HARLINGEN — The $3.7 million State Highway 107 project in Combes is just under a half-mile in length, but the lack of room under I-69E/U.S. 77 makes for some interesting construction challenges, TxDOT engineers said this past week.
The project is 21 percent complete and will widen 107, add retaining walls, storm drains and a curb and gutters.
The challenge right now is excavating turnarounds underneath the freeway and ensuring the structural integrity of the walls next to the turnarounds.
“One of the interesting aspects of this project is this overpass on 107 doesn’t have turnarounds,” David Vera, a TxDOT engineer, told the Harlingen-San Benito Metropolitan Planning Organization this past week.
“This project is going to include turnarounds, but in order to include turnarounds, we pretty much have got to excavate the area that’s taking its place.”
Vera said construction crews with contractor Foremost Paving Inc. are using 25-foot “soil nails” to help stabilize the walls of the turnaround and keep it from collapsing.
“Once those are in place they’ll keep going and they’ll grout all those voids and give it some time to gain strength and then they’ll place concrete on that wall,” Vera said. “They’ll add a wire mesh to it for structural strength and once that all is in place, they can continue to the next step.”
The process will create room to accommodate the turnaround, and Vera said it’s not “something you see in an everyday project.”
“After they’re done with the whole wall section we’re going to put a nice MSE (mechanically stabilized earth) wall, which is a retaining wall,” he added. “It’s going to give it a lot more aesthetics.”
The project’s finish date is sometime in October.
TxDOT Projects Update
State Highway 107
Location: Combes
Cost: $3.7 million
Project length: 0.465 miles
Contractor: Foremost Paving Inc.
Work started: August 2017
Completion date: October 2018
Work finished: 21 percent
FM 106 roadway reconstruction
Location: From FM 1847 to FM 510
Cost: $15.6 million
Project Length: 11.4 miles
Contractor: Texas SAI Inc.
Work started: November 2015
Completion date: December 2017
Work finished: 75 percent
The project consists of a major overhaul of the roadway and includes several wildlife underpasses and adjacent fencing.
BSIF at Los Indios
Location: Los Indios Free Trade International Bridge
Cost: $6.9 million
Project Length: .001 miles
Contractor: Foremost Paving Inc.
Work started: February 2015
Completion date: March 2018
Work finished: 79 percent
The new border safety inspection facility will inspect trucks from Mexico entering the United States. Work on the facility has been suspended since September while TxDOT awaits a land donation from Cameron County.
U.S. 281 roadway rehabilitation and widening
Location: From FM 509 to .05 miles west of FM 1479
Cost: $3.9 million
Project Length: 1.65 miles
Contractor: Foremost Paving Inc.
Work started: February 2017
Work finished: 53 percent
Bridge rehabilitation Rio Hondo lift bridge
Location: Rio Hondo
Cost: $12.4 million
Project length: 0.117 miles
Contractor: PCL Civil Contractors Inc.
Work started: Summer 2016
Completion date: February 2018
Work finished: 94 percent
The project consists of a complete overhaul of the mechanical lift bridge over the Arroyo Colorado. Traffic should begin crossing in late April.
South Parallel Corridor
Land acquisition is continuing for a new roadway connecting South Parallel Corridor from FM 509 to FM 1577. Estimated cost is $8.4 million. Tentative construction contract letting date is January 2019.
