With approximately 1.1 million residents, Fairfax County is the most populous county in Virginia and encompasses thriving towns like Reston, Tysons, Herndon, Vienna, Chantilly and McLean. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has several road-building projects active there, designed to keep the traffic flowing with minimal interruptions.
The Fairfax County Parkway (SR 286) plays a central role in this bundle of projects VDOT has planned to reduce congestion and enhance safety. The Parkway snakes across the county, intersecting with other important highways and secondary roads to keep the county's road warriors on the move.
Shirley Contracting photo
One of the current projects is part of a three-phase plan to widen the Parkway from four lanes to six lanes between Nomes Court and Route 123 (also known as Ox Road). This 2-mi. long project will impact a critical corridor for residents traveling from the north end of the county near the Potomac River to I-95 and Springfield in the south.
Shirley Contracting Company, located in nearby Lorton, is leading the work. The job will cost approximately $126 million and should ease the congestion for the 77,000 motorists who use this road daily.
Shirley has deployed dozers and excavators in the early stages of the work for tree removal and excavating dirt and rock to make room for the new lane for southbound travel. Shirley will be using drone flights to map the cut-to-fill status and Universal Total Station (UTS) for machine grade control.
As in other construction projects, Shirley will reuse excavated material whenever possible. The construction team will use cement treated aggregate from the demolished pavement as base for the new lane and for embankments. Shirley also is building new stormwater drains for the project.
Workers will handle a considerable amount of materials in the construction, including:
• 9,000 cu. yds. of concrete
• 99,000 tons of aggregate
• 120,000 tons of asphalt
• 113,000 cu. yds. of cut material
• 600,000 lbs. of steel H pile
• 600,000 lbs. of reinforcing steel
Shirley Contracting photo
Project designers have gone to great lengths to provide safe access for pedestrians using a shared-use path adjacent to the Parkway. Planners also had to account for the Norfolk Southern Railroad that runs below the Parkway. The team is meeting this challenge by building retaining walls wrapping both sides of the Parkway at the bridge that will be widened over the railway. The walls will be up to 30 ft. tall and will be built on the existing slopes. The construction team will be installing pilings to ensure the stability of the retaining walls and slopes.
The work will eliminate an at-grade pedestrian crossing on the Parkway at the Burke Centre Parkway signal. To improve pedestrian safety and reduce traffic delays, the shared-use path will be rerouted from the southbound side of the Parkway under the bridge spanning the Norfolk Southern Railroad to connect to existing pedestrian facilities and Burke Centre Parkway.
Shirley is taking special precautions to avoid damage to tributaries to Popes Head Creek on the northbound side of the Parkway. The contracting team is widening the bridge over the creek and adding a shared-use path on the northbound side. Workers will protect the stream with a series of post-and-panel retaining walls and cast-in-place concrete cantilever walls along the edge of the stream. The post-and-panel walls will enable workers to do construction on the roadway side without impacting the stream. The cantilevered walls require less concrete than gravity walls but need precise construction.
Shirely's team also will improve the driving experience for future travelers by constructing an additional lane on the ramp from the Parkway to Route 123. In addition, the team will improve access to southbound Route 123 by adding a third left-turn lane from Fairfax County Parkway.
While the future looks bright for Fairfax County Parkway, Shirley's teams are taking steps to make it easier for motorists to negotiate the often-complicated work zone. Workers will maintain 2-ft. shoulders along the roadway between the traffic lanes and barriers. Where barriers are not required, the construction team will build wider shoulders. Advanced warning signage will inform motorists of road work, and the project team is providing regular communication to drivers with construction updates about changing traffic patterns.
Shirely Contracting team's work on the southbound Fairfax County Parkway is making solid progress.
"The Parkway is a key corridor for traffic in busy Fairfax County," said Jeff Austin, vice president of Shirley. "We are doing work that will reduce traffic congestion, keep pedestrians safer and doing it in an environmentally responsible way." CEG
