The purpose of the State Route 8 Corridor reconstruction was to create a non-stop route from Akron, OH to Interstate 271. The corridor’s interchange reconstruction replaced difficult merges and exits off the highway with longer ramps that meet today’s design standards and use. As prime contractor for this project, totaling over $91 million – the largest single project at the time in ODOT District 4 history – Beaver oversaw the work of 28 subcontractors who, along with Beaver’s own forces, were integral to the successful completion of the large and complex project.
The bulk of Beaver’s workload during the three-and-a-half year project included, demolition, maintenance of traffic, drainage, noise walls, piling, construction of 12 bridges and an intersection widening. In the first year of the project, Beaver completed 750,000 cy of embankment, constructed six Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) walls, completed initial widening work on S.R. 8 and I-271, and improved Highland Road, which was previously a traffic bottleneck adjacent to the corridor.
As with every project, Beaver set the bar high for the corridor transformation by helping the project owner save both time and money. Beaver saved ODOT $1.2 million through value engineering, and shaved nine months off the project’s timeline by proposing and implementing three Maintenance of Traffic (MOT) changes, minimizing impact on the traveling public.