The Challenge:

The interstate highway 610 (IH610) project is one of the largest of ten section design contracts awarded by the Texas Department of Transportation, Houston District as part of a $1.2 billion I-10 reconstruction and improvement program. The section of roadway is located in the city of Houston and is one of the ten busiest sections of urban freeway in the U.S., carrying up to 280,000 vehicles per day. The design needed to incorporate a future transit line that will be built in the median of the highway and another line that will cross under the southbound lanes. Also, during construction the existing traffic lanes had to remain open.

ARCADIS is responsible for preparing the plans, specifications and estimates for the reconstruction and widening of a two-mile section of the existing eight-lane freeway to a ten-lane freeway with auxiliary lanes and braided ramps.  The project extends from south of Post Oak Boulevard to north of Katy Road.

The Solution:

ARCADIS' innovative solutions solved many of the issues facing the project because existing traffic lanes had to remain open during construction, and ARCADIS came-up with a traffic control plan to meet this objective. The plan also incorporated unique aesthetic urban design features, such as the facia of retaining walls under a cooperative Texas Department of Transportation agreement with the Uptown Houston Association. The retaining walls were designed for poor soil conditions, requiring several alternative designs to be considered prior to recommending the most economical solution involving strengthened support through use of piles and drilled shafts to support the retaining wall foundations. Additionally, four roadway overpass bridges and the freeway are designed to accommodate a future Houston METRO high-capacity transit line that will be located in the median and a future line that will cross under the southbound lanes.

Once the project is complete, it will provide much needed traffic congestion relief, an attractive roadway facility incorporating urban design features and an economical solution to some difficult design challenges.  The project was developed in cooperation with local stakeholders, such as Uptown Houston Association.