SER Construction Partners LLC is a year into the Texas Department of Transportation's (TxDOT) $64 million State Highway 105 widening and reconstruction project in Montgomery County — an initiative converting 5-7 mi. of an east-west, two-lane asphalt driving surface into a four-lane concrete highway.
The project is among four ongoing segments totaling 20 mi. that will widen SH 105 between the cities of Conroe and Cleveland. SER's section passes through an area with forested areas on both sides, along with homes and businesses and intersections for local roads.
SER Construction Partners photo
"The project is intended to prepare the corridor for continued growth in the area, which has led to higher traffic volumes and increasing congestion on the existing roadway," said Leo Flores, a TxDOT Houston District spokesman. "By widening the roadway to four lanes and adding a continuous two-way center turn lane, the project will improve traffic flow and give drivers a safer place to make turns, helping to reduce congestion and improve overall safety along the corridor."
The estimated cost of the overall project, financed by state and federal funds, is approximately $175 million.
When completed, it will have four lanes with a continuous center turn lane, sidewalks and accommodations for bicycles within the project limits, and will convert approximately 75 percent of the project from an open ditch to curb and gutter drainage system.
Early project planning started in 2003, and public hearings were held in 2019, bolstered by various studies and environmental assessments. Construction began in 2021.
SER Construction was awarded a contract for its portion of the project on Oct. 31, 2024.
Before construction, SH 105 within the project limits generally consisted of a two-lane undivided roadway (one 12-ft. lane in each direction) with 11-ft. outside shoulders. A small section of the existing roadway near Conroe consisted of four 11-ft. travel lanes (two in each direction), no shoulders and a continuous two-way turn lane.
SER Construction Partners photo
The project's final section will be a 10-in. continuously reinforced concrete pavement up to 95 ft. wide to provide for two lanes in each direction with full-width shoulders on each side with a continuous center turning lane.
Project Changes
BGE Inc. designed the project. Public input helped shape the final design.
"The original project was environmentally approved on February 20, 2020," according to a TxDOT web page. "Since environmental approval, continued project development efforts have identified the need for several design changes. The proposed design changes include the elimination of a section of sidewalks on the south side of SH 105 from 10th Street to FM 3083/Beach Airport Road, the addition of turn lanes on FM 1314 and FM 3083 and the addition of U-turns at the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway crossing located east of Walker Rd. Two additional detention ponds would also be added; one located west of Jefferson Chemical Road, and one near Caney Creek."
The traffic management plan is based on closing large full sections of SH 105 to permit crews to excavate the existing asphalt lanes and construct the concrete lanes. TxDOT has set up detours to help motorists.
"The project is phased such that existing traffic has been shifted to permit one-half of the 95-foot roadway section to be constructed at a time," said Scott Ashmore, an SER senior project manager. "SER is nearing completion of the 5.2 miles of the westbound travel lanes, the outside shoulder and half of the continuous center turning lane."
SER Construction has made steady progress throughout, Ashmore said.
"Thus far, the project has been working five and sometimes six days per week, with all earthwork, drainage, bridge and subbase crews working typical daytime work shifts," he said, "but concrete paving activities typically start during the early morning hours with the anticipation of being completed with each shift prior to the afternoon/after school traffic congestion that develops.
"Aside from a large diameter gas pipeline that traverses the project in one area causing some impacts to the planned construction, there have not been any significant issues," he added. "SER has a strong working relationship with TxDOT and TxDOT's construction engineering and inspection partners."
Construction On Time
The construction of the new lanes is on schedule.
SER Construction Partners photo
"The project includes the construction of two bridge structures — one over Jayhawker Creek and the other over Bee Branch," Ashmore said. "Both bridges are relatively short in length and in height. The bridges are supported by 36-in. diameter and 42-in. diameter drill shafts. The bridges include the offsite fabrication and delivery to the site for placement of approximately 5,400 linear feet of TX34 pre-stressed concrete girders."
Cranes were instrumental in placing the beams.
The work for this section required its closure. The sidewalk section of the existing bridge was retained, while the section with the lanes were demolished.
For one portion of the widened highway, a shoulder, which served as a driving lane, was separated from a work area. The section had been excavated and prepped for the pouring of the concrete lanes.
With the asphalt lanes excavated and the space for the two new lanes prepared, crews placed rebar the length of two lanes for the concrete pours.
On another section of SH 105, which is bordered on both sides by forests, a similar process was followed.
Paving Processes
The inner section was used to permit ready-mix vehicles to deliver concrete for the pours and for other vehicles and pieces of equipment to move about and be deployed. Excavation crews also prepared the site of the new shoulder, which gave crews an additional area to place equipment and materials.
SER Construction Partners photo
"Once the outer lanes are poured, crews will focus on the inner lanes," Ashmore said. "The concrete pavement being constructed consists of approximately 260,000 square yards of 10-inch-thick continuously reinforced concrete pavement. Beneath the concrete pavement is a 1-inch thick hot mix asphalt bond breaker section that is constructed atop a 6-inch-thick plant-mixed cement-treated aggregate base layer roller compacted in place.
"The first phase of the project included multiple steps that installed large-dimensioned drainage features across the roadway. This ensured that stormwater runoff would not be compromised, nor interfere with the new roadway's construction."
SER is slipform paving most of the project.
The general contractor is using GOMACO equipment to construct the concrete pavement: GP-2600 slipform paver, a PS-2600 placer/spreader and a TC-600 texture/cure machine. A GOMACO C-450 bridge deck finisher is used to construct the concrete deck pours on the bridges.
SER's management team includes a project manager; a project engineer; a project superintendent; a concrete batch plant and pugmill manager; and numerous craft/trade-specific superintendents and foremen.
"The team of SER's personnel and specialty subcontractors is very familiar in working with one another," Ashmore said. "The crews are very experienced in working in the region and are very accustomed to the requirements of the TxDOT standard specifications."
Typical days have many SER and subcontractor personnel on site.
SER is producing the project's 270,000 sq. yds. of cement-treated aggregate subbase at an onsite screening and pugmill yard.
"One hundred percent of the material used to produce this base material is comprised of old materials removed from the SH 105 corridor and is recycled," Ashmore said. "The new concrete roadway requires approximately 75,000 yards of concrete, which SER is producing at its portable concrete batch plant that is erected on the SH 105 corridor." CEG
