WADSWORTH 9/17/07 1:51 PM Page 94

LEGACY PARKWAY PROJECT

announced his vision of this Legacy
Highway corridor,” Farr says. “This is the
first phase of that.” Five or six years ago,
he says, UDOT put the project out to a
design/builder, but it was held up in the
courts by environmental groups for vari-
ous reasons. UDOT reached an agree-
ment and put the projects out for bid
again last fall, he says.
“It’s not a design/build project now,”
Farr explains. “UDOT bought the previ-
ous design and made some modifica-
tions. It’s not a highway anymore; it’s a
parkway. They want it to look nice and
blend with the environment. It has gate-
ways and monuments and a pedestrian
trail next to it for the full length. Most
freeways follow the same roadway pro-
file in both directions, but here, the north-
bound has a different profile than the
southbound. There are man-made hills
and a lot of landscaping.”

Environment Plays Role

Work is still affected by environmental
factors, he says. Two sections are off-lim-
its to construction during the peregrine
falcon and bald eagle mating seasons.
Work in these areas must be completed
in the late summer and early fall months.
The restrictions will return in early
winter. “Most of the challenges have been
schedule-related,” Farr says. “the project
was designed on such a fast track that
the design didn’t have all the normal
checks. There have been a lot of issues
with reinforcing steel design. We’ve had
to make some adjustments in the design
along the way.”

Proud Accomplishments
Ames Construction Inc., headquartered
in Minnesota, has been in business for
more than 47 years. The company got its
start as an earthwork contractor and has
developed into a full-service, heavy civil
and industrial general contractor. It has
expanded into several Midwestern and
Western states.
The company’s services include:
■ Earthwork

■ Rock excavation and blasting

■ Aggregate processing

■ Soil-cement construction

■ Pile installation

■ Structural concrete construction

■ Bridge construction

94 ■ CONSTRUCTION TODAY ■ OCTOBER 2007