Skip to main content

Texas Interstate connection upgrade project

Consultancy firm Michael Baker International has a US$4 million contract from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to provide safer road links and bridges along the southern gateway corridor into Dallas. This project is due for completion in 2021. It will provide a long-term transportation and operational improvement effort to boost safety, cut congestion and while address roadway deficiencies and system linkage for the critical I-35E and US 67 artery.
January 31, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
Consultancy firm Michael Baker International has a US$4 million contract from the 3499 Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to provide safer road links and bridges along the southern gateway corridor into Dallas. This project is due for completion in 2021. It will provide a long-term transportation and operational improvement effort to boost safety, cut congestion and while address roadway deficiencies and system linkage for the critical I-35E and US 67 artery.


As part of the larger transportation design/build construction project, Michael Baker will perform Owner Verification Testing and Inspection (OVTI) oversight and conduct audits to verify the design-build team’s Construction Quality Management Plan (CQMP).

“The I-35E and US 67 exchange continues to serve as a highly congested roadway for commuters traveling into the Dallas Metro Area, and the southern gateway corridor project represents a large-scale effort to improve transportation in this highly congested urban area,” said Jorge M Suarez, PE, vice president and director of structural engineering at Michael Baker International. “Michael Baker’s construction management expertise, through inspections, audits and testing, will ensure that the project’s design and construction are completed smartly and safely to help the community and region by reducing congestion and making freeways safer.”

As part of the contract, Michael Baker will perform Owner Verification (OV) tests at a stipulated testing frequency, along with the review and approval of Quality Assurance (QA) test results. The team will review the performance of statistical analysis of OV and QA test results and associated tasks arising out of the statistical analysis with all partnering agencies.

The Southern Gateway Project, which is currently underway, consists of adding reversible non-tolled express lanes and/or general-purpose lanes to improve capacity in the corridor. In addition, bicycle and pedestrian accommodations are proposed where frontage road reconstruction is proposed.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Diamond in the Pearl: China’s Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge complex
    March 8, 2018
    People in the Pearl River Delta are celebrating the Chinese New Year with the imminent opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. David Arminas reviews progress. China’s Spring Festival, or Lunar New Year, is celebrated with the usual enthusiasm and spectacular fireworks. But celebrations will be particularly joyous for many people in the southern Pearl River Delta. The soon-to-be-open Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) will slash travel time between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Zhuh
  • The drive for US road funding: will corporate America get a seat?
    September 13, 2017
    Trumponomics aims to use public money for pump-priming an even greater amount of cash from the private sector to improve America’s crumbling roads. But is political will matching corporate America’s enthusiasm for more private investment, asks David Arminas If there were ever a test case for comparing public-private partnerships and design-build contracts, the recently completed Ohio River Bridges Project is it (see previous article).
  • The industry’s most trusted brand in continuing education
    September 4, 2019
    With the release of an update catalogue of training and credential programmes available to road professionals worldwide, IRF has affirmed its role at the road industry’s most trusted brand in continuing education. For 70 years, an essential part of IRF’s mission has been the organisation and delivery of continuing education services that help strengthen human skills and contribute to the dissemination of knowledge and field expertise. Today, IRF’s curriculum of 40 certified courses provides technica
  • Automated testing is safer, cheaper and more thorough
    May 10, 2019
    New tests for cracking and rutting are easy to perform, use existing equipment and work well on mixes with different binders and recycled content - Kristina Smith writes Researchers at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) have developed new tests for cracking and rutting, designed to be quick and easy to carry out, using existing laboratory equipment. The most advanced of these is the IDEAL Cracking Test (IDEAL-CT), which could be appearing in specifications in some of the US states in around six