SR 543, I-5 to International Boundary Widening & Border Crossing Improvements
Project Dates:5/1/2006 - 5/31/2009 Location:Whatcom County, WA Assistant Project Manager:CJ Handforth Owner:Wash. State Dept. of Transportation Superintendent:Kelly Brown
Award Amount: $28,315,135.57 (pre-tax) Project Managers: Tony Anderson Owner/Engineer: Wash. State Dept. of Transportation Engineer:Washington State
Department of Transportation,
Chris Damitio
Project Description: The SR 543 Project reconstructed the truck
crossing lanes and the US-Canadian Border
in Blaine, Wa. Work included construction of
two bridges, cast-in-place concrete retaining
walls, noise walls and new concrete roadways.
For this project IMCO
received the 2009 AGC
of Washington - Build
Washington Award for Construction Excellence - Highway & Transportation
Highlights
Granted substantial completion 176 Working
Days ahead of the allowed contract time.
Used the “Partnering Method” with the
owner, which contributed to the success
of the project. As a result both WSDOT
and IMCO make an effort to implement
Partnering on all projects.
IMCO established a great working
relationship with Canadian and United States
Border officials and was able to perform the
work effectively and timely to all parties’
satisfaction.
Installed concrete drilled shafts during the
winter; which posed a huge erosion and
sediment control concern. In working closely
with WA State Department of Transportation
and the Department of Ecology, IMCO
maintained permit compliance and completed
the project without any violations.
A Cost Reduction Incentive Proposal (CRIP)
was submitted by IMCO, eliminating a detour
phase of the project; This turned out to be
a huge time-savings for the project and a
$400,000 cost savings for the Washington
State Department of Transportation.
IMCO crews worked a total of 127,553
man-hours on this project with no lost time
accidents.
Major elements of this project
1,000 drilled shafts totaling
approximately 38,000 Lineal Feet
12,442.02 square feet of noise
wall that averaged 15 feet tall
21,889 lineal feet of
underground utilities and storm
drain (excluding electrical
trenching)
220,000 cubic yards of export
The development of a State
owned aggregate material source