Sundt Construction started work on several sections of the city of Lewisville, Texas, Corporate Drive project in spring 2024 and is on track to finish in the winter of 2027.

Sundt secured the $69.6 million contract in 2023, which is being financed by local and federal funds.

Sundt Construction photo

"Plans for Corporate Drive began more than a decade ago," according to a Sundt project page. "Divided into two projects, Segments 2 & 3 and Segments 4 & 5, the roadway will create a continuous east-west thoroughfare that spans across the Elm Fork of the Trinity River.

"Although two separate projects, Sundt is managing the projects as one to provide consistency and continuity to the City. The extension of Corporate Drive will transform the connectivity of the region, offering a critical new link for Lewisville residents and businesses."

Key elements include a new 15,500-ft. four-lane concrete roadway, 5-ft. wide sidewalk and 12-ft. wide trail enhancements, substantial drainage and water improvements, retaining walls and two bridges — a 178-ft. long single-span channel bridge and a 2,010-ft. long bridge over the Elm Fork of the Trinity River and the 100-year floodway.

"The project team focused on careful planning and coordination to ensure continued progress," the Sundt page said. "Over the summer of 2024, the project team worked extra hours to ensure the project was embanked above the floodplain before the next rainy season."

Richardson, Texas-based infrastructure firm Halff designed the project.

Material Gains

Asked if any new or unique materials are being used, Jay Scott, Sundt project manager, said, "Nothing new to the construction industry, but it was unique that the specs do not allow existing topsoil to be reused. We asked the question [that] if we process the topsoil, could it get reused? They oversaw us process the topsoil via trommel and were satisfied with the results."

Sundt Construction photo

The project's traffic management impact is minimal.

"There is not a lot of traffic management on this project, with it mainly being in a green field area," Scott said. "We do implement temporary traffic switches in three locations, but neither street receives the amount of traffic considered substantial within our industry. The plan is working.

"Luckily, over 90 percent of the project is within an undisturbed field," he said. "Moving equipment from one place to another isn't an issue. As far as material, it became challenging during the rainy season, but we were able to use dozers and a motor grader to re-establish haul roads in the areas we were currently working on. Establishing positive drainage was key to maintaining access. There were several detention ponds for the first mile of the project, which made it easy to drain the area."

Sandy Challenge

The project does have its challenges.

"There was a lot of sand while installing one of the box culverts," Scott said. "We had to install this at a slower pace than anticipated for safety concerns. Once the box culvert was installed, we replaced the sand with a suitable clay for compaction and stability purposes. We're aggressive in the dry season, so we can still progress when weather is not as favorable."

Sundt Construction photo

Scott discussed soil, water and utility issues.

"Nothing we haven't seen before," he said. "We have a well diverse and experienced group that can easily tackle conflicts that arise. The cities of Lewisville and Carrollton are quick with helping to resolve unforeseen issues as well. There was about 3 ft. of standing water at the end of segments two and three. We cut ditches and sloped the area to drain to allow us to go to work.

Concrete Plans

The plan of attack for the concrete roadway is simple and efficient, according to Scott.

"It is to get as much of the area ready for paving to minimize the number of mobilizations while still staying on task of keeping all crews busy and showing progress in all areas of the project," he said. "We did not set up a batch plant for this project and elected to use ready mix instead, so the production from the concrete supplier has been our biggest challenge."

Sundt uses mainly Cat equipment. For the roadwork, operators are employing Cat D6 dozers, 140M motor graders, 336 and 352 excavators, among other Cat equipment.

"We have elected to use a Wirtgen mixer since the subgrade crew was more familiar with it," Scott said.

Bridging the Gap

The construction of the two bridges and retaining walls was no easy task.

Sundt Construction photo

"Heavy rains in the area caused the river to rise 18 feet past its normal elevation, which impeded the Trinity Bridge schedule in the beginning of the project," he said. "One of the retaining walls was problematic due to the soil conditions and trying to place the footing during the rainy season. We had to excavate the footing, coordinate the steel tiers and pour the footing the same day to not lose any progress."

For the bridge work, crews used a 250-ton telescopic crawler crane (Link-Belt TCC-2500) to set most of the beams. Toward the bridge's end, a subcontractor set the beams using a 500-ton crane due to the weight and distance between spans. A Sky Trak 12054 supported the placing of column forms, along with a Link-Belt 100RT crane to set and pour column caps.

Drainage Continues

The installation of drainage and water improvements is ongoing.

"We start drainage earlier and during the summer to help with draining the project during the rainy months," Scott said. "We saw the benefits of going this route because the rain had a minimal effect towards the project and the schedule. We were able to work the next day where we had the drainage installed."

Crews are installing 18- to 36-in. reinforced concrete pipe, along with multiple box culverts ranging up to 10-ft. wide with multiple runs for drainage and new 12-in. PVC water lines run through most of the project.

Operators are using excavators ranging from as small as a Cat 410 to a Cat 352.

Sundt Construction photo

The sidewalk and trail enhancement work began in October.

"Since the project is located through a field," said Scott, "we plan on slip paving a majority of the sidewalk. This will finish in the first quarter of 2026."

Typical days have many Sundt and subcontractor personnel on site. The subcontractors are John Burns Construction Co., Bean Electrical, Green Scaping Co. and ATS Drilling Inc.

Keeping equipment in peak condition is essential.

"We have mechanics on site every day doing preventative maintenance," said Scott, "so any equipment issues are typically taken care of within a few hours. Operators check their equipment daily before shift and notify management or the mechanics of any issues."

Sundt owns a large fleet of various pieces of iron. It also rents equipment from Texas First, Sunbelt, Sunstate, United Rentals, Bane and RDO. CEG