I-10 Huebner

The rain storms yesterday muddied up the work zone pretty good, but Webber has pumps hard at work to dry things out.

It's been more than a month since the last complete update on this project. The contractor is still working hard on retaining walls, actually. Setting the wall panels in several locations (before they had been fussing with the anchor structures, such as soil nail walls). Texas Highway Walls, the subcontractor working with these wall panels, is scheduled for all sorts of work along the corridor of the project.

The retaining wall on the eastbound side of I-10 at UTSA Blvd is mostly done. Other retaining walls along the stretch of the project are progressing well.

Soil nails are still to be put in for a wall on the westbound side of I-10 near UTSA Blvd.

One of the few areas where the retaining wall work is still in early stages, on the westbound side of I-10 near UTSA Blvd.

Electricians on the project are working daily to keep the highway lights on and burning, which has been a challenge on this project with the variety of circuits present.

Project supervisors are stressing anew the importance of keeping the project as clean as can be. This isn't a matter of keeping the mud out, but eliminating clutter and stockpiles when they are not necessary. It also includes litter pick-up; which brings us to a brief item of importance.

On our active construction projects, contractors are responsible for keeping litter picked up. But that doesn't mean they are responsible for the cleanliness of the roadway. That responsibility lies squarely with the drivers. Don't mess with Texas. 

That's more than a cute catchphrase; it's actually a trademarked phrase to remind Texans to find a trash can rather than toss trash out of the window. Nuff said?

Anyway, Webber has crews working day and night; to be honest, they'd love to have closures during the daytime hours to get more work done each day. That's not happening at this point - except occasional frontage road closures - but daytime drivers should know its a possibility in the future.

Most of this work, as stated above, is the retaining wall work. This also includes some actual widening of the main lanes, particularly between UTSA Blvd and DeZavala Road.

The big daddy of this job is the upcoming milestone to rebuild the overpass bridge at DeZavala Road. That work will take about a full year to complete, in addition to the work done across the remainder of the project. Traffic will be shifted into narrower lanes, and the total number of lanes will be reduced; currently each direction features three lanes plus an auxiliary lane (total of four lanes in each direction). For the year-long traffic switch to rebuild the bridge, the auxiliary lanes will be eliminated (making three total lanes each direction). The lanes will be narrowed to about 11 feet (from the normal 12 feet) wide.

When Webber gets into the milestones for the DeZavala overpass, the auxiliary lanes - like this one, serving traffic as it enters and exits the main lanes - will be dropped for about a year. They will be returned when the work is complete.

Again, all lanes will be shifted over, leaving one entire half of the overpass clear for work. Webber will work on the eastbound side first, shifting all lanes of traffic onto the current westbound side. Traffic will be separated by portable traffic barriers.

We fully expect delays through this already busy corridor during these milestones. That's why we've attached incentives and disincentives for the work, allowing just six months for each half of the overpass.

This will begin within a few weeks; Webber is targeting late April to get this milestone started. Again, it will last a total of about a year.