Interstate 65/Interstate 70 Hyperfix, Indianapolis

The combined stretch of Interstate 65/Interstate 70 had never undergone significant repair since it was built in 1976 and required rehabilitation of 33 bridge decks and more than 35 lane-miles of pavement.

Additional lanes at two key locations needed to facilitate greater traffic. The 175,000 vehicles using this section every day had caused deterioration to the pavement and bridge deck.

The original plan called for a two-phase project in 2002 and 2003 using traditional construction methods: lane closures and crossovers. But this was estimated to cost $1 million a day in user costs in traffic backups and lost hours.

After numerous meetings, the bold decision was made to shut down the interstate for 85 days in the summer of 2003. Engineers estimated this would take half the time of conventional methods.

Seizing the Opportunity

The window of opportunity was narrow. A complete shutdown would only be feasible in 2003, the only year during which Interstate 465, the bypass around the city, had no major lane restrictions.

The size of the project was immense. In fact, the largest set of bridge rehabilitation plans in the history of the Indiana Department of Transportation was prepared.

Cooperation was essential. For instance, INDOT paid more than $1.7 million to the city for improvements to downtown city streets and provide extra police to help with the increase in traffic. The city even delayed some projects to eliminate other lane restrictions, and a $1 million federal grant was obtained for park and park-and-ride bus services to downtown.

Many businesses feared the impact the closure would have on customers. In response, the maintenance-of-traffic plan was scheduled to allow all exit ramps to downtown and four other entrance ramps to remain open. The collector-distributor that runs parallel to the main highway was kept open to serve as the off ramp to city streets.

The general contractor staffed the project around the clock for seven days a week. In the end, the project was completed in 55 days -30 days ahead of schedule. A bonus of $3 million was paid to the general contractor for the effort.

The jury said, "It was incredible what was accomplished in such a short period of time. The team was coordinating constantly on this one."

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