Published: November 08, 2009 12:07 am      

East Beckley bypass

Work on highway project under way

There is much stone and steel yet to go into the mix, but work is humming along on a massive bridge for the East Beckley bypass project.

Come summer, a companion project that extends the road to Stanaford will be let to contract as part of the so-called Z-Way Project, all intended to keep traffic moving at a convenient pace for commuters now often mired in crawl speed of bumper-to-bumper travel on Eisenhower Drive.

“By the time the summer of 2011 rolls around, people will be able to use the East Beckley bypass all the way to Stanaford Road, which we believe is going to help traffic tremendously,” says Dirar Ahmad, project engineer for the state Division of Highways.

A Raleigh County firm, Vecellio & Grogan, landed the contract with an $19.87 million bid calling for a four-lane, quarter-mile span, the most challenging portion of the project which also entails a brief section of road from Grey Flats Road to Cranberry Creek.

“Work is progressing very nicely,” Ahmad said. “It is a fairly large bridge and we’re doing the approaches.”

Ahmad figures as much as 20 to 30 percent of the work has been completed.

While the project has a targeted completion date of Aug. 30, 2011, he emphasized the contractor has the option of working beyond the normal stop date set by the DOH each year of Nov. 30.

“If they want to pour concrete in December, they can do it,” Ahmad said. “But the temperature has to be a certain degree. If it’s not, then they have to go through the expense of keeping the concrete warm so it won’t crack, keeping it wrapped up and heated.”

This, of course, is optional, he emphasized.

“If they think they are progressing nicely, and they don’t need to work in wintertime, then they won’t,” Ahmad said.

“If they think they have to catch up, that’s entirely up to them.”

Moisture is not a factor, since a crew can use plastic to keep water out, he noted.

“Temperature is more of a factor,” he said. “They can easily cover it so water will not get into it. Temperature-wise, that’s more crucial. That’s what they have to watch for.”

The span itself entails some 250,000 yards of excavation and costs up to $16 million.

Known as the Z-Way, since it forms that letter, the project is designed to enhance access in and out of the Beckley area and landed some $32 million in federal stimulus money as a shovel-ready project.