Road Building 101

Road construction has to happen in a specific order, often while traffic continues to move through or around the jobsite. Weather, utilities, traffic, materials and unexpected conditions can all affect how and when the work gets done.

A work zone may need to stay in place even when crews are not visible. Workers may be completing another part of the project, working at night when traffic is lighter or waiting for pavement or other materials to gain enough strength before the next step can begin.

Keeping traffic patterns consistent can also be safer than repeatedly moving lanes, barrels and other traffic-control devices.

On many projects, crews have to build the road while people are still using it.

That may mean shifting traffic to one side while crews work on the other, building temporary pavement or completing one portion of a bridge before moving traffic and starting the next. Each stage has to be completed before the project can move forward.

Road building happens outdoors, and some construction work depends on the right weather conditions.

Rain can make soil too wet to work with, and temperature can affect paving and other materials. Severe weather can also make a jobsite unsafe. Crews may have to wait until conditions are right before certain work can continue.

Gas, electric, water, sewer and communications lines may run above, below or alongside a road.

Before construction reaches them, utilities may need to be located, protected or moved. That work requires coordination among the public agency, utility companies, engineers and contractors and may have to be completed before another part of the project can begin.

Sometimes they can. Resurfacing an existing road can extend its life when the pavement and foundation underneath are still in good condition.

But if the problems go deeper, covering them with a new layer of pavement will not fix them. Crews may need to remove damaged pavement, repair the foundation, improve drainage or rebuild part or all of the road.

Sometimes a full closure is safer and faster than building a project around traffic.

Closing the road can give crews more room to work, reduce conflicts between workers and vehicles and eliminate the time needed to repeatedly shift traffic through different stages of construction. In some cases, a shorter full closure can avoid months of lane restrictions.