Masonry Magazine December 1999 Page. 47
Arizona
Highway 87 may be the Biggest Shotcrete Application in the Country.
With more than 7,000 cubic yards (5,352 m3) of shotcrete to be used for slope reinforcement in the Mesa-Payson Highway expansion in Arizona, it may be the biggest shotcrete application in the country, said Shotcrete Specialties.
The project consists of shotcreting 13 freshly cut mountainsides in the Kitty Joe Canyon of the Matazel Mountain Range on Highway 87 between the cities of Mesa and Payson. The total cost of the 17-mile (27.4 km) road expansion is $55 million.
"The entire project will take more than seven months to complete," said Mickey Garner, president of Shotcrete Specialties, the sub-contractor. "And we'd be done if it hadn't been for a freak late spring snow," she said. The area had about 3 feet of snow just as the company was starting the project.
She said another reason the project is taking so long is that they have to follow other contractors who are doing the blasting and dirt removal. "The terrain in that area is a mixture of loose rock and dirt, which can cause unstable conditions for the construction crews." She said they had some dirt and rockslides already, and although no one was injured, it has slowed down the project.
After a mountainside is cut away, Shotcrete Specialties' crews place a drainage fabric against the rock wall to prohibit water build-up. Then wire mesh is placed over the surface. This is held in place by anchor plates, which are secured by soil nails.
Shotcrete is sprayed onto wire mesh anchored to the freshly cut side of one of 13 mountains in Kitty Joe Canyon. The project is part of the Highway 87 expansion in Arizona. Shotcrete Specialties of Gilbert, Ariz. used a Putzmeister Katt-Kreter pump, capable of placing 50 cubic yards (38 m3) of shotcrete an hour.
BOLDURA
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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER, 1999 47