Walsh Construction Solution
Let's build and expand our highways to help people get to work. See how a mobile concrete plant helped Walsh Construction finish widening and reconstruction on I-94 8 months ahead of schedule.
The Interstate 94 North-South corridor currently sees traffic volumes ranging between 76,000 and 161,400 vehicles each day. Even still, these overwhelming numbers are anticipated to increase.
In 2009, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) began it’s largest road project ever. Expected to be fully complete by 2021, the $1.9 billion reconstruction in Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee counties of southeast Wisconsin will widen the corridor from six to eight lanes and redesign 17 interchanges. The ultimate goal is to ease traffic congestion and improve safety along the 35 mile stretch between Milwaukee and the Illinois state line.
Walsh Construction was chosen to oversee the northern segment of the project from County G in Racine County to College Avenue in Milwuakee County. Incorporated in 1949 in Chicago, Illinois, Walsh is one of the largest and most respected general contracting, construction management and design-build firms in North America.
In addition to the trials involved in a project of this size, the largest challenge they faced was an extremely tight timeline. Walsh needed a partner that could provide large volumes of concrete within their narrow timeline that also met WisDOT standards. Ozinga was up to the task.
Ozinga utilized an On-Site Mobile plant in Franklin, Wisconsin, to meet the high-volume demand by delivering 3,000 yards a day to keep the project moving. The portable concrete plant was the solution to saving Walsh crucial time and money.
“Our partnership with Ozinga has allowed us to meet the DOT demands and construct this project eight months faster than a typical highway job of this size,” said Brian Panfil, Walsh Project Manager. “With uncontrollable factors, we need a partner that can be flexible and help us problem-solve.”
One such uncontrollable factor was the soil surrounding the project site—the moisture content was too high for WisDOT regulations. Ozinga suggested using Fly Ash to remove the excess moisture from the soil to properly prepare it for the concrete pour. While Ozinga was only originally hired to provide concrete, they were able to step in and fill the Fly Ash needs as well.