Project Scope

Barriere Construction was awarded a public LDOTD contract to pave 4.45 miles of Interstate 10 in New Orleans East, between Paris Road and CSLM 21.24. This heavy construction, infrastructure project was scoped to pave three interstate highway lanes and their corresponding shoulders in both directions, and raise the road elevation 6”-9”, to prevent future flooding on this vital evacuation route, at a cost of $17.4 million over 330 working days. Barriere completed the project in 155 working days, with 0 recordable accidents or traffic accidents caused by the construction,
and performed 85% of the total work as the general contractor.

The project encompassed milling and paving the asphalt, laying binder and wearing courses, asphalt mixing and testing, project management, and safety coordination. Barriere utilized subcontractors to perform tasks outside the company’s core competencies, to create a safer work environment and to maximize quality. Subcontracted tasks included installing guardrails, replacing concrete panels, sawing joints in the asphalt lifts, pavement marking, grass seeding and fertilizing, and hauling materials.

Project Narrative

Process - To create project benchmarks and to minimize joints in the pavement, the management team used flat bridges as the stopping point for each phase and each night’s work. This provided drivers a smoother road and made transitions easier between each night’s work. Although this plan to stop at the bridges provided a better roadway for the public, the plan reduced work crew efficiency on some nights, and on other nights, crews worked longer hours, due to varying paving lengths. By following this paving plan, no paver-created joint is in the wearing course of any travel lane, which allows for a much smoother roadway.

Phase 1 included 1.4 miles of roadway, from Paris Road to a flat bridge used as a stopping point. Barriere milled the old asphalt and paved a new layer of asphalt, raising the elevation 6” near the outside shoulder and 9” near the inside lanes, to prevent future flooding. The second and third phases consisted of replacing bad concrete sections, as well as cleaning and sealing joints. Barriere then overlaid three binder courses and one wearing course of asphalt. Each lift of asphalt received a sawcut over the existing concrete joints, to minimize future reflective cracking. Additionally, the final wearing had the sawcut joints sealed, to prevent water intrusion.

Overall, Barriere laid 130,000 tons of asphalt that was mixed and tested at the company’s asphalt plant in Boutte, Louisiana.

Project Management & Scheduling – From the start, Barriere set out to accomplish three objectives: 0 Loss Time Accidents, 0 Auto Accidents, and Standard-Exceeding Construction. As always, Barriere planned to perform the project on time and on budget.

The project safety coordinator learned of a large bike rally in New Orleans in April of 2009, which would be taking place during the work schedule. Team members proactively contacted the promoters of this event, to inform them about construction and provided alternate routes. Barriere worked to complete a phase of the project to reduce gaps in the roadway; however, work on the project was stopped during the entire Bike Week, to provide the safest conditions for the bikers. Bike Week now has a “Road Construction” section on the event’s website.

Prior to Barriere’s completion, this roadway’s surface was damaged so thoroughly that it had become hazardous to navigate at standard interstate speeds. Barriere’s team overcame numerous challenges and project design issues to complete the job in almost 6 months less time than the scope allowed.

The project area was in an unpopulated portion of New Orleans East, between Paris Road to Lake Pontchartrain, running through the Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Preserve. Work crews had to deal with a variety of wildlife refuge issues, as well as increased risk to their personal safety. Alligators and wild hogs were often seen crossing the roadway. To protect against snakebites, shin guards were provided to team members walking through grass, and handheld flashlights were available, in addition to hardhat lamps. Work crews learned about smaller dangers, such as spiders in portable restrooms. Machine operators were provided mosquito netting and special gloves to protect them from bugs that were attracted to their lights. These wildlife and safety concerns were reviewed during safety meetings and during “Toolbox Talks”.

Safety

Although project time requirements spanned two hurricane seasons, Barriere completed the project before the peak of the first hurricane season. Crews worked Sunday through Thursday nights, to lower the chance of exposure to intoxicated drivers on Fridays and Saturdays.

Each night of a lane closure, Barriere had two police officers on hand to merge traffic and protect the work crews. In addition to police officers, a MAP (Motorist Assistance Program) unit was on hand to assist or move stalled vehicles, as well as a full-time safety coordinator throughout the project, to ensure the work was performed as safely as possible. Barriere videoed crews three times a night to review safety precautions and to ensure that traffic control standards were met. Besides the regular “Toolbox Talks”, management teams held safety meetings with all workers and sub-contractors to review safety concerns and precautions after work stoppages from holidays or bad weather.

Quality

Exceeding quality standards is a primary objective for Barriere, and this project met and exceeded all standards for asphalt mix and paving, according to the LDOTD 2006 Standard Specifications. Asphalt at the plant is graded by multiple factors, and this criteria is used because it lengthens the lifespan of the road, saving the client money in the long term. On the jobsite, the team had to meet a minimum of 92% roadway density and average a low IRI (International Roughness Index) of less than 55. The IRI measures road smoothness, and Barriere averaged a 32 IRI rating. Barriere received 100% of the available quality incentive bonus.

This paving project used 15-30% of recycled asphalt, and all removed asphalt and concrete will be used in future projects. Barriere utilized solar-powered barricade lights to create a safer environment and to reduce battery replacements.