News release from the Allen County Highway Department:
County Highway Dept. Named Recipient of 2020 “Excellence in Concrete Pavements” Award
Ryan Road reconstruction chosen as Gold project(December 10, 2020) — The American Concrete Pavement Association has selected the Allen County Highway Department’s reconstruction of Ryan Road as a Gold project as part of its 31st Annual “Excellence in Concrete Pavements” awards program. The recognition came during the association’s annual meeting that was held online last week.
The awards program encourages high-quality workmanship, quality, and creativity in concrete pavement construction, rehabilitation, and preservation projects. Winners were determined by 56 professionals who devoted their time and expertise to serve as judges.
The first phase of Ryan Road was developed to connect US 24 to Dawkins Road, and eventually to US 30. The new concrete roadway is 2.2 miles long. It includes all new drainage and two completely reconstructed at-grade railroad crossings that will promote new industry and provide motorists with a safer, easier route for truck traffic between through the area. It is also intended to help keep heavy truck traffic out of New Haven and off the smaller Allen County area roads. Businesses are already expanding in the area, including the addition of a Speedway Redi Mix plant and a multi-million dollar expansion at SDI La Farga. Total cost of the project was $8.4 million.
Coordination with utility work crews and crews working on the railroad crossings presented scheduling challenges. Unseasonable freezing temperatures arrived six to eight weeks earlier than normal, also impacting the paving. Early freezing in both years of construction created the need to protect nearly a quarter of the entire pavement from winter conditions. In spite of the unpredictable weather and other challenges, project contractor Primco, Inc. maintained intermediate goals and completed the job five months ahead of schedule. DLZ Indiana engineered the project.