Caltrans District 8, Route 138 Widening and Realignment Project, Wrightwood & Hesperia, CA

Caltrans District 8, Route 138 Widening and Realignment Project, Wrightwood & Hesperia, CA

138-widening

ROLE:

S2 provided construction inspection and materials testing services for this Caltrans project.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

This was a $30 million construction project, which began at the LA county line and ended at I-15. This fifteen mile stretch of Route 138 was widened to add truck climbing lanes (EB and WB), and to realign the vertical and horizontal curves for improved sight distance at various locations.

Roadway excavation of more than 600,000 m3 was required. There were massive excavation and embankment sections, and twenty-nine drainage systems with depth of invert up to 20 m. The widened section of the roadway and some overlay work required 130,000 tonnes of AC. A 14’ x 18’ box culvert bridge was installed. Signal and lighting inspection and construction was required as well.

Existing highway was a two-lane rural highway. Most of the work was performed with the closure of one lane and the use of a flagging operation. Work on one section of the highway was performed in three shifts with this section completely closed. This required coordination with Caltrans’ Traffic Management Center, local businesses and residents, traveling public, CHP, US Forest Service, and local emergency responders.

S2 provided construction inspection and QA testing services on this project. S2 staffing levels on the project varied as Caltrans’ resource needs fluctuated greatly; S2 met Caltrans’ resource needs even when the requests were made on short notice. The fact that several S2 inspectors resided in the high desert area was very beneficial to the project.