Neiser, A. O.

English

University of Kentucky

"KENTUCKY'S PROGRESS ON THE INTERSTATE SYSTEM" A. 0. NEISEB Assistant State Highway Engineer Kentucky Department of Highways In describing the progress made on Kentucky's Interstate highways, it is necessary to start with the 1956 Federal Aid Highway Act. Credit must be given the Congress for passing this historical legislation, which has set in motion across tEe Unjted States the greatest construction project ever attempted. Many com-parisons have been made with spectacular construction projects of the past, · such as, how many Panama Canals, Boulder Dams or Pyramids it would take to equal the complete Interstate System. Most of the well known awe inspiring projects fill our vision from a single viewpoint. In contrast, it is very doubtful if the entire 41,000 miles plus of the Interstate System will ever be seen or traveled by any one person. The money for the Highway Trust Fund, set up by the Congress in the 1956 Highway Act, comes from earmarked taxes on the highway user, such as an adilitional one cent gas and diesel fuel tax for a total of three cents, buses and truck trailers tax, a new tax of three cents per pound on retread rubber, and a new tax on vehicles weighing over 26,000 pounds. The January, 1959 revised estimate of cost to complete the Interstate System is 39.5 billion dollars. As you have probably heard, a deficit of $100,000,000 is expected by July 1, 1960, in the Highway Trust Fund. The Congress agreed that the Interstate highways should be completed in the shortest possible time, and sixteen years was determined to be the shortest practical construction time. The looming deficit presents a financial problem that can only be solved by adilitional legislation. The President has recommended increasing the gas tax another l V:?c to keep the program on schedule. Highway user groups generally are opposing the recommendation, eontending that all of the Federal aid money comes from the highway user, and since the new hjghways will benefit the general economy and be used for national defense, any additional money needed should come from general revenues. The financing of the federal aid program is very important as the .flow of money will determine how fast the Interstate will progress. Kentucky would have been unable to fully participate in the accelerated program if its citizens had not approved the $100,000.000 bond issue for use in matching federal aid funds. Excepting Route I-24, Kentucky has 615 miles on the Interstate System. When this route is finally selected, the total mileage will be approximately 700 miles. At present the Interstate program is slightly ahead of schedule nationally. In Kentucky we are not up to schedule, but the gap is closing fast, ,1nd by late spring we shotJd be on schedule and be able to maintain the pace to completion. By March 6, 1959, we will have Federal Interstate funds authorized and obligated in the amount of $89,352,622, covering engineering, right of way, and construction. The total appropriation to July 1, 1959, is $90,180,400. I believe the Kentucky Department of Highways acted wisely three years ago when it was decided not to Hy into the program and spend tl1e appropriated money just to keep on schedule initially. We were determined to obtain for Kentucky the highest type highways the Bureau of Public Roads would approve. A ::onsiderable amount of time was justifiably spent in working up tile Interstate gcometnc design and obtai.ning Bureau approval. As an example, some highway depart· rnents, anticipating the 1956 Act, prepared expensive plans based on their bf guess as to what tl1e minimum standards would be so that they would be rea Y to let contracts early. One State Highway Engineer told me that ~bey had a 90 it is ~iven .cross com· past, ke to )iring 1btful m or J the as an , and md a i,~sed s you in the hould ,ed to ancia\ 1t has edule. ,nding :e tl1e Jense, ow of l have 1d not ysteJll. ly 700 on all)', JY late >letion. ligated uction. 1rs ago mone)' :ky the jerable JJll etriC depart· ,ir best , readi \ad a hundred miles of completed plans designed for a 20' median on their Interstate, which must have cost them 3 million. H e gave me this information at a meeting where it had just been announced that the minimum standard approved by the AASHO and the Bureau for a rural Interstate median would be 36'. The Burea11 approved a 60' median for Kentucky along with other desirable designs. A few months delay avoided expensive reworking of plans and substandard designs. Slide ( 1) Typical Section This is a stripped-down view of the Kentucky Interstate typical section. Much of the drawing has been painted out in order to emphasize the main features on the cross section. Knowing that the Interstate in Kentucky was going to average a million dollars per mile, the Deparhnent's best and most experienced designers spent many hours and considered all kown factors before 3.greeing on this section. I will explain a few of the more important fea tures of the design. With a 60' median, it will be possible at any time in the future to eco-nomically convert the four lanes to six lanes, simply by adding two 12' lanes on the inside, and still have a 36' median remaining. The shoulders will be full depth. The outside shoulders were made 12' in order that there would be 2' of support at the edge for the 10' paved portion. The slopes and ditch widths are designed so that the bottom of the pavements will be above the bottom of the di tches. The shoulder slopes are 1-f" per foot. This affords good shoulder drain-age on a paved shoulder, and gives a minimum and safe break in slope from the 3/16" per foot pavement slope. I can assure you the superelevated section was much more troublesome than the tangent section. All that I can say at this stage is I sincerely hope the Department's design results in safe and pleasant travel on the Interstate. Remove Slide The Department was ably assisted by consulting engineering firms in t.l1e preparation of plans. Our top locating engineers and designers were overtaxed in supervising our own forces and in checking and approving .road and bridge plans prepared by the consultants. vVe now have the work load under conh·ol, and plans should show continual improvement. Realizing that the Interstate grade lines would result in deep cuts and very high fills with enormous quantities of excavation, it was deemed necessary to have as compl~te soil and sub-surface information as possible. Therefore, soil testing and bonng contracts were negotiated with outside consulting engineers. Accurate soil and subsurface data eliminated a large part of the guesswork for the contractor; however, I find that most of the experienced contractors still want to put down a few holes of their own. We feel that tlle contractors appreciate good boring information, and will give us better bids on excavation. . Since this is a report on progress of the Interstate highways, I think that it is fair to mention that during t.lrn period of big push on plans, the Dep3.rtment was '.mdergoing a complete reorganization which involved numerous shifts in engineer-ing personnel and changes in line of command. Credit must be given ~o the men who carried the work forward for two years while the reorganization was being perfected. A brief description of t.l1e Deparbnent's engineering organization gives ha godod picture of how tlie Interstate projects, along with other projects, are an led. All bridge design is performed by the Bridge Division in the Central Office act Frankfort. Four other divisions in tl1e Cenlnl Office-Design Right of Way on tr ti cl ' · ' .l 5 uc on, an Materials-have their field forces operating out of 6 area offices \ irodighout tlie State. The 4 divisions, headed by directors, and the 6 area. offices, iea ;~ by Area Engineers, are supervised by an Assistant State Highway Engineer. h le Central Office Design Division consists of ilie Road Drafting Room i e~e pl_ans are finally checked, the Contract Section, Speci fications, Location ngmeenn~ Section, Aerial Section and Reproduction Section. The Right of Way Division has complete charge of right of way acquisition. 91 The acquisition of right of way has increased year by year. Due to the huge amount of money now being spent for right of way, it became necessary to make -some radical changes in the methods of right of way acquisition to insme, as well as possible, that the Department is treating property owners fairly , and that all purchases are fully documented so that when audited by the Bureau of Public Roads, full reimbursement can be expected. The heart of right of way work i · the appraisal of the property. Much time is devoted to training the personnel in making good, sound appraisals. Many of our right of way people have taken uni-versity appraisal courses. Since the Department's policy is to make onlv one offer to the property owner, and that is the approved appraisal amount, the Right of Way Division must have a detailed appraisal that can be defended in court, if necessary. The Right of Way Division's personnel consists of appraisers, buyers and attorneys. It has a Utility Section which obtains written agreements with all the railroads and utility companies covering the adjustment or relocation of their facilities due to highway construction. The Construction Division takes over as soon as the contract and work order i~ turned over to them by the Design Division. They are charged with the super-vision of all construction contracts, and when projects are completed in accard,mce with the plans and specifications, they officially accept the projects for maintenance. A recent addition to the Construction Division is the Labor and Wage Rate Compliance Section. The Materials Division operates the Testing Laboratory, where all materials used in highway construction are tested. They also prepare soil profiles for the Design Division. Each of the four divisions just described have their functions in the field handled by the Area Engineer who has four sections representing each division. Slide ( 2) Map of Jnterstate The progress that has been made on the Interstate System in Kentucky is best illustrated by this map showing the Interstate Highways. If the different markings and legend are readable, you can see where engineering is in progress, the sections where right of way acquisition -is going on, the design engineering sections, the boring contracts and the sections under construction. Without resorting to cost figures or mileages, .I will endeavor to describe, as briefly as possible, the existing situation on each Interstate Route. Starting with I-65, we have the Louisville-Jeffersonville Bridge and the route south to Chestnut in various stages of preliminary design. Plans are com· plete, and we will have the North-South Expressway completely under contract from Chestnut to the constructed section at Woodbine this year. I-65 is complete from Woodbine to the vVatterson Expressway. Continuing south, it includes the completed Kentucky Turnpike, then a section to near Upton which has been graded and the surfacing contract will be completed this fall. Engineering studies are in progress south to Munfordville. On I-64, the Louisville- ew Albany Bridge is being designed, and preliminary engineering studies are in progress east to North Middletown. From North Middle· town to Ky. 35 just west of Frankfort, Interstate I-64 has all been let or advertised for letting. Plans are being prepared from Ky. 35 across the Kentucky River to Jett east of Frankfort. Work on I-64 then skips to engineering from just west of Win· chester to the section of grade under contract between \.1/inchester _and ~~t; Sterling. Plans have been completed from west of Grayson to the Big San ~ River. Right of way acquisition is under way through Boyd County. The Boy County section should be under contract for grading by fall. Dropping back to Louisville, I-264, the 'Natterson Expressway has one more contract to complete construction from US 31-W to the Shelbyville Road on US~-The interchange with US 60 will be let just as soon as right of way ac111usition115 complete. A short section of grade is complete between US 60 and US 42. Tie remaining sections to complete I-264 are under engineering study now. 92 rnge iake well t all blic rk is el in uni-one 'ght ourt, yers hall their order uper-ance erials r the field n. ·s best rkings ctions s, the 'be, as d the com· ntract tinuing Upton is fall. n1inary iddle· ertised to Jett £ Win· d Mt. Sand)' e Boyd e 01ore us oo. sition i; 2. Thr Interstate 1-71 is in the preliminary stages of engineering design from the junction with I-264 to a point near L aGrange. I-75 begins with the Covington-Cincinnati Bridge and approaches, llO\V under design. From the Covington Expressway now under contract, we will have I-75 completely under grading contract to Cherry Grove by June, and by the encl of the year it should be contracted lo George town. I-75 in Madison County from Fayette County line to Richmond will b e ready for contract this year. A preliminary engineering report has been completed cover-ing the Interstate Routes 64 and 75 in the Lexington area. A preliminary engineer-ing study is in progress between Richmond and Corbin. P lans are almost com-olete from Corbin to the Tennessee Line. To meet the Tennessee schedule, we ~xpect to contract the section from the State Line to Saxton this summer. I-24, known as the Nashville-St. Louis Route, was added to Kentucky's origi-nal Interstate mileage in October, 1957. Nothing other than the p lanning study has been done on this route to date. Slide 3 The Department is preparing maps such as this at the request of the Bureau of Public Roads. It furnish es information at a glance relative to the location of major structures, interchanges and railroad crossings. Traffic and bridge loading used in design is shown. Some day, not too far distant, the traveling public will ?.ppreciate the issuance of Interstate Route Maps with interchange layonts shown on a larger scale as on this map. Remove Slide Start Picture Slides The following pictures were selected to illustrate some of the interesting con-struction on the Interstate: 1. Metal retaining wall construction permits frontage street adjacen t to residences. 2. Taylorsville Road Interchange showing consb:uction carrying on with heavy traffic flowing by constantly. 3. More Watterson Expressway work. 4. Box culvert construction in Hardin County last summer. 5. Grading work and bridge work on the interchange joining the Kentucky Turnpike south of Elizabethtown. 6. Twin bridge construction. 7. Good workmanship in pipe iaying. B. Observe string lines grade check rounded excavation and b edding material. ' ' 9. Stone backfill at abutment. It is hoped that this will prevent settlement at bridge ends. D 10. An~ther view of the same. This is rather expensive construction and the epartment 1s open to suggestions on a cheaper method. 11. Winter bridge construction. 12. Wagon box used for minor roads and where large farms are severed by the Interstate. 13. Another view of the wagon box. f J4. Typical reinforced concrete girder bridge across Interstate . The beautv f,. th s design will be appreciated by all who will ddve Kentucky's lnterstat~ ig ways in the future. 15. Another view of formwork 16 . · Rock 611 on frontage road in background. f In conclusion, I wish to express my sincere hope that we will all be here ~ut; morel years to enjoy using the Interstate Highways, not only in Kentucky, roug 10ut the nation. 93 

Kentucky\u27s Progress on the Interstate System

https://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1406&amp;context=ktc_proceedings

Kentucky\u27s Progress on the Interstate System

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

University of Kentucky