Lindy Lands No. 6
This content first appeared in the Spring 2025 print edition of NAPA Quarterly. Subscribe here.
LINDY PAVING EARNS RECORD-SETTING SIXTH SHELDON G. HAYES AWARD WITH I-90 WORK
BY TY JOHNSON
Pennsylvania’s Interstate 90 connects Ohio and New York, running alongside Lake Erie.
| LINDY PAVING INC. |
| SR 90 Section A30 In Erie County, Pennsylvania Reconstruction of seven miles of Interstate 90 in northeastern Pennsylvania. |
| PROJECT COMPLETION DATE Sept. 16, 2023 |
| TOTAL TONS OF ASPHALT USED 362,092 |
In the county that shares the lake’s name, Lindy Paving completed a seven-mile project that earned it the Sheldon G. Hayes Award.
The project included the rubblization of an existing continuously reinforced concrete pavement and the placement Superpave asphalt courses to correct cross slopes and vertical alignments.
The I-90 project was a full reconstruction, and included the raising and widening of three overpass bridges, two mainline bridge replacements and the construction of a teardrop roundabout interchange, the first of its kind in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
“It was something new that nobody’s ever done before. It was interesting to do, but definitely a huge safety improvement,” said Project Manager Phil Hannah. “The paving and the excavation part of this job was huge, as far as quantity and coordination. There were so many other things going on that Superintendent Brian Kelly and Project Engineer Jake McAndry had to deal with every day. We think of this thing almost like a skyscraper, but it’s just sideways on the ground.”
The full scope of the project included the excavation and placement of more than 325,000+ cubic yards of embankment and rock to widen the interstate to 12′, plus drainage improvements, utility relocations, and improved highway lighting.
“This is as busy as I-90 gets up here and with the trucking to all the other jobs that PennDOT had up here that were coming out of our asphalt plant, it was a definite resource coordination to get that 360,000 tons in a truck and down the road in front of the paver. There were things that we moved to the night shift so that way we could take advantage of the plant being able to keep up with production, basically ensuring our productivity so that we can get done on time,” Hannah said. “Quality comes out of that, too, because the less that we stop the paver, the better, the job is. From those two perspectives: quality and productivity, that was at the forefront of making sure that things continue at a steady pace.”
That was a challenge, since most of the aggregate materials that were used on this job came from the docks in from Michigan. This meant coordinating large loads of material at the mercy of shipping schedules.
Paving Manager Greg Tomon said it made schedule-planning all the more crucial due to the increased lead time in procuring materials.
“It was over 600 miles,” Tomon said. “Those barges had to travel through the Great Lakes.”
Originally predicted to be a four-year project, Lindy, as general contractor, was able to reconfigure the schedule to get a high quality pavement in place in only three years, with a cost savings to taxpayers.
The speedy completion was by design. To meet quality and production demands, a portable 400 tons per hour drum asphalt plant was placed within nine miles of the job site. Coordination between the quarries and plants was at a premium to keep the project moving smoothly. The primary source of aggregate was barged more than 600 nautical miles from Michigan and quickly offloaded at the Erie docks. Enhanced communications between the parties prevented any project delays due to nautical traffic jams.
Lindy kept ride numbers as low as possible by using dual pavers, paving in echelon, to place the Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA) mats while minimizing the difference in temperature between them.
The I-90 work also sailed through the requirements to achieve Pennsylvania’s pavement ride quality incentive, notching an International Roughness Index (IRI) score of 28.9 inches per mile that was well below the 35 needed for the full bonus.
SHELDON G. HAYES FINALISTS
APAC-KANSAS INC., SHEARS DIV., A CRH CO.
U.S. 400 in Greenwood County, Kansas
PROJECT COMPLETION DATE Aug. 18, 2023
TOTAL TONS OF ASPHALT USED 71,659
NORTHEAST ASPHALT INC., A WALBEC GROUP CO.
SH 60 in Dodge County, Wis.
PROJECT COMPLETION DATE Sept. 29, 2023
TOTAL TONS OF ASPHALT USED 76,901
PIKE INDUSTRIES INC., A CRH CO.
SR 9 in Windham County, Vermont
PROJECT COMPLETION DATE Aug. 11, 2023
TOTAL TONS OF ASPHALT USED 125,824
