photo by Skyhawk Photography

The facility is located in the middle of the confluence of three freeways.

The $49.6-million project replaces a 50-year-old truck-scale facility located in the middle of the confluence of three freeways: Interstate 80, I-680 and State Route 12. The interchange was extremely congested, thanks to more than 2 million trucks entering and exiting to get weighed each year.

To alleviate tie-ups, the 30,000-sq-ft LEED-Silver-certified facility has multiple inspection bays and weigh-in-motion scales, which do not require trucks to come to a full stop. The improvements double the capacity for inspections over the old facility.

In addition, trucks have longer exit and entrance ramps, making it safer for drivers to merge into and out of freeway traffic.

Hurdles included design changes, an expanded scope of work and unsuitable soil discovered underneath the site.

But the project team combined multiple stages of the project to accelerate completion without any major impact to the traveling public. The strategy also brought the project in 30 days ahead of schedule.

Because the existing facility had to remain open 24 hours a day during all phases of construction, safety was a constant concern. Through close partnerships with the California Highway Patrol and other public agencies, the contractor says it logged 82,876 hours without a lost-time accident.

The project recently won the Gold Caltrans Partnering award and also received the California Transportation Foundation Safety Project of the Year award.

Key Players

Contractor O.C. Jones & Sons Inc.

Owner Caltrans

Lead Design Firm HDR

Subcontractors Associated Constructors; Landmark Construction; STA; Tennyson Electric