After a Decade of Delays, Scranton Interchange Work Gets Underway

Fri July 19, 2002
Mary Reed

Residents living near the Davis Street/Montage Mountain Road interchange exit on I-81 in Scranton, PA, may occasionally mutter about the night shift construction currently underway on the site, but in a year or two all will be forgotten when the long-anticipated project is completed and they reap its benefits.

The upgraded exit interchange has been a long time coming. In fact, it has been almost a decade since project design began in 1993, but launching the job was delayed because of various funding and environmental issues. Indeed, in September 2001, not long before the project was let, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) District Engineer Chuck Mattei said, “It’s been a long and difficult task to get the Davis Street/Montage Mountain Road project to the construction phase, and we at PennDOT are thrilled that work will soon begin on much needed improvements at this interchange.”

The contract was awarded to Slusser Brothers Trucking and Excavation of West Hazleton, PA, who received Notice to Proceed on Nov. 5, 2001. The job calls for the reconstruction and reconfiguration of the existing exit at the Davis Street/Montage Mountain interchange on I-81 in Scranton, PA. When completed, the improved interchange is expected to provide better traffic flow to a growing business park, which also is home to a ski area, a concert venue, a movie theater and a minor league baseball stadium.

The interchange, designed by CECO Associates Inc. of Scranton. PA, will cost approximately $20.4 million, split between state and federal funding sources and has an anticipated completion date of Aug. 20, 2003.

About the Project

Slusser Brothers’ personnel handling the project are led by general superintendent Bill Janosky in association with Dick LaCoe (paving superintendent) and Joe Yenchak (project superintendent). Marty Mercer (excavation/site foreman), Marty Kurtz (excavation/pipe foreman), Mike Mayernick (bridge foreman) and Jofn Rusonis paving foreman) round out Slusser’s team.

The company expects to perform approximately 80 percent of the contract with its own labor force, said Project Manager Matthew Yacobenas, who added that the company also will be supplying its own construction materials from a nearby company-owned quarry, concrete and asphalt plants.

“The project calls for 258,000 cu. yds. of excavation and 110,000 cu. yds. of foreign borrow excavation,” Yacobenas said. “It will also utilize 105,000-plus tons of aggregate, approximately 90,000 tons of bituminous paving, 8,700 linear ft. of various drainage pipes and approximately $4-million worth of structure work.”

Yacobenas, noted that the job calls for three new ramps, a new three-span structure over I-81 and the demolition and rebuilding of the adjacent existing structure over I-81, as well as the widening of another structure on I-81 that crosses the SLIBCO Railroad. He added that the project is split into five phases.

“Phases 1, 2, and 3, which involve the construction of the majority of the new portions of the interchange, will be completed in 2002. The remaining reconstruction and milling and paving of I-81 are scheduled for 2003,” he said.

Work Completed to Date

Some temporary paving work for maintenance and protection of traffic was completed late in 2001. Earthwork began on Jan. 10 this year and by mid February approximately 70 percent of clearing and grubbing had been completed.

Slusser Brothers, working in the prep stage of Phase I, are currently excavating for widening and extending Ramp D, the existing northbound entrance ramp. “This involves the removal of approximately 50,000 cu. yds. of rock excavation,” noted Yacobenas. “This material is being used on Ramp B to help construct the 122,000-plus-cu.-yd. embankment required for the new northbound I-81 off ramp. At the same time we have also imported approximately 40,000 cu. yds. of foreign borrow excavation to the Ramp B embankment.”

One problem for the contractors is that rock excavation can be carried out only during a specified daily time frame. “There is no blasting permitted within the project limits due to the proximity of area businesses and hotels,” said Yacobenas, “and furthermore, our schedule hours for rock removal are limited from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. because of this.

“To maximize our production we are concentrating solely on breaking and stockpiling rock during the day,” he said, “and using the night shift — 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. — to haul out the material and place it at the embankment. Although use of hydraulic hammers to break rock is limited to the daytime, hauling material is permitted only at night because the trucks carrying it have to cross the very congested intersection of Davis Street and Montage Mountain Road. However, the hauling of the foreign borrow concurrently with excavation has also helped us to not only keep up with but also get slightly ahead of an already aggressive schedule.”

Currently the company has 20 employees on the job, with 15 on the day shift and five working the night shift.

For rock excavation, Slusser Brothers are using two Caterpillar 330 BL excavators with NPK E-225 hydraulic hammers, a Volvo 460 excavator and a JD 330 excavator fitted with a Magnum 10,000-lb. (4,535 kg) hydraulic hammer. A second JD 330 excavator with a 52-in. (132 cm) bucket is performing earth excavation at other locations on the project. A Link-Belt 2700 excavator is assisting the hammers by moving broken material and building work benches along the more than 40-ft. (12.2 m) high cut slope. Pipe work is being handled by a Link-Belt 4300 excavator with pipe back fill work managed by a Caterpillar 416 R.T. backhoe.

A Caterpillar D6 bulldozer is being utilized at the foreign borrow pit along with a Caterpillar 235 excavator and Caterpillar D8 dozers are handling placing the embankment material as well as benching excavation. Caterpillar D4 and D5 bulldozers also are carrying out miscellaneous tasks around the site.

Embankment slope shaping is being done by a Gradall 4100, with a pair of Ingersoll-Rand rollers (models SD 100 and 115) handling compaction of the fill. The pair of Ingersoll-Rand ECM 370 and 590 drills are being used on the rock face (at a 1.5: 1 angle) round out Slusser’s equipment fleet on site. The company also is now investigating the use of a rock saw to expedite the parallel pipe trenches in rock.

Slusser Brothers anticipates installing all long-term traffic controls in March before beginning work on the remainder of the new ramps. Structure work was scheduled to begin in late February with drilling of the Caisson foundations and installation of temporary shoring systems.

About the Company

Slusser Brothers was founded as a family-owned company. Incorporated in 1973, it has evolved into a large heavy-highway construction company with its own quarry, concrete and asphalt plants. In 1999 it was purchased by the Oldcastle Materials Group and is now part of the OMG Mid-Atlantic Group, along with Pennsy Supply Inc. and Tilcon Delaware Inc. Other Pennsylvania projects in which Slusser Brothers have been or are currently involved include interchange ($10 million) and sound wall construction ($2.4 million) on State Route 81, pavement repairs and paving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike ($7.5 million) and reconstruction and road widening work on State Route 61 ($8.6 million).

This story also appears on Construction Equipment Guide.