Ralls Pike Co Rt 79 & 54

Project OverviewDescripción del proyecto

The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) awarded Emery Sapp & Sons (ESS) this $9.5 million roadway rehabilitation project to resurface 24.4 miles of pavement along Route 79 and Route 54 in Ralls Pike County. The project also included safety curve and shoulder improvements to portions of Missouri Route 79 and sidewalk improvements along Dougherty Pike to 4th Street and Noyes Street to South Carolina Street. These necessary improvements brought the roadways into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Completing this project on schedule while ensuring the safety of commuters in Ralls Pike County was incredibly important to ESS. A collaborative team of asphalt and roadway experts were assembled to complete the complex challenges this work entailed. One notable roadblock included a portion of the runway that intersected with a high-traffic business district. Throughout these junctions, the crew was required to use a different asphalt mix and utilize rubber tire rollers as opposed to steel rollers. Prepping materials and crew members for these transitions required close coordination amongst the project team.

Further challenges included sections of the roadway that followed along a terrain of high bluffs. This caused the roads to become extra slick during inclement weather, especially during the wet winter and spring months. To maintain safe roadway conditions, the team used Open Graded Friction Course (OGFC) pavement, an asphalt mix that is primarily composed of single size coarse aggregate with a relatively large percentage of air voids. This aggregate structure provides a higher degree of friction as well as permeability to the surface of the pavement. The permeability further improves frictional behavior during wet weather while reducing the dangers of splash, spray and hydroplaning due to increased drainage from the pavement surface. Installation of OGFC was paramount in ensuring the safety of the traveling public.

In total, the ESS team completed 18,000 square yards of surface treatment, 34,370 square yards of shoulder widening, nearly 37,000 square yards of pavement preservation, and 370,000 square yards of asphalt paving. Additionally, crews widened a 10-mile stretch of road to extend bike paths lanes within the corridor.

The stellar efforts of ESS and its partners on this MoDOT project did not go unnoticed. Shortly after the rehabilitation of the roadways, ESS earned the Excellence in Asphalt Paving Award in the Overlay Minor Road category by the Missouri Asphalt Paving Association (MAPA). This accolade is a testament to the level of work our employee-owners deliver to our clients day after day.