I-10 HOV lanes: bridging the gap is the push

As weather gets warmer weekend traffic to the Texas Hill Country starts to swell (who can blame anyone for taking a trip up that way?). As you drive through the construction zone along I-10 west of town you'll note the progress that has been made at the several overpass bridge crossings.

It's at the overpasses you'll note our work to first build the new inside lane of the highway before getting to that outside lane. Flatiron Construction is working to have incremental improvements ready for drivers by opening the inside lane for traffic, giving drivers three lanes of I-10 out to Ralph Fair Road, before fully working on the outside lane.
Bridge-building crews have been working in a progressive fashion on the overpasses along the project. Specialized crews finish work at one location to move on, allowing the next specialized crew to fill in behind. We have crews that demo the edge of the bridge so the new portion blends seamlessly, crews who dig foundations for bridge support structures, concrete crews that build the bridge support structures and bridge crews that set beams and build the actual bridge itself.

At Dominion Drive you'll see columns and bridge support caps between the existing main lanes. Together these will support the bridge beams. At Camp Bullis Road crews are drilling foundations for these columns.
Work along the entire project is contained behind barrier during the day with only minimal overnight closures planned over the next few weeks. Even at both these intersections drivers will see no major daytime impacts due to the work.
The other major overpass on this project, at Boerne Stage Road, is where crews demolishing the old bridge rail are working. You'll see overnight closures to let this happen, but no impacts to the intersection itself are expected. Once the old bridge rail is removed the next wave of crews will begin building up the support structures at Boerne Stage and you'll start to see how that bridge will expand.

 

What’s next at the bridges?
The specific traffic control plan for diversion around the construction zone will be tailored to accommodate the bridge work and will protect our crews as well as motorists. Two options for traffic control are being evaluated and, once finalized, you will be updated in our next post regarding what to expect while the main structure of these bridges get built. Stay tuned.

 

What else is going on?

• Still working on our storm sewer drain structures
• Still working on storm water detention ponds
• Working on retaining walls at a few locations