Workers pour and smooth a treated asphalt paving mixture on this curving section of I-99.

Section AO2 of the Route 26/I-99 project is a 1.5-mile portion of highway in Benner and College townships between Big Hollow and Rock roads.  It was built by contractor New Enterprise Stone & Lime Company, Inc. of Bedford County, Pa.

This, the fourth and final construction section for the I-99/Route 26 relocation project, was awarded in April 2000 at a cost of $23.4 million. 

This section includes approximately 1.5 miles of new, interstate highway and 1.5 miles of ramps. It links on its southern end with the construction of an interchange at Park Avenue and at its northern end near a new interchange with Shiloh Road.

Also included in the project are a single span bridge -- a ramp over the new Innovation (formerly Research) Park access -- and four dual-span bridges -- on the highway mainline over Rock and Big Hollow roads, over new ramps and over the Innovation Park access.

Section AO2 wins PPHQ award for concrete paving operation 

In 2003, this project won the Pennsylvania Partnership for Highway Quality (PPHQ) Award.  New Enterprise Stone & Lime exceeded contract specifications for ride quality and received an incentive bonus for the concrete pavement.  On measures of ride smoothness, the section achieved an average Profile Index of 20.6 inches/mile/lot, and an average International Roughness Index (IRI) of 67.5 inches/mile/lot, less than PennDOT’s current IRI specification of less than or equal to 70 inches/mile/lot.

This ride quality is considered exceptional considering the number of transitions and separate placements that were required to pave this section.  Varied section sizes and the varied distances between bridges, which ranged from 90 to more than 2,500 feet, required a total of 41 lots of mainline paving.  

The contractor paved using a combination of hand- and slip-form placements in order to meet the deck grades of the eight bridges and the existing pavement on the adjacent projects. 

New Enterprise used a crew with more than 25 years of combined experience to produce the concrete using a batch plant located less than ½ mile from the project.  Crew members maintained constant radio contact to permit uniform delivery of concrete to the paving operation and to meet slump range and air content tolerances, which exceeded PennDOT specifications.  New Enterprise also used an enhanced bulkhead construction method to eliminate the common “bump” that often is created at the header of each day’s paving. 

SAI Consulting Engineers, Inc., Pittsburgh, acted as construction inspectors.

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