Valued at nearly $500 million, the reconstruction of an 8-mile section of IH-35 at the Texas/Oklahoma border is one of the largest projects ever executed within the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT) Wichita Falls District. It also holds the distinction of being one of the few existing interstate reconstructions that cross state lines to be overseen by TxDOT.
STV is the prime engineer performing roadway, traffic control and the structural design of 10 bridges while also leading the survey effort.
The project includes designs for mainline, frontage road, and ramp reconstruction at six interchanges and the Red River Bridges at the Texas and Oklahoma border. Of the six interchanges, one crosses railroad righty-of-way owned by BNSF Railroad, one is a stack-flip interchange, and the remaining are new, or reconstructed, overpasses. To execute the design, our team had to conduct a high level of stakeholder engagement across federal, state, and local government and the sovereign state of Chickasaw Nation.
Other agencies to join TxDOT and Chickasaw Nation in the collaboration process included the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT), the Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Tulsa District), Federal Emergency Management Association, and the City of Gainesville, Texas, as well as other cities and counties.
TxDOT and ODOT were awarded a grant through the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America Grant (INFRA), a federal program that provides discretionary funding for crucial highway and bridge projects. The requirements for the INFRA grant also necessitated a tight schedule and design completion deadline.
