When complete next fall, Ohio’s U.S. Route 30 project will mean safer roads and faster travel times.

Construction companies E.S. Wagner Co. and The Shelly Co. have teamed to complete a new, 26.2-mile four-lane portion of U.S. Route 30, from Ada, Ohio – home of Ohio Northern University – to Sandusky, Ohio. E.S. Wagner Project Manager Jim Wilson says the westbound portion should be completed by the end of November and the entire $100 million project will be finished by fall 2008.

Mike Murphy, project engineer for the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), says the state had wanted to expand the two-lane highway since the 1960s, but was continuously delayed for various reasons. Now, 60 percent of the vehicles on the highway are trucks and the road has a high accident and fatality rate, which increased the urgency for expansion. “The roads will be safer for the traveling public,” he says.

The new highway will also have a faster speed limit: 65 miles per hour. “It will save people money on fuel because they can drive straight through without stopping, and it will be much quicker,” he adds.

Construction Obstacles
Construction on what Murphy calls “The Marathon Project” because of its length began in April 2005 and has continued aggressively through many delays and redesigns.  For example, portions of the project were delayed because the roadway grade on the B portion of the project – a 10-mile span from U.S. Route 37 to upper Sandusky – was lower than expected. The joint venture had to move the additional yardage, Wilson explains.

ODOT also had to redesign the Blanchard River Bridge in Hancock County. The river is home to the rayed bean mussel, an endangered species, so the bridge was redesigned so no work would need to be done in the river and risk endangering the mussels, Murphy explains.

“The piers were in the river, so we had to push the piers out of the river and line them in the center span,” Wilson says. Redesigning and approving the new plans took about six months and construction costs rose by $2 million.

Other aspects of the project also changed from when it was first planned about 45 years ago. For example, in the 1960s when the project was in the conceptual phase, a four-lane highway in Beaverdan, Ohio, went under the two-lane Lincoln Highway and quit in some farm field, Murphy explains.

The leg that connected to the existing four-lane highway did not follow the same direction, so the joint venture had to remove those lanes and redirect them further south, he says.

Wetlands and historical sites were also taken into consideration during the re-design, Murphy says. “We held public meetings and chose a plan that will minimize taking people out of their homes and impact on known wetlands,” he says. For example, Murphy states that this project also included the construction of a million-dollar wetland mitigation site.

The project was planned as being three separate ones during the late 1990s. When soliciting bids, ODOT presented the project as two separate projects or the entire length as one. E.S. Wagner and The Shelly Co. decided to create a joint venture and was the successful bidder for the entire project. This is E.S. Wagner’s fourth project on Route 30 in the past seven years, Murphy says.

‘Innovative and Creative’
Father and son Lewis F. Wagner and Lewis E. Wagner founded E.S. Wagner in 1947. Now a multimillion-dollar highway and heavy construction company, it “has become known for its innovative and creative solutions to those unusual, challenging and extremely difficult projects,” the company says. “This innovation and carefully engineered approach gives [us] the edge to consistently complete projects on time and within budget.”

Its projects include:

• Earth moving and grading, as well as pile driving and foundation systems
• Site preparation and site development
• Highway construction, bridges and structures
• Drainage, sewer and waterline, as well as sewage and water treatment facilities 

E.S. Wagner performs both private and public sector projects, and works with prestigious architectural, engineering and construction firms, the company says.

E.S. Wagner’s “take-charge attitude has fostered a reputation that has gained the firm many contracts, even though they were not the low bidder,” it says.

Its employees are the company’s greatest assets.  “With a progressive approach to work site safety and an aggressive employee training program, the E.S. Wagner Co. has continued to be a leader in accident prevention,” it says.

Multiple Strengths
Charles Shelly founded The Shelly Co. in 1938. By the 1950s, the company had become known for providing exceptional road construction in central Ohio. “This reputation was a byproduct
not just of size, but also the company’s intense focus on customer services and quality,” the company says.

The company manufactures road-building materials, and is one of the largest asphalt-producers in the nation. “Our success comes from quality, the trust we earn from our clients and
environmentally sound practices,” it says.