San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor

Orange County, California

A Kiewit-led joint venture completed the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor — a limited-access, 17-mile, six-lane controlled-access toll road. The $802 million project runs approximately parallel with the Pacific Coast Highway and the San Diego Freeway (I-405/I-5). At its southern end, the corridor connects to Interstate 5 near Avery Parkway.

The design-build project included 10 interchanges encompassing 68 bridges, 725,000 square feet of retaining walls and 32 million cubic yards of excavation. The project required mapping and appraisal of more than 100 individual parcels and incorporated more than 300 environmental mitigation measures into the design.

Kiewit’s phased approach divided the project into four major sections. Each section had its own quality control unit, which was responsible for inspection, testing and documentation of all work. This helped to ensure not only the quality of the work but also its acceptability to the client.

Despite an 18-month environmental delay, plus two severe rainstorms and resulting floods, the roadway was opened to traffic more than three months early. The job received Project of the Year awards from the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Design-Build Institute of America and the Orange County Consulting Engineers Council.

This project received the following awards:

• 1997 National Design-Build Award, Best Civil Project over $5 Million, DBIA
• 1997 AON Build American Award, AGC