State Route 73, Phases II and III

Location: Clinton County, Ohio

Project Value: $44,035,112.00

Project Completion Year: 2011

ODOT 080507, 090244 (0809, 0903)

E.S. Wagner Co. is the prime contractor on two phases of the State Route 73 bypass around Wilmington, Ohio for District 8 of the Ohio Dept. of Transportation.

The projects consist of six miles of new four lane highway with interchanges at US 68 and State Route 22/3. Phase II started in the spring of 2009 and Phase III began in the summer of 2009.

There are ten total bridge structures on the two independent but adjoining projects. Eight of the structures are almost identical side by side structures on mainline US 73. Each structure is accompanied by aesthetically treated Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) Walls totaling 43,000 square feet. The 7,300 cubic yards of structural concrete is all Contractor Quality Control/Quality Assurance and is supported by nearly six combined miles of driven steel piles. There are 450,000 cubic yards of excavation and 2,100,000 cubic yards of embankment distributed throughout the six miles. Large areas of weak and saturated soils were encountered in the mainline during the initial phases of construction. At E.S. Wagners urging, these soils were removed and replaced with better quality embankment material. There are also 73,000 cubic yards of planned undercut and replacement.

The nearly nine miles of pipe on the projects range in size from 4 to 144 in diameter. There are also over 41 miles of under drain, aggregate base, and cement stabilization under all pavements. Traffic Control on the project includes three different closure periods set for the local road work within the overall contract completion dates. Currently, all the closure periods are scheduled to be completed and the local streets reopened during the 2010 construction season. All work on the corridor will complete and the projects will be opened to traffic sometime in the summer of 2011.