The Texas Dept. of Transportation recently awarded Webber, LLC a trio of roadway expansion contracts totaling nearly $265 million, ranging from a nearly $134-million project in Amarillo to a $39.8-million road reconstruction job in Tom Green County.

The largest contract, a $133.9-million project on State Loop 335 in Amarillo, consists of 5.6 miles of main lane and frontage road construction to start later this month, with expected completion in late 2026.

"The initial phases of construction on each segment consist of constructing the frontage roads only, which will serve as a 4-lane divided highway. Further phrases of construction will add the control access main lines," TxDOT's Kit Black, Amarillo district director, told ENR.  

The project's work quantities are sizeable. Webber estimates the State Loop 335 project will require 789,999 cu yds of excavation, 343,000 cu yds of embankment, 292,000 sq yds of embankment, 292,000 sq yds of cement and 74,000 tons of hot-mix asphalt pavement. The project includes nine bridges with 83,000 sq ft of mechanically stabilized earth, soil nail retaining walls and 46,000 sq yds of concrete mixed-used path, the company said.

The goal of the project is to help relieve  traffic flow through parts of Amarillo. Black added that the "initial phase of construction on each segment constructed accommodations for bicycles and pedestrians."

The second contract, valued at $90 million, will take place on State Highway 90 from West Park Tollway to IH-19 in Katy, a bedroom community of Houston. The project is expected to finish in the summer of 2025. 

This project includes the widening of 6.5 miles of interior main lane, as well as broadening the incremental exterior main lane and the expansion of numerous bridges, the company said. Other works will include a minor frontage road realignment, ramp reversals, intersection expansions at several cross streets and an expansion of the existing storm sewer system with the addition of underground reinforced concrete box (RCB) detention systems.

Once completed, the widening of SH 99 will alleviate traffic congestion, especially during morning and evening rush hours.

Rounding out Webber's new TxDOT contracts is a $39.8-million State Loop 378 project in the central Texas county of Tom Green. Consisting of the reconstruction of roughly two miles of SL 278 to make room for a new, continuous center left turn lane, the project also will include the upgrading of pedestrian elements and utility rehabilitation, as well as the addition of sidewalks on both sides of the corridors. Approximately 10,000 lin ft of new waterline will also be installed as joint-bid utilities for the city of San Angelo, the company said. 

The SL 378 Tom Green County project is expected to start construction in August with an estimated completion date of May 2026.