1998•ENRRequires access
FULL SPEED AHEAD
A Cho, S H Daniels
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Abstract
The reconstruction of Interstate 15 (I-15) through 17 mi (27 km) of Salt Lake City, Utah, is already exceeding everyone's expectations. Now halfway complete, the pioneering $1.5-billion design-build project could usher in a new era of highway building before it is finished. Only bad weather looms as a possible deterrent to a pace that has cut several weeks off the already fast-track schedule that aims to finish construction in 4.5 years instead of the more normal 7-10 years. Construction is divided into three segments. The approximately 4-mi-long (6-km) Downtown segment makes up the northern end of I-15 through the heart of Salt Lake City. The Jordan segment, of similar length, comprises I-15's intersections with State Route 201 and I-215. A bridge at the northernmost end of I-15 was demolished in May 1997. Replacing it is a 90-m-wide, hourglass-shaped overpass at the I-80 junction. Most work initially began on the southernmost 9-mi-long (14-km) Cottonwood segment.