Highway 290, New Alignment and Widening

Location: Spartanburg County, South Carolina

Project Value: $19,396,632.00

Project Completion Year: 2007

SCDOT FILE 42.514A (0410)

On May 18, 2004, E.S. Wagner Co. was awarded a $17 million dollar contract to expand a seven mile section of SC 290 from two to five lanes of traffic. The scope included earth embankment to be formed from approximately 170,000 cubic yards of on-site excavation and 400,000 cubic yards of borrow excavation. Drainage work totaled over 33,000 linear feet and included the extension of five existing box culverts. Other major work consisted of 190,000 square yards of aggregate base, 125,000 tons of asphalt, a new 4-acre wetland, and a bridge over an active CSX rail line. The project was somewhat unique in that it passed through commercial, residential, and rural areas.

During the course of the project, E.S. Wagner was able to offer several recommendations which were approved and implemented by the SCDOT. The first recommendation changed the specified sub-grade strengthening process from cement stabilization to replacement of unsuitable sub-grade soils with those acceptable to the SCDOT. The acceptable soils were obtained from an offsite source secured and developed by E.S. Wagner. This change conservatively cut the cost of the project by several hundred thousand dollars.

A second issue developed early in the project at the proposed bridge site. Originally, MSE retaining walls were designed to hold back the bridge embankment from the rail line below. Initial investigation by E.S. Wagner identified that the MSE walls would be constructed on soils of too poor a quality to insure their long term integrity. Working closely with the SCDOT from this point, the bridge was redesigned to suit the site soil condition. The re-design delayed start of the bridge work but avoided a potential future failure and costly repair.

At completion of the project which occurred three months ahead of schedule, E.S. Wagner received an overall quality rating of 2.93 (Excellent) by the State of South Carolina DOT Quality Review Team. Perfect scores were recorded in the areas of Field Construction, Project Staffing, Project Records, and Personal Safety.