State Roads—Gold

Project:                       61-59 K-8253-01 & 61-59 K-8253-02, McPherson County, Kansas

Contractor:            Koss Construction Co.

Owner/Engineer:      Kansas Department of Transportation

Completed in November of 2011, these two projects span approximately 14.5 miles from the Reno/McPherson County line to just north of Kansas highway K-153.

This reconstruction/realignment project consisted of more than 732,000 SY of pavement. The roadway consisted of two 12 ft driving lanes, along with 6 ft and 10 ft shoulders. The driving lanes were constructed of 8.5 in. non-reinforced dowel jointed pavement, while the shoulders were constructed of 6 in. of concrete. The driving lanes were placed on 4 in. of granular base, and 6 in. of lime stabilized sub-grade.

Koss began paving operations in August of 2010. The entire 732,000-plus SY of pavement were completed by mid-October of 2011. Completing this large project in such a short time required considerable thought and attention to every detail for the five at-grade intersections; two interchanges; and eight mainline bridges.

The mainline pavement was placed 24 feet wide with excellent ride results. A separate paving train was mobilized to complete the ramp paving, also with superb ride results. A third paving train was mobilized to complete the shoulder paving.

Two 12yd Rexcon Model S central mix batch plant were set up and material deliveries organized to provide continuous concrete production at a high rate. Three dual lane auto grades, two base laydown machines, and numerous single lane auto grades were employed as needed in the granular base construction. An Astec screener was also secured to screen and process the binder for the granular base. At all times throughout the project, sufficient high quality subbase, base, paving and batching equipment was used to ensure timely completion.

Prior to the new construction, this stretch of highway was a heavily traveled and dangerous two-lane roadway. Existing at-grade intersections were difficult to navigate because of sharp approach angles. The new at-grade intersections were reconfigured to allow for a near perpendicular approach to K-61.