Sam Houston Tollway Direct Connector / SH 225
SALIENT FEATURES
• Roadway Design
• Bridge Design
• MSE and Soil Nail Wall Design
• Construction Cost: $200M+
CLIENT
Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA)/ Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Houston District
LOCATION:
Harris County, Texas
BACKGROUND
The Sam Houston Tollway East (SHTE) at SH 225 Direct Connector (DC) PS&E project involves planning and designing to upgrade the SHTE and SH 225 interchange by providing eight (8) DCs. Multiple disciplines are involved, including roadway, structures, pavement, drainage, illumination, signing, and tolling operations.
PROJECT FEATURE
The goal of the project is to construct eight (8) DCs joining all lanes of SH 225 and SHTE. To facilitate the construction of these DCs, the SH 225 roadway and frontage roads must be modified to facilitate access for the DCs. This includes the relocation of existing entrance and exit ramps, widening of existing roadway and bridges, rebuilding retaining walls, construction of soil nail walls, and the construction of a new bridge for a new exit ramp.
RELEVANT SERVICES
infraTECH was responsible for the design of the SH 225 main lane, reconstructing entrance and exit ramps, frontage road and retaining walls. Also, infraTECH designed the widening of the existing SH 225 main lane bridge @ SHTE and widening of the SH 225 frontage road bridge over a drainage ditch. In addition, infraTECH designed a new exit ramp bridge over Deerwood Glen Drive. Furthermore, as part of the exit ramp design, infraTECH designed over 600 ft of soil nail wall to support the existing roadway. All structures were designed for HL-93 loading. All structures were designed based on AASHTO, TxDOT, and Program Specific design requirements.