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Federal Highway Administration / Publications / Focus / March 2010

Accelerating Infrastructure Innovations

Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-10-011
Date: March 2010

Speeding Construction and Saving Money Through Technology Innovation in Georgia

For the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), the use of innovative technologies and practices on an I-85 interchange project in West Point, Georgia, provided an important boost to the project, resulting in both time and cost savings. These innovations included prefabricated bridge elements and design-build contracting. The project was supported by a $1 million grant from the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Highways for LIFE (HfL) program.

The project, which began in May 2007 and was completed in November 2009, involved the construction of a new I-85 interchange and 16 km (10 mi) of four-lane frontage and access roadway. The interchange features prefabricated bridge columns and pier caps, which were used for the first time in Georgia. Other firsts for the State included achieving real-time traffic operations support through speed band monitoring and using a design-build contract. The length of time the traveling public was affected by the project construction, meanwhile, was reduced from an estimated 30 months to 16.5 months. GDOT also realized cost savings of $1.98 million.

A final report on the project, I-85 Interchange Design-Build Project Using Prefabricated Bridge Elements in West Point, GA, is available online at www.fhwa.dot.gov/hfl/summary/ga/index.cfm. For additional information on HfL, visit www.fhwa.dot.gov/hfl, or contact Mary Huie at FHWA, 202-366-3039 (email: mary.huie@fhwa.dot.gov).

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Updated: 06/27/2017
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