A highway project that consisted of innovative concrete pipe work has won a national award.
The Veterans Parkway project in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is the winner of the 2021 Project Achievement Award from the American Concrete Pipe Association.
The $55.6 million six-lane divided-highway project between I-90 and Rice Street involved the placement of:
- More than 17,000 feet of Class II, III, IV and V reinforced concrete pipe.
- 680 feet of 60-inch Class IV and Class V RCP jacking pipe.
- 382 feet of box culvert with a 90-degree bend.
- More than 150 precast inlets and junction boxes.
One of the more innovative aspects of the project involved protecting a historic wooden truss railroad bridge from erosion. To accomplish this, a box culvert was constructed with a 90-degree bend to collect multiple outlet pipes from a detention pond and release them to one location, according to ACPA.
The project also built a drainage system, while not interrupting traffic on I-90, to prevent flooding on the highway. Crews jacked twin 60-inch reinforced concrete pipes under the interstate, which handles about 25,000 vehicles a day, to save time and money.
Hancock Concrete Products of Sioux Falls, HDR Engineering and the South Dakota Department of Transportation collaborated on the project. Their innovative designs also led to cost savings, ACPA says.
“The adaptability and dependability of the reinforced concrete pipe on this project provided a way to solve complex drainage solutions, and Hancock Concrete Products is proud to have contributed to its success,” says Ray Pierson of Hancock Concrete Products. “By choosing concrete pipe, SDDOT has provided taxpayers with a drainage solution with long-term strength, longevity and durability, that’s also produced locally and supports our region’s economy.”
Riley Brothers Construction of Morris, Minnesota, is the contractor on the project. T&R Contracting of Sioux Falls paved the concrete highway’s surface.
ACPA’s Project Achievement Awards recognize agencies that have demonstrated creative and innovative accomplishments through projects that use precast concrete pipes or boxes.