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Lunda
Construction Co., Black River Falls, is constructing all of the bridges for the
Highway 12 Bypass. Photo by Chris Thompson |
It's Cape's way on the highway
It's been a rocky road for James Cape & Sons.
But the Racine contractor wouldn't have it any other way on its U.S. Highway 12 Bypass project in Middleton. Rocks, in a way, are the main reason Cape won the job.
"We made all of our own breaker run, base courses and concrete aggregate out of the rock cuts we made throughout the project," said Dave Schuster, Cape's division manager. "We've done that with about a half-million tons of rock."
The money Cape saved by creating its own aggregate on site gave the contractor the leverage it needed to submit the low bid for the job. But that doesn't mean it's been easy.
"You don't want too little," Schuster said. "And if you have too much, you have to try and sell it. It takes up a lot of time trying to balance what you make with what you place so you have nothing left at the end of the job."
Project Specs Project
Name: U.S. Highway 12 Middleton Bypass Project Fact The Wisconsin Department of Transportation predicts that 25,700 vehicles every day will travel the 5-mile stretch of road that James Cape & Sons is building. |
Cape's job is to create a 5-mile bypass on Highway 12 from its intersection with Highway 14 in Middleton to just south of Highway K in Springfield. The contractor also is building the 12/14 interchange on the Middleton end of the job and the Business Highway 12 interchange on the Springfield end.
"One thing was to relocate Highway 12 because it had a lot of accidents," Schuster said. "We're widening it from two to four lanes and making it safer with better sight lines. We took out the hills and sharp turns and brought it up to federal standards."
Cape won the job in early 2003 and spent the better part of the first year prepping the area for the traffic switches that would come in 2004 when construction really got rolling. Cape spent the majority of 2004 completing bridge and roadwork on the Middleton side of the project while also grading what will become the Business Highway 12 interchange.
The project, which is scheduled for completion on Dec. 11, is now on hold as the construction team waits out the winter months. But Schuster expects the job to pick up as soon as the weather breaks.
"When we come back in spring, we're going to set down the paver and blow out all the new Highway 12 pavement all the way to the Business 12 interchange, including all of the ramps and connecting side roads," he said.
- Chris Thompson
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