I-20 Augusta Rehabilitation

This $28 million project featured concrete removal, replacement, and widening of 13 miles of asphalt shoulders on eastbound and westbound Interstate 20 outside Augusta, Georgia.

Due to heavy truck traffic and oversized loads, the I-20 travel lane created challenges for the Georgia Department of Transportation. Lane closures and traffic disruptions were necessary, while road crews repaired cracked and broken concrete pavement panels. Crews strengthened the base course beneath the road and replaced the unreinforced concrete roadway with a new fully reinforced concrete slab.

During a 1-mile test section, four different demolition methods to the existing roadway were evaluated. After selecting the most efficient method, crews diverted traffic and began demolishing the existing concrete pavement. Next, sub-grade was mixed with cement, recompacted and reprofiled.

New concrete pavement was slip-formed, and traffic markings were installed after a curing period. During the final phase, detoured traffic was shifted back onto the new roadway. Quantities included 230,000 square yards of concrete pavement and 226,000 square yards of asphalt pavement. Crews achieved substantial completion in August 2003, beating the original schedule by nine months and the owner's maximum completion date by nearly one year.