Burdick Recognized for Smoothest Paving Rating

The U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration contracted Burdick Materials in the reconstruction of the Harpers Corner Road project located within the picturesque Dinosaur National Monument. The scenic highway offers views of the monument’s canyon topography and access to many hiking trails within the monument.

The reconstruction of Harpers Corner Road covered seven miles of the 31-mile scenic route located within the monument with rehabilitation and embankment construction (2,450 CY), full depth reclamation (7.8 miles), four inches of asphalt pavement (257 LF, installing signs & delineators, and ADA improvements.

The project was constructed on Central Federal Lands Federal Highways Administration, in cooperation with the National Park Service. One of the main objectives for the project design was to reduce the footprint of the roadway for the Monument. Reducing the roadway footprint serves to minimize environmental impacts, lower maintenance costs, and preserve the surrounding natural habitat of the national monument. This objective was met as design engineers reduced the shoulders and reclaimed unnecessary pull offs for parking.

One unique challenge the project presented early on was scheduling work to complete the project before cold weather and snow pushed us out. The top end of the project sits at about 7,300 feet in elevation and with a heavy snow pack the winter before construction began, we were forced into a late start to the construction season. Through a great deal of partnering between Federal Highways and the National Parks Service we were able to complete construction on time while maintaining public access to the monument.

As with all Federal Highways paving project’s, the first hurdle you must cross is passing an onsite test strip. Burdick Materials was able to meet Federal Highways standards on the first test strip of 300 tons. This is not easily achieved when you are dealing with an unproven mix. Burdick Materials was able to keep the volumetrics for the mix in a steady band while also maintaining an average density on cores of 92.86% completing the project at a 102% pay incentive for the complete project.

The aspects of this project that are noteworthy and make it a candidate for the Quality in Construction award fall back to the conversation at the final walk through with Federal Highways representative Jim Kerrigan. Jim noted that through great partnering and attention to detail, this project achieved his gold standard rating. This project holds the lowest average IRI that Central Federal Lands Highway Division has logged since they began tracking smoothness. Project completion was met with zero safety incidents, serving as an additional project accomplishment. In total, Burdick Materials was able to achieve a mix/density incentive of $80,782.00 and a ride incentive of $50,472.00.