TxDOT lead inspector recognized

Lloyd Mair, the lead inspector for the center segment of Wurzbach Parkway and a 28-year veteran at the Texas Department of Transportation, was recognized this week by his peers for an award given by the Association of General Contractors earlier this year.

The AGC had announced the award in October and recognized Mair at a conference in Austin. Mair wasn’t at that conference, saying his priority was concentrating on the active construction in San Antonio. TxDOT leaders with the Bexar Metro Area office and the district construction office plotted the recognition, knowing Mair wouldn’t go out of his way for accolades.

"This shouldn’t go to an individual,” Mair told those gathered at the weekly progress meeting on Wurzbach Parkway Tuesday. “This was a team effort.”

Those involved with the project, who worked with or around Mair, gathered at the weekly meeting to surprise him with a plaque and some handshakes. The award was presented by TxDOT Director of Construction Gina Gallegos.

“I’ve heard a number of nicknames for Lloyd,” Gallegos said during the presentation. “Now I’m hearing him called ‘Gold Star’. I just heard that this morning – it’s fitting!”

The recognition came for his work on the expansion of Spur 421 – Bandera and Culebra Road, inside I-410 in town – between 2008 and 2011. Williams Brothers Construction was the contractor on that project. Mair is inspecting Williams Brothers’ work on the parkway now. The project superintendent with Williams Brothers was also recognized for his part in the project.

For more information on the Wurzbach Parkway project Mair is currently inspecting, check out the project's regular newsletter here.

Temperatures cooling work (and other Wurzbach Parkway stuff)

Near-freezing temperatures are delaying pavement scheduled for Jones-Maltsberger and for the western segment of the parkway, causing project managers to find creative solutions to getting work done while waiting on critical asphalt work.

TxDOT specifications require temperatures above 60 degrees to lay asphalt. That temperature is not a problem for most of the year in this part of Texas, but with the winter norther blowing through the area work across the area is slowing.

Millers will be moving across the western portion of the parkway this week, preparing the road for a final surface of asphalt. Paving crews are tentatively scheduled to move in next week – Monday – if temperatures have risen enough to get the work done.

On Jones-Maltsberger, the subgrade and base is built; project managers are waiting for paving crews to come through to finish the future southbound lanes of the city street so traffic can be moved to its next phase. That shift – the final shift before traffic is put into its final configuration – will divide northbound and southbound traffic, allowing for a work area between the two directions of traffic.

Temperatures are also impacting the ability to pour concrete, which requires temperatures at least in the 40s before concrete can be poured. Most of the work being held up by inability to pour concrete is on the east side of the project, including the concrete paving blocks near the brush site operated by the city of San Antonio on Old Bitters Road.

For more on the Wurzbach Parkway project, see the latest newsletter here.

Parkway Progress ... the latest edition....

 

Beating the Bitters confusion....

More than a few phone calls have poured in over the announced closures happening at the intersection of U.S. Highway 281 and Bitters Road as part of the Wurzbach Parkway project. While these closures were described a week ago, let's make sure everyone is clear on what's really happening.

Here's the facts:

• Starting tonight the south-to-north and north-to-south turnarounds on U.S. 281 at Bitters will be closed. These turnarounds will be closed for six (6) months.
• Starting tonight the right-hand through lane of Bitters Road will be closed at U.S. Highway 281. This lane will be closed for six (6) months.
• Through traffic at Bitters will NOT be cut off entirely. Not long-term, that is. Two lanes headed east and one lane headed west will remain.
• Occasionally an additional closure will be required. These additional closures will NOT be long-term and will be announced as they are needed.

Just for grins, here's why we're closing things: we're widening the U.S. 281 overpass at Bitters Road. The expansion isn't huge - it's only enough to allow us to fit one additional lane of traffic. But it means we'll be working on overhead bridge structures. Any time we're working overhead, we don't like to have traffic running under us. Just ... so many bad things can happen. Since safety is our top priority, we just like to leave that stuff alone.

The turnarounds will be closed because we'll be doing the most work there. The new bridge structure will require abutment joints and new "rip-rap" (the concrete slope at the ends of the bridge). Lots of digging and demo work will be going on there, then some construction. With all the equipment and the moving parts, shutting the turnarounds down is simply the only way.

The right through lanes are closed to help bridge crews build the necessary columns and caps. We'll eventually need to have similar shorter-termed closures at the center of the bridge, but this closure lets us get as much as we can accomplish before we move into the middle - making the work in the middle faster.

Again, thru traffic on Bitters is NOT being stopped long-term. However, daily commuters should anticipate a few extra minutes to drive through this. Plan on that extra time, and travel accordingly. We'll get things wrapped up as quickly as we can so we can be out of the way of one another.

Above all, be safe! Remember this work zone is our "office". Can you imagine working in an office where cars were zipping by, within just a few feet of your desk? It can be nerve-racking! Be careful and cautious so we can return home to our families each day. We've got husbands, fathers, brothers, sisters, wives and mothers on that job. We'd like to continue in those capacities, and we have folks depending on our ability to do so as well....

Wurzbach Parkway: Shutting down the turnarounds at Bitters Rd and US 281

The turnarounds at Bitters Road will be closed for six months, starting Tuesday night, to allow bridge crews to work on an expansion segment of the U.S. Highway 281 overpass bridge.

This closure will include the right through lane running under the bridge in each direction. Closing these lanes will allow crews to drill and build necessary support shafts.

This closure will force turnaround traffic through the intersection, impacting traffic along the frontage roads. Additionally, cross-traffic on Bitters Road will find traffic squeezed down (down to a single lane headed west and two lanes headed east), likely adding a few minutes to the daily commutes of those driving through.

Over the duration of the closure, a few additional closures will be needed to allow crews to construct the support structures planned for the center line of Bitters Road. Those closures (the first of which is tentatively planned for the end of this month) will be announced as they become imminent.

For more info on the Parkway, see the weekly newsletter online.