Summary
Meridian Engineering completed Surveying and Right of Way Design for 5 parcels of Highway 89 on the way to Garden City while working with Kimley-Horn as the lead designers. This was an emergency project that was imperative for timely completion due to frequent semi-trucks losing their brakes while coming down the steep hill out of Logan Canyon.
This solution funded by UDOT helps slow run away trucks down by using cable wire nets before the truck can reach Bear Lake Boulevard and possibly crash into town, which has occurred several times resulting in frequent destruction of town property. This project required great coordination while working with UDOT and Garden City. Deliverables included Base Mapping of Existing Surface utilizing LiDAR Point Cloud Extraction and the Development of final Right of Way Plans and Documents that were used during R/W negotiations with landowners. We hope the completed ramp has brought an essence of security back to the Garden City community.
Special considerations:
Winner of 2020 Uth AGC highway project of the year under $10 Million built by Wollam Construction. Part of this system includes 3 series of cable barrier nets with steel tape that helps pull vehicle to a stop and 1 final failsafe net. Concrete barrier walls taper in with extra reinforcement within. This unique system is designed for 90,000 pounds at 90 miles per hour impact.
Check out the finish product clip from 2News. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIB5QXtNVsQ
Project Details
- Owner: UDOT Region 1 Thomas Roylance, PM
- Client: Kimley-Horn – Nicole Williams, PM and John Matern, PE
- Completion Date: October 2020
- Cost: $5 Million
Right of Way Survey Team
- Travis Daley, Right of Way Design Project Manager
- Michael Nadeau, Survey Project Manager
A bit of history
Typical runaway truck lanes are designed to go up hill letting gravity slow trucks down. Sand or gravel piles at the end of the hill are usually incorporated as the final stop point. Another big help includes warning signage preempting truckers they are approaching a steep grade which causes them to shift down to slow truck momentum rather than relying on solely on brake systems. Other improvements include a mandatory brake check area near the top of the hill, and signs displaying the distance to the truck escape ramp.