April: A pair of excavators drop steel cylinder weights on the pavement to break up the ramp connecting 48th Street to Broadway Road. The ramp will be replaced by a loop ramp that will carry traffic from eastbound Interstate 10 to northbound State Route 143.
April: A track hoe carries a piece of the MSE wall as workers help guide it into position. Then, crews will attach metal straps and bury them under fill dirt to help hold up the wall.
April: A crew builds a Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) wall as part of the construction of the ramps connecting I-10 and SR 143.
April: In the I-10 median work zone between SR 143 and Broadway Road, crews begin to strip the falsework that had been supporting the straddle bent concrete forms.
April: Now that concrete has been poured, the straddle bent structure can stand up on its own and crews can remove the supporting falsework.
March: A full closure of northbound State Route 143 on Sunday, March 17, allowed crews to shift concrete barrier and replace pavement striping. Here a worker uses a propane blowtorch to heat up and remove adhesive striping along the side of the roadway.
March: Crews tie rebar on the expanded lanes for the westbound I-10 bridge over the Salt River.
March: A paving crew pours a roadway shoulder on the eastbound Interstate 10 Collector-Distributor (CD) road near Southern Avenue.
March: A crew member directs the flow of the concrete over the rebar to construct a shoulder about four feet thick.
March: Workers construct concrete forms on the straddle bent in the I-10 median work zone between Broadway Road and SR 143. The structures will carry ramps connecting high occupancy vehicle (HOV) traffic between I-10 and SR 143.
March: The new westbound I-10 on-ramp at Broadway Road goes between the Collector-Distributor road and mainline I-10.
March: The new westbound I-10 on-ramp at Broadway Road replaces the old on ramp, which was also removed over the weekend.
March: A hoe-ram and an excavator work on removing what had been the concrete lanes of the westbound I-10 on-ramp at Broadway Road.
March: A crew saw cuts grooves in the pavement to improve traction at the entrance to the new westbound Interstate 10 on-ramp at Broadway Road
March: With the new westbound I-10 on-ramp at Broadway Road about to open, crews removed the old ramp, milling up the asphalt and demolishing the concrete lanes.
March: A crane lifts a concrete form to be installed on one of the straddle bents being constructed in the median of Interstate 10 that will support ramps connecting I-10 and State Route 143.
March: A crew installs more rebar on a median straddle bent.
March: A concrete crew finishes a small piece of the eastbound CD road, preparing it for barrier wall construction near Tempe Diablo Stadium.
March: Landscaping has begun at the eastbound I-10 off ramp at Elliot Road. A loader delivers rock to the west side of the ramp where two workers will spread it.
March: A crew constructs a barrier wall on the eastbound Collector-Distributor (CD) road near Tempe Diablo Stadium.
March: Carpenters begin construction of the concrete forms for a pier cap on one of the ramps that will connect I-10 with SR 143.
March: Pier cap construction is progressing in the I-10 median work zone between Broadway Road and State Route 143.
March: Workers tie rebar for what will be a barrier wall on the eastbound CD road.
March: A crew ties rebar along the shoulder of the eastbound CD road next to the ramp to US 60.
March: Workers construct concrete forms on the eastbound Interstate 10 Collector-Distributor (CD) road near Southern Avenue
March: While eastbound I-10 was closed, crews removed old sign structures near the ramp to eastbound US 60 and replaced them with new structures.
February: A backhoe removes pavement from eastbound I-10 under the Broadway Road bridge where the new lanes will tie in with the freeway mainline.
February: A striping removal truck uses a high-pressure jet of water to remove old pavement markings so that the lanes can be reconfigured.
February: A crew uses a concrete saw to cut a three-inch deep trench in the pavement to install wiring for traffic control electronics.
February: A weekend closure of eastbound Interstate 10 allowed crews to reconfigure lanes and make adjustments to work zones in the area around State Route 143 and Broadway Road.
February: Workers tie rebar for the bridge deck of the eastbound CD road over Southern Avenue.
February: Once the concrete has been poured, smoothed and the final surface treatment applied, it is sprayed with a white curing compound that helps it set properly and avoid cracking.
February: Crews smooth the edges of the freshly poured concrete that connected to an elevated section of the ramp that had been poured previously.
February: Crews pour concrete for the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) ramps that will connect State Route 143 and I-10.
February: Girders for the eastbound Collector-Distributor (CD) road have been set over the eastbound Interstate 10 off-ramp to Baseline Road and crews are beginning to construct the bridge deck.
February: A worker uses a vibrator tool to get the remaining concrete out of the bucket and eliminate air pockets inside the concrete form.
February: Workers guide the bucket over the concrete forms.
February: A crane lifts a bucket full of concrete as crews pour the diaphragms linking girders together for the widening of Interstate 10 over the Salt River.
February: A worker uses a cutting torch to remove a piece of rebar from the top of a girder that is part of the deck of the eastbound Collector-Distributor Road over Southern Avenue.
February: A crew encases a drainage pipe in concrete that crosses under Broadway Road near the Double Buttes Cemetery.
February: The crane lifts a girder, which is approximately 130 feet long and weighs about 145,000 pounds.
February: A worker helps guide the girder into place on top of the pier cap.
February: A worker in a lift communicates with the crane operator to help him safely guide the girder into place.
February: A truck delivers a girder and workers start the process of attaching safety equipment and the overhang platform supports.
February: Crews prepare overhangs that will be attached to girders to widen the westbound Interstate 10 bridge over the Salt River.
January: Preparing for widening the I-10, a hoe ram breaks up the pavement next to the westbound lanes at the Salt River.
January: The middle bridge is for the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) ramps that will connect SR 143 and I-10.
January: The last bridge will be the new ramp connecting westbound I-10 to northbound SR 143.
January: The first bridge will connect southbound SR 143 to the eastbound I-10 Collector-Distributor (CD) road.
January: In January, northbound State Route 143 drivers began driving under three new bridges that will eventually connect SR 143 and Interstate 10
January: Once the girder is set, crews then make sure it is stable and secure before disconnecting it from the crane.
January: The crane lifts the girder and slowly moves it into position while workers steady the load with ropes attached to the yellow spreader beam.
January: Crews prepare the girders to be placed on the supporting pier caps.
January: A lane closure of westbound I-10 allowed trucks to deliver the girders to the site. Then, workers attached safety equipment so they could work on it once it’s in position.
January: Crews prepare to set girders for the widening of westbound Interstate 10 over the Salt River. A crane is mobilized in the river bottom while a truck delivers the girders to the closed work zone up above.
January: Workers tie rebar for a column in the median of Interstate 10 as part of the construction of the ramps that will connect I-10 and SR 143.
January: A crew pours concrete for a catch basin in the shoulder of southbound SR 143.
January: Crews complete the final activities needed to reopen the southbound SR 143 on-ramp at University Drive.
January: A weekend closure of State Route 143 allowed crews to complete several activities needed to reopen the southbound SR 143 on-ramp at University Drive and rearrange lanes into a new traffic configuration.
January: Under the multiuse bridge at Alameda Drive, a paving crew places asphalt for a base layer that will later be paved with concrete.
January: These rebar structures will be placed along the shoulder of southbound SR 143 and then covered with concrete.
January: A forklift lowers rebar into position along the southbound SR 143 roadway shoulder.
January: The paving machine has concrete fed in one end, automatically inserts reinforcing steel and produces a barrier that is fed out the back where workers smooth it.
January: A paving crew pours a concrete barrier wall as part of the widening of southbound State Route 143.
January: About 1,000 feet of barrier wall can be constructed in just one day using this method.
