I-475 Reconstruction

Location: Lucas County, Ohio

Project Value: $63,881,940.00

Project Completion Year: 2013

ODOT 10-281 (1005)


I-475 is a heavily traveled highway that serves both as an outer belt on the west side of Toledo, Ohio and a main thoroughfare for communities west of the city to travel to the downtown area. It intersects I-75 on the north side of Toledo in a busy, complicated and sometimes dangerous interchange. Originally constructed in the 1950s, increased traffic volumes, safety concerns and the construction and subsequent expansions of the Toledo Hospital in the immediate vicinity of the interstate have made necessary a large scale widening and reconstruction project. Included is an all new diamond style interchange primarily devoted to the hospital. E.S. Wagner Company serves as the prime contractor on this project for the Ohio Department of Transportation.

While relatively short in over length at just over two miles, the almost $64 million project is incredibly complicated requiring careful maintenance of traffic procedures while performing a total removal, replacement and widening of the highway over the full distance. Construction of the roadway requires approximately 190,000 cubic yards of excavation and 110,000 cubic yards of embankment. E.S. Wagner will also remove 135,000 square yards of existing concrete pavement that will be recycled and partially reincorporated into the project.

While the roadway construction activities are demanding due to the tight confines of the corridor, the projects overall complexity is magnified by the vast amount of required bridge and structure work. All together, the projects twelve bridge structures and eight retaining walls consist of 21,000 cubic yards of quality control/quality assurance concrete, 13,500 lineal feet of drilled shaft foundations, 80,300 lineal feet of driven piles, almost 175,000 cubic yards of granular embankment, 54,320 square feet of Mechanically Stabilized Earth Wall, 3.2 million pounds of reinforcing steel and 5.5 million pounds of structural steel.

As is common when new construction replaces old, as is the case on this project, difficulties that cannot be totally anticipated during the design phase are manifest during construction. While the project has incurred several significant delays, including a slope failure forcing a partial redesign of the largest retaining wall on the project and one of the wettest years on record for this part of the country, E.S. Wagner has partnered with ODOT to mitigate much of the lost time impact to date and continues to work with the Department in an effort to resolve additional project challenges.

E.S. Wagner looks forward to a productive 2012 construction season. This is critical to the achievement of the companys overall goal: project completion well in advance of the November 2013 contract completion date.