Inc. embarks on a three-year “I-75 Mega Project,” the largest highway project in Florida’s history, and the road crews are up to the task.

The project is the biggest in the Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT) history, and is also the largest project Anderson Columbia has worked on. For more information on each segment of the project.
The project is the biggest in the Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT) history, and is also the largest project Anderson Columbia has worked on. For more information on each segment of the project.
The I-75 project has been fast-tracked, meaning the companies will have to complete in three years what was envisioned initially as an eight-year project.
The I-75 project has been fast-tracked, meaning the companies will have to complete in three years what was envisioned initially as an eight-year project.
The project calls for polymer-modified asphalt, which delivers better performance and longer life in hot and cold conditions than standard rubberized asphalt.
The project calls for polymer-modified asphalt, which delivers better performance and longer life in hot and cold conditions than standard rubberized asphalt.

Three months into a scheduled three-year project may seem a little early to gauge the progress Ajax Paving Industries Inc. of Florida is making on the I-75 project, but Vic O’Hara, Ajax Ft. Meyers’ area manager, and Mark Minich, Ajax vice president and member of the joint-venture project’s executive team, agree that the work already completed is pretty good indication that progress is definitely being made.

“The first phase of this project required us to strengthen the outside shoulder to accommodate the traffic load while we’re working on the (two existing) travel lanes,” O’Hara notes. “We removed the two-inch shoulder pavement and three inches of base below it, and then placed a full five inches of asphalt to give the structural strength needed to handle traffic for the duration of the project.

“We’ve already (mid-January) rebuilt 18 miles of shoulder and we’ve already milled and filled 18 miles of the existing travel lanes (from the south end of the project in Naples going north),” he continues. “We’re milling 2 1/4 inches off and placing an 1 1/2 inch lift of new mix on the existing travel lanes.”

Milling and paving operations are only allowed between 8 pm and 5 am, with the Ajax paving crew placing 1,800 to 2,300 tons of polymer-modified mix each night.

“Whatever we mill has to be replaced before the lane is opened up to traffic in the morning,” O’Hara notes.

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