Fresh asphalt is laid on a ramp along Interstate 280 by a crew from Valley Construction. The work was part of a three-year project to improve the I-280 bridge itself and the approaches to it. CREDIT VALLEY CONSTRUCTION
The completion of several high-dollar, high-profile road projects across the Quad Cities region helped push Valley Construction to a record year, the Rock Island company’s president and CEO said this week. As the 2023 work season comes to a close, Valley Construction is wrapping up more than $60 million in infrastructure improvement projects in the […]
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The completion of several high-dollar, high-profile road projects across the Quad Cities region helped push Valley Construction to a record year, the Rock Island company’s president and CEO said this week. As the 2023 work season comes to a close, Valley Construction is wrapping up more than $60 million in infrastructure improvement projects in the bistate area. The projects include three separate contracts related to the new Interstate 280 Bridge deck as well as the reopening of Bettendorf’s reconfigured Forest Grove and Middle roads intersection. President and CEO Greg Hass stands by a company history display at Valley Construction’s headquarters in southwest Rock Island. CREDIT JENNIFER DEWITT“It is our company’s biggest year ever, volume-wise,” Greg Hass told the QCBJ in an interview Wednesday, Dec. 20. While the highway division is the largest segment of Valley’s business, he said the road and bridge projects along with a new commercial building division and other related projects combined to create the record year. He did not have a total sales figure, but the road projects’ contracts alone amounted to more than $60 million of investment. “There’s a lot of infrastructure work out there, I think we were fortunate to be the low bidder on a lot of it,” Mr. Hass said. “There were a lot of projects of size coming in that we’re the only ones local are suited for them.” Among the road paving projects that Valley completed in 2023 were:
Illinois road projects
Interstate 280 Phase 1, $13 million. Asphalt resurfacing work was completed from the I-280 Mississippi River bridge to Illinois Route 92 in Rock Island. The bridge is formally known as the Sgt. John H. Baker Bridge in honor of the Medal of Honor recipient.
Interstate 280 Phase 2, $16 million. Asphalt resurfacing work was completed on the Illinois side from Illinois Route 92 to the Airport Road exit in Moline.
Illinois Route 5, $7 million. Crews completed asphalt resurfacing on John Deere Road (Route 5) from Moline’s 16th Street to the Interstate 74 corridor.
Ridgewood Road, $4.9 million. Located south of Rock Island in Rock Island County, the asphalt road’s resurfacing project was completed.
Crews with Valley Construction work on a resurfacing project earlier this year as part of a multi-million-dollar Interstate 280 bridge improvement project. CREDIT VALLEY CONSTRUCTION
Iowa road projects
Forest Grove and Middle roads, $11.8 million. Valley completed paving of the intersection this year, which is part of a larger road construction project near the TBK Bank Sports Complex.
LeClaire Road, Eldridge, $4.8 million. Crews completed the road’s concrete paving and an intersection reconstruction.
Mr. Hass said Valley was fortunate to land several different projects all related to the I-280 bridge improvement project. He said Valley worked on the roads and approaches on both sides of the river while Kramer Construction, based in Plain, Wisconsin, won the bridge deck replacement contract for what was a three-year capital project. “The first year's work was mainly on the bridge with us doing some work in Iowa,” Mr. Hass said, adding “The last two years was mostly us doing work on the Illinois side.” Valley Construction also put the finishing touches on the Forest Grove and Middle roads intersection near the TBK Bank Sports Complex. It opened in October to huge fanfare by the City of Bettendorf and others involved.
Valley nabs top awards
According to Mr. Hass, two Illinois QC projects also garnered awards for the near century-old family business. The Illinois Department of Transportation presented an Award of Excellence to Valley as part of its 2023 Contractor of the Year Awards. The company was recognized for its work zone traffic control during its resurfacing project on Route 5 (John Deere Road). Mr. Hass said much of the work was performed at night and progressed quickly. Valley Construction workers build the framework of a new concrete highway barrier wall along Interstate 280. The Rock Island firm had multiple contracts on the bridge rehabilitation project. CREDIT VALLEY CONSTRUCTIONIn addition, Valley earned a Safety Achievement Award from The Associated General Contractors of Illinois. The entire Valley company – made up of about 175-200 employees – was recognized for “going a whole year without any lost time accidents or injuries,” he said. Members of Valley’s leadership also were on hand with other contractors last month when Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois DOT hosted a news conference at Rock Island’s Martin Luther King Jr. Center. It celebrated completion of key projects in western Illinois including the I-280 bridge resurfacing. Opened in 1973, the new deck is the first replacement since the bridge opened.According to Mr. Pritzker, Rebuild Illinois is investing a total of $33.2 billion over six years on major improvement projects. It not only is the state’s largest-ever capital improvement program, but also the first to touch all modes of transportation from roads and bridges to transit, waterways, freight and passenger rail, aviation, and bicycle and pedestrian accommodations.
I-280 project a highlight
The $49.7 million resurfacing project began in 2021 with the demolition and replacement of the westbound bridge deck. The eastbound deck was completed in 2022. The final stage – patching and resurfacing I-280 from the bridge to the Illinois 92 interchange, was combined with another $16 million improvement that extended the work from Illinois 92 interchange to east of the Milan Beltway. The I-280 bridge improvements were made in conjunction with the Iowa DOT, which contributed $18.9 million to the project. In all, the combined projects improved more than 6.5 miles of I-280 through the communities of Coal Valley, Moline, Milan, and Rock Island in Illinois alone.Mr. Hass said he was proud to be part of several significant projects for the Quad Cities. “People pay a lot of money in taxes and things, and it’s good to see tax money being spent on things that are tangible and usable,” he told the QCBJ. “They can physically see the return on their tax dollar.” Looking ahead to 2024, Mr. Hass said “We’ll probably not be as busy, but it will be a good year. He said Valley already has been awarded a $17 million sewer project next year in Davenport, which will be a multi-year job. Until the local and state governments roll out their infrastructure plans, he said it is hard to predict the activity level. “At times we hear it will be a record year and then not much work comes. And other times we think there’s not going to be much work and it becomes plentiful,” he said.
