March 2004

(Austin, Texas) – Zachry has commenced work on enhancements to U.S. Highway 183 in Williamson County, marking the beginning of its third Central Texas Turnpike project. The Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT) Texas Turnpike Authority (TTA) awarded Zachry a contract in January to upgrade 1.6 miles of U.S. Highway 183 from just north of State Highway 45 to Avery Ranch Road. The roadway will serve as a transition from U.S. 183 to the future U.S. 183A.

U.S. 183A, the Loop 1/ MoPac Expressway extension, SH 45 North and SH 130 will eventually be the four connected toll elements comprising the 122-mile Central Texas Turnpike, which is designed to increase mobility and improve travel safety in Central Texas.

Zachry and joint venture partner Gilbert Construction are constructing the Loop 1 extension to the future SH 45, and a four-level T-interchange to connect the two roadways. The Zachry team will reconstruct a portion of the U.S. 183 main lanes north of the U.S. 183 / SH 45 North grade separation, and construct new U.S. 183 main lanes, including bridge crossings over Lakeline Mall Drive.

The contract also calls for the construction of the remaining portions of the direct connector between westbound SH 45 North and northbound U.S. 183, as well as the direct connector from southbound U.S. 183 to eastbound and westbound SH 45 North. Additionally, crews will reconstruct a portion of the existing U.S. 183 frontage roads and four-lane facility, and will build a new northbound frontage road for the highway. ZCC will self-perform a significant portion of the work, while subcontractors will complete the remainder of the project.

"Proximity to the other two Zachry/ Gilbert Constructors projects certainly gave us an advantage with resource availability, management and sharing,” said heavy civil division operations manager Greg McVey. “Also, our team came up with a unique approach to the project that gave us an advantage. Nearby sources of borrowed material were located, and we gave special consideration to the needs of our subcontractors and material suppliers to support our approach to the project.”

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