Saturday morning, Aug. 25 - The contractor's trucks back down the freeway as crews do a final sweep and clean up. Drivers in the single lane that was open overnight stream onto the newly reopened lanes as they head north.
Saturday morning, Aug. 25 - About 4:30 a.m. crews are picking up traffic barrels at the north end of the project. They're just about to remove the exit closed sign as they reopen the lanes and drivers regain access to the ramp.
Friday morning, Aug. 24 - In the final 24 hours of the project, crews are placing the last several hundred feet of pavement before they stripe the lanes, remove the barriers, and turn over to drivers a safer, smoother and longer-lasting northbound I-5 roadway.
Thursday morning, Aug. 23 - Drivers encountered another change on northbound I-5 as crews took the project into its final stage Thursday morning. At the north end of the project, crews removed almost 2000 feet of barrier overnight. Here, just south of the I-90 exit, drivers gain a third open lane, and all northbound lanes are open just a few hundred feet up the road. Drivers can still use the I-90 exit lane to continue through on northbound I-5.
Thursday morning, Aug. 23 - This is the machine that crews use to move the Quickchange Moveable Barrier®. This barrier system is made up of short sections of concrete barrier pinned together to form a continuous wall, and the transfer machine moves the barrier wall sort of like a giant zipper. We move the other (Jersey) barriers with cranes.
Tuesday morning, Aug. 21 - Contractor Concrete Barrier, Inc. crews follow behind the paving machine and finish the fresh polyester concrete by hand. We're placing 8.75 acres of new pavement in the project area - a five-lane section that stretches for 1.13 miles. We're on track to complete this in a total of just 14 days, in spite of time lost due to rain.
Tuesday morning, Aug. 21 - Crews putting the finishing touches on the new polyester concrete pavement. We chose this type of paving material because of the quality and the quick curing time. The paving machine lays down a swath of pavement 12 feet wide.
Tuesday morning, Aug. 21 - Crews apply primer to the old roadway surface immediately before paving begins. This helps the new pavement adhere.
Tuesday morning, Aug. 21 - After rain prevented us from doing any paving on Monday, crews had the paving machine revved up and on location before sunrise Tuesday morning.
Sunday afternoon, Aug. 19 - Once crews dried the roadway they were able to resume paving.
Sunday afternoon, Aug. 19 - Crews used a 20 foot-long blow dryer powered by a jet engine to dry the roadway after a rain storm. The dryer heats air to over 800 degrees to quickly dry the roadway surface.
Thursday morning, Aug. 16 - Crews worked through the night until 4 a.m. placing pavement markers (buttons) on the new pavement. Late Thursday night / early Friday morning, we'll shift traffic to the two lanes on the east side of the freeway, and start repairs on the three west side lanes.
Thursday morning, Aug. 16 - On Thursday crews will finish up small sections of paving near the expansion joints, like the one in the above photo.
Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 15 - A worker cuts through an old expansion joint. As of Tuesday afternoon, crews had replaced the east half of 20 of the 34 expansion joints they needed to replace.
Tuesday morning, Aug. 14 - Crews paved 1300 feet on the east side of the northbound I-5 lanes, finishing a few hours before the morning commute. The pavement cures as traffic uses three lanes to travel through the work zone. The right lane briefly splits off from the other two lanes and rejoins the mainline near Madison Street.
Monday afternoon, Aug. 13 - Placing new pavement near the northbound collector-distributor lane. Crews started this section of paving Monday afternoon and worked all night, finishing about 2 a.m. Tuesday.
Monday afternoon, Aug. 13 - A crew member working on one of the northbound I-5 expansion joints near Holgate Street.
Sunday morning, Aug. 12 - Crews use shot-blasting machines to scarify the roadway. This gets rid of any loose material and prepares the surface for the new pavement.
Sunday morning, Aug. 12 - Crews station a large blow dryer at the north end of the project area to dry out the roadway after any rain showers. Crews need a dry bridge deck to resurface with polyester paving material.
Sunday morning, Aug. 12 - The giant blow dryer is sitting on the back of a flatbed truck and is approximatly 20 feet long by 10 feet wide.
Saturday morning, Aug. 11 - Crews jackhammering out sections of unsound pavement to prepare the bridge deck for paving. In July crews tested the pavement and marked the sections that needed to be removed.
Saturday morning, Aug. 11 - After the jackhammering, crews load up the pavement rubble and haul it away.
Saturday morning, Aug. 11 - Traffic flows smoothly in the two open lanes of northbound I-5. Over 60 crew members are working in the three closed lanes. All southbound I-5 lanes and ramps are open and will remain open during the up to 19 days of work on northbound I-5.