Epoxy Interest Groupxx

INDOT closed I-65 and I-70 between the north and south splits on the east side of downtown Indianapolis for approximately 60 days in fall 2013 to reconstruct and lower one-half mile of pavement beneath seven bridges. The project required increasing the bridges’ clearance to reduce the potential for collisions from unpermitted and off-route trucks with oversize and unsecure loads that had repeatedly hit the bridges. More than 400 collisions were recorded since 1999 and the frequency of vehicle bridge strikes had increased in recent years.

This project increased the vertical clearance of each bridge to at least 14’9” by reconstructing and lowering the pavement. The new pavement was constructed using 2200 tons of epoxy-coated reinforcing steel in a continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP). The project also required 19000 epoxy-coated transverse bar assemblies (TBA) to support the reinforcing steel.

Four Indiana contractors competed over construction cost and closure days using innovative INDOT bidding techniques. The innovations reduced the expected interstate closure from 90 to 59 days and construction costs to $12.4 million. Incentives and liquidated damages of $60,000 per day encouraged crews to meet or beat their closure estimate.

This pavement will withstand traffic loads and adverse environmental conditions, decrease maintenance and user delays, and remain in service well into the next generation.