Wilmington Viaduct Makes 2020 Top Starts.
Each year, Engineering News Record ranks the Top 25 Starts in the Mid-Atlantic region by project cost. Restore the Corridor (Rehabilitation of I-95) in Wilmington, Delaware ranked #15 with a total project cost of $205M.
With a total project length of 6 miles and winding through downtown Wilmington, this major interstate rehabilitation project will bring the interstate back to a state of good repair. 19 bridges will be rehabilitated, including mill and hydrodemolition of the existing overlays and placement of new overlays, deck patching, joint replacements, bearing replacements, and steel and concrete repairs. Additional work includes upgrading guardrail and concrete barriers, signage and sign structures, lighting, and safety improvements at two on-ramps. Due to the anticipated impacts to the City of Wilmington, contracts totaling nearly $100 million were completed in advance to repave streets in and around Wilmington and improve safety and capacity and intersections expected to handle additional traffic on alternative routes into and out of the city. The main contract is being delivered using the CM/GC delivery method, where a qualifications-based selection process was used to select Kiewit Infrastructure for the preconstruction services phase. Kiewit was awarded three early work packages to advance work activities off of the critical path and reduce risks during the mainline construction. These work packages began construction in August 2020. The mainline contract was awarded in December 2020 to Kiewit, with long-term lane closures scheduled to begin on I-95 in February 2021. The project team was required to complete all long-term lane closures within 2 years, and the CM/GC process produced a schedule reducing the lane closures by several months, weather permitting. The project is expected to be completed in May 2023.
