The I-64 Capacity Improvements Segment I project for the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has been recognized with a National Design-Build Award of Merit from the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA). Completed in December 2017, the widening project in Newport News was designed and constructed by the team of Shirley Contracting Company LLC and Dewberry.
The Shirley/Dewberry team, which has completed 14 design-build projects for VDOT over the past 10 years, met an aggressive 25-month schedule for the improvements. The project involved the design and construction of 5.6 miles of highway widening for the busy interstate, including four bridge widenings and two bridge replacements. The segment extended from just west of the Lee Hall Reservoir to just west of the Jefferson Avenue interchange. A third thru-lane was added in each direction as well a full-width left shoulder.
Additional improvements included repair of deteriorating concrete pavement joints prior to overlay of the entire existing roadway with asphalt. Stormwater management facilities were constructed to address roadway runoff and two noise barriers totaling more than 200,000 square feet were erected to provide noise reduction benefits.
The schedule required that design, right-of-way acquisition, utility relocations, and construction of the improvements be completed in less than three years. This segment of I-64, heavily used by commuters, residents, and tourists, handles more than 100,000 vehicles a day.
"DBIA is proud to honor the I-64 Capacity Improvements Segment I among an impressive list of design-build project award winners for leading the way and showing the nation there's a better way to build," says Lisa Washington, CAE, DBIA executive director and CEO. The project was one of only three selected for national recognition in the transportation field. It will compete for the top transportation prize and Project of the Year at DBIA's national conference in November.