FORT IRWIN, Calif.--The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Fort Irwin Oct. 13, in celebration of the completion of a 3.9 mile truck bypass road.
The roadway will divert slow-moving truck traffic to the bypass, allowing less congestion of the fort's main roadway.
"This bypass road is a great project," said Lt. Ricky James, Fort Irwin Police Department operations officer. "It was needed to route mainly slow-moving trucks carrying equipment to the fort, especially during the morning commute, as drivers became impatient and sometimes unsafely passed the slow trucks."
Corps contractor ACE Engineering, Inc., began work in May 2008 with the pulverization and removal of old asphalt from the previous bypass. A flash flood ravaged the jobsite, washing away all base material and equipment into a lakebed five miles away in July 2008.
The contractor redesigned the roadway with swale crossings that will direct water across the roadway into a nearby creek in efforts to prevent future flooding.
"Included with the redesign were 800 linear feet of "gabion baskets," which will be used for erosion control," said Lowell Allen, a project manager with ACE Engineering.
In Oct. 2008, construction resumed with the addition of a second lane and additional shoulder paving. The $8.4 million bypass was completed earlier this month.
A total of 26,000 tons of asphalt, 750 yards of concrete and 6,300 road reflectors were just some of the materials used to complete the bypass, according to Allen.
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