SH-64 Vilonia Bypass, Arkansas

For people traveling from the northeast quadrant of Arkansas to Oklahoma, US-64 through Vilonia is a popular cut-off to avoid going through Little Rock. However, one high school, a middle school and 2 elementary schools are all located right on US-64, a serious safety concern with the traffic volume. The average daily traffic volume of 7,000, including 16% trucks, easily exceeds the local population of just over 3,900. The Vilonia Bypass was designed to alleviate this issue and accelerate travel time.

The project provided 10 miles of Portland Cement paved four lane highway with asphalt tie-ins at both ends. The major scope of work included 306,500 SY of 9” and 109,000 SY of 6” dowelled PCCP, 212,000 tons of Aggregate Base Course (Class 7), 115,000 Tons of Cement Stabilized Base, 6,900 Tons of asphalt bondbreaker, electrical and traffic signalization, drainage and erosion control, earthwork and pavement marking. Two concrete box culverts, a 5-barrel 10’x5’x55’ and a 6-barrel 10’x6’x65’, were also included in the project.

IHC began the project by building haul roads into the project so all deliveries were able to bypass the town and not add to the congestion. This allowed access to the jobsite from both ends, eliminating potential conflicts with on-going construction activities. A value engineering concept replaced a large quantity of designed asphalt paving at the tie-ins with PCCP, provided a better construction flow and accelerated the paving schedule.