The Dallas High Five Interchange was recently named a Public Works Project of the Year by the American Public Works Association (APWA). The Texas Department of Transportation managing agency, along with primary contractor Zachry Construction Corp. and primary consultant HNTB Corp. will be presented with the award during APWA's International Public Works Congress and Exposition held in September in Kansas City, Mo.
APWA Projects of the Year awards are presented annually to promote management and administration excellence of public works projects by recognizing alliances between managing agencies, contractors, consultants and their cooperative achievements. This year, APWA selected 19 projects in five categories: disaster or emergency construction/repair, environment, historical restoration/preservation, structures and transportation.
Awarded in the transportation category, more than $100 million range, the Dallas High Five Interchange is the first five-level interchange in Dallas' history. As tall as a 12-story building, the massive concrete structure is relieving a bottleneck that has strangled city traffic for years. The interchange consists of just less than 60 lane miles of new roadway (comparable to the width of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex), stretching 3.4 miles east and west and 2.4 miles north and south, equivalent to about 100 New York City blocks.
At the intersection of I-635 (LBJ Freeway) and U.S. 75 (North Central Expressway), the interchange is designed to improve traffic flow, driving conditions and safety for more than 500,000 commuters each day. It was completed 13 months ahead of its original 60-month construction schedule and replaces an outdated three-level modified partial cloverleaf interchange built in the 1960s.
Through four years of construction, the project required more than 2.2 million cu yd of earthwork, 350,000 cu yd of concrete produced onsite, 300,000 sq ft of retaining walls and 74,000 linear ft of drainage pipe. The effort also included construction of 37 permanent bridges and six temporary bridges, encompassing 2.3 million sq ft of bridge deck.
