A highway project that used an innovative method to transport nearly four million tons of dirt over Interstate 95 has received regional honors.

Balfour Beatty led the Wilmington-based joint venture selected by the N.C. Department of Transportation to design and build a southern leg of Interstate 295, also known as the Fayetteville Outer Loop. The other venture members were Branch Civil Inc. and STV Engineers Inc.

The six-mile segment stretches from east of Camden Road in Hope Mills to I-95’s Exit 38 in northern Robeson County. The project also had the Balfour Beatty team widen I-95 to eight lanes in this vicinity. 

For its efforts, Balfour Beatty received recognition on April 28 from the Southeast Design Build Institute of America during its regional summit in Asheville. The I-295 project won the top transportation award in the category of projects exceeding $100 million. The institute’s Southeast region serves design-build professionals in both Carolinas and Georgia.

As part of the design, the joint venture came up with the idea of constructing a temporary conveyor belt bridge over I-95 to build up the ramps and bridges for the interchange with I-295. The conveyor belt transported dirt from a borrow pit on one side of the highway to the other side without impacting traffic.

“Design build gives us the flexibility to bring engineering and construction teams to the table early, which leads to more innovative and efficient solutions,” said NCDOT’s Division 6 construction engineer for the Fayetteville area, Jason Salisbury, in a press release. “These projects succeed because of the strong relationships we maintain with our contract partners who help us deliver a high-quality transportation network.”

In 2017, the NCDOT awarded the design-build project for almost $130 million to complete the design, help the department acquire the additional right of way, and to construct the 6-mile leg. In 2021, the department added a supplemental agreement worth $107.7 million for Balfour to also widen I-95 from what was then four lanes to eight lanes between mile markers 38 and 41.

By incorporating this agreement into the original project, the department was able to accelerate the widening of four miles of I-95 in this vicinity and save millions of dollars in construction costs. Both the I-295 construction and the I-95 widening work were completed last year.

Commenting on the award, Mark Johnnie, senior vice president and chief operating officer of U.S. Infrastructure operations at Balfour Beatty, said in a press release: “This award is a testament to the incredible dedication of our team and the strength of our partners and subcontractors, all working side by side with NCDOT to deliver a project that truly serves the traveling public. We are deeply grateful for our client’s partnership and their trust in the design-build process, which allowed us to solve complex challenges together, manage risk thoughtfully and communicate openly every step of the way. It is an honor to collaborate in this way and bring meaningful infrastructure to life for the communities we serve.”