Northwest Parkway Toll Road

Denver, Colorado

In June 2001, a Kiewit-led joint venture began construction of the 9.5-mile-long Northwest Parkway Toll Road located between Interstate 25 on the east and U.S. Highway 36 on the west. At $191 million, this segment of the highly traveled route encircling the Denver metro area is one of the largest design-build highway projects in history. The tollway ties into another previously completed Kiewit project, E-470 Segment IV, a $250 million design-build project which involved constructing a toll plaza and 12.5 miles of highway located on Denver’s northeast perimeter.

The work included a new roadway alignment; 26 bridge structures; two ramp toll plazas; a single mainline toll plaza; two cast-in-place box culverts; and 46 retaining walls. More than 100 utilities including electrical, water, natural gas, traffic signals, television and fiber optic lines had to be relocated, as did 28 oil and gas wells located along the alignment. Major quantities included 6.2 million cubic yards of earthwork; 10,000 feet of precast reinforced concrete box culverts; 450,000 cubic yards of borrow; 230,000 tons of base aggregate; 300,000 tons of asphalt; nearly 13,000 feet of drainage pipe; and 2.5 million square yards of subgrade finishing.

The project opened to traffic five weeks early and won the 2004 Award for Excellence from the American Concrete Pavement Association, the 2002 National Asphalt Producers Association “Best in Quality” Award, and the 2003 Silver Hard Hat Award for Outstanding Design-Build Project from Colorado Construction Magazine.