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Home » Asphalt Contractor » March 2008

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Floridas largest road project underway

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

The project is the biggest in the Florida Department of Transportations (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 project calls for polymer-modified asphalt, which delivers better performance and longer life in hot and cold conditions than standard rubberized asphalt.

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The segments are:

Segment A - North of Golden Gate Parkway to Collier/Lee County line
Segment A-1 - Immokalee Road interchange
Segment B - Collier/Lee County line to south of Corkscrew Road
Segment C - South of Corkscrew Road to south of Daniels Parkway
Segment D - South of Daniels Parkway to north of Daniels Parkway
Segment E - North of Daniels Parkway to south of Colonial Boulevard

We do different parts at different times, says Dave Gilbert, HDR Design Project Manager. We design all the highways and bridges, roadway design, and pavement markings. The firms are starting the segments in sequential order, not beginning on the next section until the previous has been completed. This requires a great deal of teamwork and communication.

Public-private partnership

The I-75 Mega Project also is a public-private partnership (PPP). As such, because the state has limited funds to build any project, private funding is sought for infrastructure. In this instance, Reid says, the state of Florida asked the prospective design-build bidders to finance the portion of the project the state cannot currently afford.

The joint venture team of Anderson Columbia and Ajax will front the construction costs and be repaid by FDOT over the next five years, with some repayments stretching out at least two years after the three-year project is completed. The funds will come from state and federal dollars (including growth-management revenue), money from the Transportation Regional Incentive Program, and funds from Collier County.

For the I-75 Mega Project, FDOT issued a request for proposals last year from the design-build teams that outlined the project and the funding in the work program.

In the February 2007 Florida Transportation Monthly, District 1 FDOT Secretary Stan Cann said the PPP approach has allowed FDOT to advance the I-75 project and launch the entire 30 miles of construction in one contract, rather than parceling it out through routine work program schedules.