KIMBALL – The overpass construction site on US Highway 30 just east of Kimball was a very busy place on Feb. 5.
The weather was unseasonably warm. About 65 degrees F. The wind was still. Perfect weather for pouring concrete in February.
That’s exactly what happened.
Workman for Commercial Construction, Inc. (Lincoln), the general contractor, had completed a large plywood form on the north side of US Highway 30. Inside the form are 12,452 pounds of epoxy coated rebar and 29 steel pilings driven into the ground. The whole structure to be poured measures roughly 92 feet long by 22 feet high by 3 1/2 feet thick.
Some 197 cubic yards of concrete went into the form.
Concrete pouring started at 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 5. Two concrete pump trucks belonging to O’Brien Concrete Pumping were positioned to take concrete mix from eight Cornhusker concrete trucks.
Cornhusker’s trucks tripped from the job site to Cornhusker’s plant on the west side of Kimball and back, making the full circuit of load, unload and back to load up again in 45 minute cycles. They carried eight cubic yards at a time, 3,800 pounds to the yard.
Along the way, six concrete samples were collected for compression testing. Other samples were air and slump tested.
The pouring operation went smoothly and was all over by 3 p.m.
The concrete will “cure” for at least 14 days.
Work also proceeds at the necessary railroad overpass. A retaining wall of pre-stressed concrete slabs is going up as part of the enormous approach ramp on the north side of the UPRR tracks. A million and a half cubic yards of dirt will be moved by the time the project is finished.
Jim Johnson with the Nebraska Department of Roads said the total project is a little ahead of schedule. He estimated the work is about 25 percent complete.
Drive out and take a look.
You can see where your tax dollars are going.
