Accelerated Construction
Accelerated construction uses various techniques and technologies to help reduce construction time while enhancing/maintaining safety and quality.
Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC)
Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) technologies are changing the ways State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) do business. Most notably, DOTs can replace bridges within 48 to 72 hours and reduce planning and bridge construction efforts by years. The accelerated project times significantly reduce traffic delays and road closures and could potentially reduce project costs. The innovative ABC planning and construction methods, designs and materials produce safer, more durable bridges with longer service lives than conventional bridges. The timely innovation comes when approximately 25 percent of our Nation’s aging bridges need repair or replacement and our highways are already congested without the added strain of road closures.
- Massachusetts FAST 14 Project - The use of accelerated bridge construction, prefabricated bridge elements and the design-build project delivery method enabled the Massachusetts DOT to shrink a four-year bridge replacement project to just one summer. The $98 million project, dubbed "Fast 14," involved the rapid replacement of 14 deteriorated bridge superstructures along I-93. MassDOT received a Highways for LIFE grant to use innovation on the project.
- The FAST 14 Project - Article in May/June 2012 Issue of FHWA Public Roads
- Massachusetts "Fast 14" Project Replaces Bridges in One Summer - Article in September/October 2011 issue of FHWA Innovator.
Prefabricated Bridge Elements and Systems
Prefabricated bridge elements and systems offer bridge designers and contractors significant advantages in terms of construction time, safety, environmental impact, constructability, and cost.
- FHWA Prefabricated Bridge Elements and Systems Web Site
- 24th Street Overpass Bridge Construction in Iowa - Through the use of innovations to accelerate construction, the $12.5 million 24th Street overpass bridge in Council Bluffs, Iowa was constructed in 1 year rather than the standard 2 years with reduced impacts to traffic.
- "Innovations Speed Iowa Bridge Construction" - Article in October 2008 issue of FHWA Innovator.
Self-Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMTs)
SPMTs are multi-axle, computer-controlled platform vehicles that can move bridge systems weighing up to several thousand tons with precision to within a fraction of an inch. The vehicles can move in any horizontal direction and also have vertical lift.
FHWA identified reducing construction-related effects to the traveling public as a priority for the nation's highway program. The use of SPMT technology provides agencies and contractors with the ultimate flexibility and speed in removing and installing bridges.
Precast Concrete Systems
Precast concrete pavement panels are cast offsite and installed in a short time span when traffic volume is low and lanes can more readily be closed. In high-traffic areas, they can reduce traffic congestion and offer several advantages over traditional cast-in-place construction, including enhancing project safety and mobility, increasing durability, and enabling installation under overpasses with limited height clearances.
- Virginia I-66 Project - This project evaluated two precast concrete pavement technologies, and conventional cast-in-place construction, to replace distressed pavement slabs on a ramp from I-66 to US 50. The Virginia DOT (VDOT) found that precast concrete pavement is a viable alternative to cast-in-place. Using PCPS enabled VDOT to maintain traffic on a busy road by only closing lanes at night, also maximizing worker and traveler safety. Although the PCPS made initial construction costs marginally higher, its usage saved VDOT and motorists $481,244 over conventional cast-in-place pavement construction due to reduced delay costs, improved pavement performance, and less need for future reconstruction.
- "Virginia Finds Success in Rapid Pavement Repair" - Article in September/October 2012 issue of FHWA Innovator
- Virginia I-66 Concrete Pavement Replacement Using Precast Concrete Pavement Systems (PDF 27.8MB) - Final Project Report
- "Precast Concrete Pavement Systems: Acceleration Through Innovation" - Article in July 2010 issue of FHWA Focus.
Other Accelerated Construction Resources
- Webinar on Accelerated Construction - Held on May 30, 2013
- Recording
- Transcript (HTML, PDF 101KB)
- National Overview, by Seema Javeri, Federal Highway Administration (HTML, PDF 1MB)
- Massachusetts DOT I-93 FAST 14 Project, by Neil Boudreau, Massachusetts Department of Transportation (HTML, PDF 5.3MB)
- Accelerated Construction Using Precast Concrete Pavement Systems on the Illinois Tollway, by Steve Gillen, Illinois Tollway (HTML, PDF 3MB)
- 2012 Peer Exchange on Accelerated Road Work for Work Zone Safety & Mobility - Materials from an FHWA sponsored workshop to discuss how strategies to accelerate road work can be used to significantly reduce work zone safety and mobility impacts.
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