Bob Strom, project manager for Upper Plains Contracting, said as long as they continue at the current pace, the Kimball bypass will be ready for traffic this Thanksgiving.

“We are going at it pretty aggressively,” Strom said.

Upper Plains construction is from Aberdeen, South Dakota. This is not the first project they have done in the area.  Strom said they did the Gering-Scottsbluff by-pass in 2005. They have also done several airport jobs and a huge job in South Dakota.

The South Dakota job was a 22-mile paving job that was paid for with stimulus (American Recovery act) money.

“It was the biggest paving job in the U.S. at the time,” he said.

At current (as of Friday, Aug. 13) the crew had laid about five miles of concrete beginning at the highway 71 connection and heading towards Interstate 80. The paving is being done in 30-feet wide sections. Once this side is completed they will return go back the other way.

Stromm said the crews are working 12-14 hours a day five to six days a week.

“We are averaging about 4,000 feet a day,” he said.

Strom said there is 50 people working at the paving site. Some of these crew members operate trucks, machines, smooth concrete and press steel into the concrete.

To facilitate the promptness of truck travel, Upper Plains Contracting has constructed a concrete plant by the site. This allows for aggregate, which is purchased from local provider, to be mixed into concrete and loaded into a truck quickly. Strom said a truck is loaded and back to the paving site in about 15 minutes.

Strom said there is 20 trucks running 20-25 loads of concrete a day.

Once the paving is done, this crew will head back to South Dakota for a job there. Strom will stay on to make sure all the painting and final touches are put on.

This project is a link to the Heartland Expressway. It is one of 80 Federally designated “high priority corridors.” Its purpose is to provide a multi-lane divided highway from Rapid city, South Dakota, and Denver, Colo. Points along the way include Scottsbluff, Alliance, and Kimball, Neb.; and Brush, Colo.

It is centered at the heart of the “Great Plains International Trade Corridor” which connects Canada and Mexico through the heartland of the U.S.