ALABAMA STATE EDITION
231
65
72 Florence
2
Huntsville
20 Decatur
72
565 59
43
A Supplement to:
231
431
31
5
Gadsden
78 59 Anniston
20
Birmingham Bessemer
82 Tuscaloosa
65 280
20 82 Auburn
80
85
Selma
Phenix City
Montgomery
82
May 4 2011 Vol. XXII • No. 9
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43 84 431 331
84
84 52 31
45
Dothan
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“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded in 1957.”
98
Mobile
10
Your Alabama Connection • Rich Olivier, Atlanta, GA • 1-800-409-1479
Key Autauga Creek Bridge Project Slated for June Finish By Cindy Riley CEG CORRESPONDENT
A resurfacing and bridge replacement project involving a key section of highway in Autauga County is expected to be completed ahead of schedule, according to the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT). The roughly $3 million project includes the planing, two-foot shoulder widening and resurfacing from a busy intersection at U.S. Highway 82 to Main Street (Hwy. 14) in downtown Prattville, and then along Main Street to U.S. 31 (Memorial Drive). “This project replaces an antiquated bridge along one of the Prattville area’s main commuter routes,” explained Tony Harris, media and community relations chief of ALDOT. “It’s the second bridge replacement along Highway 14 in the Prattville city limits, and each bridge has been designed with a pedestrian walkway and decorative light poles.” According to Harris, the Autauga Creek Bridge project also realigns a side-street intersection to improve lines of sight. “This is taking place in a key area. Prattville, located just north of Montgomery, has been one of Alabama’s fastest-growing communities in recent years,” Harris said. On the portion from U.S. 82 to downtown Prattville, the paved shoulder of each lane will be widened by two feet. ALDOT’s shoulder widening on two-lane state highways has already shown a 15 percent decrease in lane departure crashes, and further
“It’s an interesting project, because it’s by the revitalized downtown area with the mills and waterfall. It’s nice to think when I drive by the area thirty years or so from now, I can tell my family I had a hand in the process. I guess you could say I’m part of its history,” Garrett Pass Wiregrass Construction
One of the biggest challenges with this job was access for work, with the bridge parallel to the existing bridge for removal. But the city of Prattville was a huge help with lowering water for easy and safe construction.
reductions are expected as more two-lane highways get this safety upgrade. Work commenced on the U.S. 82 end of the project. Once this phase is completed, the Main Street portion will begin. Autauga Creek has historical significance in the Prattville community, which made its name as an industrial center. It is the site where Daniel Pratt, the town’s founder and first mayor, developed industrial facilities on the creek to use as a power source to cotton gin manufacturing equipment in the 1830s. The county’s name is actually derived from the large creek, which flows through its center, and is said to signify ‘land of plenty’ in the Native American tongue. While the creek no longer powers the mills it once served, it is still considered to play a key role in Prattville as a source of water for public and industrial supply. The Autauga Creek watershed drains approximately 120 sq. mi. in Autauga and Chilton Counties. Land use in the watershed is mostly forested mixed with urban, pasture and cropland. The much-anticipated ALDOT project is expected to be completed before summer, depending, however, on weather conditions and work progress. All traffic lanes have been reopened no later than 5 p.m. each day during construction. Motorists in the area have been encouraged to consider using alternate routes, adjust arrival/departure times, observe work zone speed limits and other work zone signs and use extreme caution in the area for the duration of construction. The general contractor for the see BRIDGE page 2