Project manager Terry Poole says,"Anybody in this business dreams of working in an unobstructed area where you can just cut down bush." To a large degree, that's what the crews at Palmetto Transportation Company (PTC) have been doing on this joint venture with Flatiron Structures and Tidewater Constructors near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Working in the bush can have it's down side, however. So far, crews have encontered one bear, and a surveyor was bitten on the hand by a water moccasin.
The $240 million design/build project includes building a highway six lanes wide, and erecting 34 bridges.
The fast-track project started on February 1st of 2000, and must be completed by the end of June 2002. The roadway will skirt around protected wetlands called "bays". This is why the project is called "Carolina Bays Parkway".
This rapidly growing area has been deprived of highway updates for many years. South Carolina's plan is to undertake 27 years of work in the next 7 years, referred to as their 27/7 plan. Two more projects will soon be coming up for bid in the state. PTC is among three bidders short listed on a major cable-stayed-bridge project in Charleston.
According to deputy project manager Matt Girard, South Carolina's Department of Transportation has been exceptionally cooperative. The department has given plenty of consideration to PTC and to DMJM, the design company working with PTC.
PTC is also acquiring right-of-way for the project. Matt is managing the acquisition process, dealing with 66 landowners. At present, negotiations are completed with two-thirds of the landowners, many of whom are major developers.
"It may be two years until all of the condemnation hearings are resolved in the courts," predicts Matt.
To read more about this project, visit our Carolina Bays Project page.
Stressed concrete piles are driven at the precast, girder bridge over River Oak Dr.
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Crews pump concrete into a header for part of a bridge across the Intercoastal Waterway.
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Safety manager Forrest Ropp discusses a safety issue with a PTC crew member.
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