Fred Weber Inc. Finds Route 141 New Place to Reside

Sat November 11, 2000
Megan Nichols

One of St. Louis County’s most congested intersections is receiving a complete overhaul that should improve the moods of many commuters. Route 141 will be relocated and enhanced from south of Clayton Road to Vance Road.

The new road will be a six-lane highway with limited access. All the access to the new Route 141 will be at interchanges and intersections. There will not be any private or commercial entrances. Major interchanges will be located at Manchester Road (Route 100), Route 141 and Big Bend.

Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) officials project that the expanded highway will better handle the road’s heavy traffic, which averages approximately 21,000 travelers in both directions daily. Ultimately, more than 6.4 kilometers (4 mi.) of two-lane road will be converted into six-lane highway. Route 141 relocation continues work that started in the early 1990s to expand the corridor between Highway 30 near Fenton, MO, and Highway 40 (Interstate 64). The project has now been combined and condensed into three phases.

Fred Weber Inc., a St. Louis construction company, has been awarded contracts to build Phases I and II of the project. At an estimated cost of $36 million, the contract for Phase III will be let in May and is scheduled for completion in 2002.

Phase I is the Manchester interchange from Milldale Road to Howard George Road, a 3.7 kilometer (2.3 mi.) corridor. At a cost of $25 million, construction began in fall 1998 and will be complete in early spring. According to Ethan Bryant, MoDOT senior construction inspector, traffic is all on relocated 141 and a new intersection is being constructed. Crews are finishing the last major component of the phase, Bryant said.

Phase II is the 2.2-kilometer (1.4 mi.) stretch from Howard George Road to Briarhurst Road. The right-of-way is complete, and construction is under way. Work on Phase II began in March 1999 and concludes this fall, at a cost of $8.7 million.

“We’re ahead of schedule. Traffic was switched to relocated Route 141 from Howard George to Carmen Road. We’re excavating material and building fills for the portion of Carmen to Briarhurst. We’ll pave in the spring,” Bryant elaborated.

Phase III will extend from Briarhurst to Interstate 44. As part of the effort, Big Bend Road will be elevated over Highway 141 and on/exit ramps will be improved. An extra lane change in each direction will also be added from Vance Road to I-44.

Phase I

“It was a big project as far as size and total construction,” Chris Wilmes, Fred Weber Inc. project manager for Phase I, said.

Phase I has a total of three bridges. At pile depths of 18 meters (59.4 ft.), approximately 450 meters (1,485 ft.) of pile will be used in all three bridges.

“The bridges use stamped and architectural concrete. The decorative panels are pre-cast panels hung from the outside girders ... The city of Manchester contributed a portion to the project just for the aesthetics. The Manchester bridge has around 50,000 blocks and an irrigation system,” Bryant said.

To blend with the nearby historic neighborhood, the Manchester overpass has an old-style stone bridge appearance. Additional aesthetic features include detailed support columns and ornamental lights. The city of Manchester contributed $300,000 toward the costs of the decorative finish.

The Route 141 bridge over Manchester Road was opened to two-lane traffic in August 1999. All ramps were opened and the new signals were activated to replace the existing signals. The on and off ramps meet at one traffic signal under the bridge rather than requiring separate traffic signals.

“It’s a single point diamond design. There’s one set of signals instead of two; it’s one of the first in the state. Before it was a two-lane interchange at grade level with Mandres. Now, it’s not at grade,” Bryant explained.

Coordinating work at major interchanges, such as Manchester and Route 141, required careful communication. According to Bryant, challenges included, keeping access to commercial and residential properties while trying to accelerate the projects and alter the design phases.

“We did utilize the partnering process throughout construction. We involved utility companies early in the process. We had weekly and then bi-monthly meetings that included utilities. They all had extensive moves. They spent a lot of time on this,” Wilmes added.

The project team — MoDOT, Fred Weber Inc., and subcontractors — partnered together to meet the challenges, which included utility relocation, scheduling, as well as constructing a lot of sound walls and retaining walls built on a spiral. Contributing to one or both phases of the Route 141 relocation are the following firms: G.E.I., D&S, Roden’s, ATK, Safety Construction, Reinforced Earth, Bates, Independent Pipe and Champion Precast.

In all, 250,000 square meters (300,000 sq. yds.) of pavement were used on Phase I. This stage required considerable earthwork — 180,000 cubic meters (234,000 cu. yds.) of compacting fill/embankment, 260,000 cubic meters (338,000 cu. yds.) of excavated dirt, and 60,000 square meters (72,000 sq. yds.) of sod.

Phase II

The realignment of Route 141 from Howard George Road to Briarhurst Road is under way. The Fred Weber Inc. crew is working on grading, drainage and paving.

Equipment on site has ranged from a 450 John Deere dozer to a Komatsu 400 trackhoe. The following equipment is being used during both phases of the Route 141 relocation: John Deere 710 backhoe, Cat D8, Cat D6, Cat D4, Cat 825 compactor, Cat 637 scrapers, CMI pavers, Komatsu 300 trackhoe, Grove crane, 963 highlift, skid steer and asphalt paver.

According to Bryant, work is progressing on schedule. Fill was dumped in all summer — approximately 80,000 cubic meters (104,000 cu. yds.) of fill. At some locations, crews have 3 or 3.6 meters (10 or 12 ft.) to put in. Pavement is being poured at a variety of depths. However, for most of Phase II, pavement is being poured at 27.9 centimeters (11 in.). Regular limestone PCCP is being used.

More than 210,000 square meters (252,000 sq. yds.) of PCCP will be used along with 118,000 cubic meters (153,400 cu. yds.) of compacting fill. Excavation on Phase II will total approximately 162,000 cubic meters (210,000 cu. yds.).

Phase II has included unique challenges. Similar to Phase I, this project requires utility relocation. “The amount of utilities that had to be relocated is phenomenal. We carefully coordinated excavation with the utility companies. There were no major outages only a few, already anticipated delays,” Ken Harmon, Fred Weber Inc. project manager for Phase II, said.

Utilities had to be moved both horizontally and vertically. Nearly every major utility uses 141 as a corridor, so the following were affected: water, gas, electric, phone and cable.

“The road has shifted, and the grade has shifted. The new road is 6 to 7 feet lower in places,” Harmon explained. For a point of comparison, most utility lines are approximately 45.7 centimeters (18 in.) below grade.

Fred Weber Inc. and MoDOT are successfully working to keep the project on budget and on, or ahead, of schedule. On both phases, the number of crew members has varied from 15 to 100, depending on the job.

This story also appears on Construction Equipment Guide.