Transportation

US 79 Widening TxDOT | Jewett, Texas The Binkley & Barfield | DCCM team performed the design for a 10-mile schematic and environmental project in Leon County. The project widened US 79 from a two-lane section to a four-lane divided section from west of Jewett at FM 1512 to Buffalo. This project developed three alternatives and refined the preferred alternative based on stakeholder input from two public meetings, environmental constraints, and limited right-of-way. The team worked on developing all environmental technical reports necessary to obtain the environmental clearance necessary for right-of-way acquisition and utility relocation before the final design.

SH 249 (Tomball Tollway), Phases I and II Harris County Toll Road Authority | Tomball, Texas Harris County Toll Road Authority contracted Binkley & Barfield | DCCM as the Program Management Consultant for design and management services of the project’s preliminary and final designs and construction management and inspection services for Phase II. We developed a project feasibility assessment, which resulted in the SH 249 (Tomball Tollway), Phases I and II engineering feasibility report and served as the basis for the final design. In its first day of operation, eager toll users doubled the projected 17,000 daily toll transactions, cutting in half the traffic on the existing frontage road. Funded entirely with toll road revenue paid by the drivers who choose to use the Harris County toll road system, the final construction will extend the toll road into Montgomery County and Grimes County to SH 105, streamlining trips to and from rapidly growing Grimes County and College Station. Phase I: Spring Cypress Road to FM 2920 This project provided travelers with four main lanes in each direction and was constructed between the existing TxDOT northbound and southbound non-tolled frontage roads. As Project Management Consultant for Harris County Toll Road Authority, Binkley & Barfield | DCCM completed an aggressive 9-month design program for the delivery of plans, specifications, and estimates to Harris County Toll Road Authority to bid and construct this phase. Binkley & Barfield | DCCM provided leadership, schedule adherence, quality assurance, and oversight to 17 consultants, completing the plans, specifications, and estimates for four new toll lanes in each direction along a 6-mile stretch of SH 249, adding five new bridges, retaining walls, and a drainage system that mitigates flooding. Drivers may now bypass seven stoplights while the frontage roads remain toll-free. All milestone submittals were met on time, and the project was constructed in only 16 months and under three construction contracts. Phase I was open to traffic in April 2015 and exceeded all revenue forecasts. Phase II: FM 2920 to Spring Creek (Harris/Montgomery County line) Design preparations for Phase II began in October 2014 with design revisions to the TxDOT 2006 SH 249 Schematic. As in Phase I, Binkley & Barfield | DCCM was the Project Management Consultant for the design of four-lane toll lanes in each direction, adding three-lane frontage roads, both north and southbound, five major bridges, flood-mitigating storm sewer detention, a collegiate practice field, and equestrian and bike trials. Services also included computing cut-and-fill quantities for roadway sections, concrete and reinforcement steel quantities for bridge deck pours, and payments for such pours on the contractor’s pay estimate. Binkley & Barfield | DCCM monitored the roadway excavation, subgrade preparation, concrete milling, embankment placement for abutments, installation of drill shaft and foundations, concrete beam placement, asphalt pavement placement, bent footings, column, cap pours, reinforced earth walls, 18- to 36-inch reinforced concrete pipes, and various concrete box culverts. Our team oversaw construction management and inspection services for this project segment. Construction was completed in 2019.  Phases I and II of the SH 249 (Tomball Tollway) project included environmental investigations and permitting, survey/right-of-way mapping, utility identification and assessment, subsurface utility engineering, hydrologic and hydraulic modeling, and detention pond design. Binkley & Barfield | DCCM also provided construction phase services for Phase II and the direct connectors at SH 99 (Grand Parkway).

FM 2818 (Harvey Mitchell Parkway) Schematic Design City of College Station/TxDOT | College Station, Texas Binkley & Barfield | DCCM developed a geometric design schematic for FM 2818 from Wellborn Road to George Bush Drive. The project scope included conceptual and schematic design as well as data collection, accident and traffic analysis, conceptual design, schematic design, environmental documentation, public involvement, ROW/easement identification, utility coordination, project management, and topographic surveying. The initial scope included the analysis of three design year alternatives, a conceptual schematic for each design year alternative, and the development of the selected alternative through schematic design. Based on the results of the traffic analysis/conceptual design and meetings with the City of College Station and TxDOT staff, it was determined the three design year alternatives would not adequately address the growth issues along the project corridor, thus six additional alternatives were analyzed. Based on the traffic analysis and input from the City and TxDOT, a “super street” option was selected and was developed through schematic design. The limits of the schematic design were also revised to include the area north of the original project limits, to include FM 2818 from George Bush Drive to F&B Road. Through an on-call contract with TxDOT, Binkley & Barfield | DCCM was also selected in 2018 to perform the detailed PS&E design for FM 2818. Binkley & Barfield completed SUE for the corridor to assist with utility conflict identification and resolution. Binkley & Barfield developed designs for the project roadway geometry utilizing Bentley OpenRoads 3D modeling software and prepared and updated the construction cost estimate and specifications for the project. Additionally, Binkley & Barfield | DCCM is managed and provided QA/QC for a team of eight subconsultants that gathered survey and performed geotechnical analyses as well as preparing PS&E for TCPs, drainage, signals, illumination, pavement markings, and other activities associated with delivering a full PS&E package. Binkley & Barfield | DCCM also assisted TxDOT in coordinating with project stakeholders such as the City of College Station, Texas A&M University, and Easterwood Airport.