Not since the $631 million construction of Charleston’s Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge in 2001 has the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) undertaken such an expensive project – awarding a $231 million contract to the Flatiron-Zachry Joint Venture to reconfigure the I-85/I-385 interchange in Greenville County.
Flatiron-Zachry is a joint venture of Flatiron Construction Corp. of Denver and Zachry Construction Corp. of San Antonio.
Construction will begin once a Notice-To-Proceed order is issued by the SCDOT, allowing the contractor a period of 1,035 days to complete the project.
The project is made possible by legislative approval of Act 98 in 2013, which provided SCDOT additional funding for bridge, resurfacing and mainline interstate projects. “It is the first item on the list that has advanced to construction,” said Secretary of Transportation Janet P. Oakley.
Once completed, the improvements will make the section of interstate safer and more efficient, she said, both of which should greatly contribute to economic development and growth in South Carolina.
As outlined by the SCDOT release, the bonding program for Interstate Improvements in Act 98 will provide $80 million in funding for the project, while the balance of the project will be funded by the SCDOT as part of its federal-aid program. Act 98 also provides for a $50 million transfer from the state’s general fund to the SCDOT each year. An equivalent amount is then transferred to the SC Transportation Infrastructure Bank to fund a 15-year bonding period that is expected to yield between $500 and $550 million for interstate projects.
Christy A. Hall, SCDOT deputy secretary for engineering, said the extra funding would continue to advance other projects on the interstate list.
“The benefit of Act 98 funding is that it supplements our regular federal interstate program and enables the SCDOT to accelerate delivery of these much-needed interstate upgrade projects,” she said. Without the infusion of Act 98 funding, several of these projects would remain in the prioritized queue for several years until the SCDOT could accumulate enough federal funds to advance them.
The scope of interstate projects typically requires three or more years to complete design work, acquire permits and purchase right-of-way once funding is in place, Hall said.
The SCDOT is using the Design-Build approach to compress the timelines on these interstate projects and speed their completion, she said.
