Maryland carries out an ambitious revision of 300 million US dollars in Route 4 in order to reduce overload and to improve the safety near the common base of Andrews. The project includes the construction of new ramps, the enlargement of the street and the construction of five bridges. The challenges include a flood mirror, but in autumn 2028 innovative solutions will be implemented for a more smooth traffic flow.
Maryland State Highway Administration Photo
The crews over a storm outflow of the Route 4-Parkay project.
Maryland's Route 4 in Southeastern Maryland Services Prince George's, Anne Arundel and Calvert Counties. This thoroughfare has important neighbors, including Washington DC, and the I-495, the busy Beltway in the country's capital.
Economic activity has increased in particular near the connection of MD Route 4 with the Suitland Parkway (MD 337). The largest and most influential neighbor is Andrew's common basis, which was previously known as Andrews Air Force Base. More than 16,000 people live in this military facility and house the 316. The basis generates an estimated 1 billion US dollar in economic effects on the area.
The State Highway Administration (SHA) in Maryland has found that overload in this area is reduced and security is increased by taking over an ambitious revision of the road system with a project of almost 300 million US dollars. The work is expected to be completed in autumn 2028, which permits the weather.
The project will include a new Diamond exchange and five new bridges. The average daily traffic here is 66,000 vehicles with a large volume of trucks. Concrete General is the main contractor for the project.
Projects such as this often consist of many smaller units, each of which is commissioned to improve the traffic patterns, the reduction of overall overload and greater security for drivers and pedestrians.
Several projects
The Route 4-Suitland Parkway project includes:
• Reconstruction of the incoming and drain base into the common basis of Andrews;
• Construction of a new two -lane ramp via MD 4 to be connected to the route 4 and west of Suitland Parkway;
• Route 4;
• New configuration of the Pennsylvania Avenue Service Road and the Armstrong Lane;
• Align the Presidential Parkway with the Suitland Parkway;
• Building a new signaled intersection on the Presidential Parkway and the Central Park Drive, including new sidewalks; And
• Add a new shared use path via the Suitland Parkway Bridge.
The project is supervised by Ryan Doran, the incumbent engineer of the deputy district and the construction of the SHA district of SHA. Mike Higgins from Concrete General provides the instruction for the concrete team. The project is 13 percent completed and has now started two out of six phases of work. The workers relocate supply companies, install wicks, place the road in the contracting areas and drive the support posts for the proposed bridge over MD 4.
“The close work at the base added some challenges,” said Doran. “Before we brought some of the cranes into the job, we had to receive the FAA release to ensure that the flights do not give any disturbances.
The cranes will be of crucial importance because the construction team compiled the five steel girders bridges. The bridges need about 2,200 tons of steel with sections of the bridges that are pre -built in the factory.
Flood mirror
The construction team takes additional steps to combat a relatively high hydrogen in the region.
“We will install Wick -Drains in several places,” said Doran. “We will drill holes from 100 to 200 feet deep into the floor and then place our road on these surcharge areas until the final height is reached. The wives enable us to pull out the water and build on a drier surface.”
The wick surfaces use prefabricated geotextile filters to channel the water when it rises to the surface.
“We will also use a light, permeable cell concrete (PLDCC) in several areas to limit the soil residence,” said Doran. “This type of concrete is not used often in SHA projects, but we will use it in this project because it is easier than normal concrete, but still maintains strength.”
The construction team will use approximately 44,000 m². Concrete on the transfer and 90,000 tons of asphalt for considerable road construction.
In addition to the cranes, the construction team is used paving strips, material transfer vehicles and rollers to create a smooth motorway and surface streets. The team will also use Dkelzants, excavators and front-end loaders to prepare the soil for the final building.
The construction team will achieve significant savings by reuse material from an earlier project that was stopped due to usable conflicts.
“Concrete tube and steel for bridges have already been delivered so that we can use it for our project,” said Doran.
The construction team will use message boards to communicate changing traffic patterns and establish work zone areas. However, the ramps and surface roads paid special attention.
“On the Dewer House Road, we added a temporary blinker to MD 4 to the south to safely navigate to the highway and will convert certain roads so that drivers can easily understand what happens.
After completing the project, Doran and his team expect smooth traffic over this critical time. “We make it safer for commuters and eliminate the overload. It is exciting to see that we will do something.” CEG
Chuck MacDonald
Chuck MacDonald is an editor, blogger and freelance feature writer whose writing adventures brought him in 48 states and 10 countries. He was an editor for magazines about sidewalks, chemicals, insurance and missions. Chuck enjoys cycling, kayaking and reading. He graduated from Missouri with a degree in journalism. Chuck lives with his wife Kristen in Annapolis, Md. They have seven grandchildren.