Saturn Parkway (SR 396) is a four-lane highway connecting I-65 to the General Motors Spring Hill Manufacturing plant — formerly the end of the highway. The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) hired Superior Construction to extend Saturn Parkway, connecting it with Beechcroft Road (SR 247). The full design-build project allows traffic to flow over a railroad crossing that previously caused major backups. The new route also diverts commercial truck traffic around the plant rather than through local traffic.
Project Fast Facts
Client: Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT)
Location: Spring Hill, Tennessee
Work performed: Installed three miles of new roadway and three bridges including a steel structure over the CSX railroad; a precast Contech 53-ft bridge structure over an existing stream; rerouted an existing stream; widened an existing two-lane road into three lanes plus turn lanes; 130,000 CY of earthwork; a signalized interchange; a precast concrete girder over the GM entrance.
Project schedule: Two years and nine months
Completion date: September 2020
The Work
The project included three miles of new roadway and three bridges, incorporating a precast Contech 53-ft bridge structure over an existing stream and a grade-separated crossing over the CSX railroad. During the design phase of the project, Superior won the job by creatively reworking the conceptual drawings from TDOT to reroute an existing stream rather than building a structure over the stream. With the stream moved 50 feet, given a different bend, and reconnected, Superior eliminated an entire structure from the project and built the road at grade through this section.
Superior then built a precast Contech 53-foot bridge structure over another part of the existing stream — a process that expedited construction, as it was set in under a week’s time. The new signalized intersection at the entrance to the GM plant maintains free-flow access to the trucks entering and exiting the plant. We also built a grade-separated crossing over the CSX railroad, coordinating daily with the CSX flagger so the rail line remained active while we completed clearances, excavations and shoring, debris collection, and drainage.
The Result
Creative design work rerouting the stream resulted in $3.4 million cost savings to TDOT. The project also had an economic impact on the area, as it offered 150,000 man hours of employment to construction workers and subcontractors. And the completed road has a huge impact on both the community and the commercial business in the area, as long traffic jams at the railroad crossing are now avoided and commercial traffic can make deliveries on time without waiting for trains stopped at the plant. Overall, the work successfully improved connectivity, safety, and operations along this corridor.