I-5 Kettleman City Pavement Rehabilitation – Kettleman City, California

Located midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles where SR41 intersects I-5, Kettleman City is a common stopping point and throughfare for those traveling between the north to ocean resort communities in the south. Addressing needed highway infrastructure improvements along this route, The I-5 Kettleman City Pavement Rehabilitation project involved the cold planning of 0.35 feet of AC pavement, the removal and replacement of damaged panels with deep lift hot mix asphalt (HMA), and the overlay of 0.35-feet of HMA and 0.20 feet of RHMA.

Budget and scheduling issues plagued the project at its start with the cost of concrete pavement removal double that of early engineering estimates. To mitigate schedule delays that would negatively impact the traveling public, Granite Construction partnered with Caltrans to create an innovative time saving solution by adding resources to the pavement removal and saw cutting operation. As the lanes were closed, Caltrans could immediately identify the panels slated for removal, enabling the construction team to complete the work within the allotted timeframe.

Another creative solution developed through Partnering addressed an abundance of rubble generated from the doubling of the concrete panel removal. The solution was to stockpile the rubble in one gore area on the project where maintenance would crush it for reuse as shoulder backing on this and other roadways nearby. By working in tandem to develop mutually beneficial solutions facilitated by the implementation of Partnering best practices (Partnering workshops, Issue Resolution Ladder, Partnering Charter, and monthly surveys), the project was successfully completed under budget, on-schedule and with no injuries.