ODOT Project 3000-20
Cincinnati, OH

Having placed traffic into its final configuration months ahead of the original plan, the Mill Creek Expressway Phase 5B team finished a project that, from the outset, offered very little room for error. The work has since been recognized with the 2025 ABCD Outstanding New Medium Span Bridge Award and the 2026 Don Conaway Partnering Award for projects over $20 million. Project Superintendent Joe Fockler, P.E., also received the 2025 Don Conaway Individual Partnering Award.

In the summer of 2021, Great Lakes began an approximately $87 million design-build reconstruction of the I-74/I-75 interchange in Cincinnati. The two-mile project included interstate widening, major roadway reconstruction, 61,100 square feet of MSE walls, and work on 11 bridges. Construction required approximately 4.17 million pounds of structural steel and 3.15 million pounds of reinforcing steel. At its center was a new flyover carrying southbound I-75 traffic to westbound I-74.

Stretching 1,872 feet across the interchange, the 10-span steel plate-girder bridge had to find its way through an unusually crowded site. Its alignment crossed three roadways, Mill Creek, five active railroad tracks, a century-old sewer, and numerous utilities, all beneath high-voltage transmission lines. The bridge also curved sharply, changed width, transitioned through varying superelevation, and crossed the railroad at a severe skew. There was no simple or conventional solution.

Hundreds of trains continued moving through the corridor, interstate traffic remained active, and nearby utilities and infrastructure could not simply be taken out of service. At the same time, the project was moving through design during a period of pandemic-driven material shortages and uncertain steel fabrication schedules. Delays in railroad approvals, environmental permits, utility work, or structural steel could have pushed the flyover and the entire project off schedule.

Early decisions changed that trajectory. Great Lakes and E.L. Robinson divided the design into 35 Buildable Units, allowing individual portions of the work to be reviewed, approved, fabricated, and constructed without waiting for the entire design to be complete. The team reserved steel fabrication capacity well before the final bridge design was finished and used direct, over-the-shoulder reviews to resolve comments quickly.

Innovation created the breathing room the project needed. A revised traffic plan using the Beekman detour and Montana Avenue Texas Turnaround simplified later construction phases and created approximately six months of schedule float for the flyover. The team addressed 27 utility conflicts and avoided three major relocations through design revisions. Federal permitting, expected to take more than 18 months, was completed in less than 12 months without delaying construction. Eight Alternative Technical Concepts ultimately produced more than $8 million in savings to ODOT.

Long before the final pavement was placed, the team established a routine of solving problems together. Great Lakes, ODOT, the designer, railroads, utilities, agencies, and subcontractors addressed issues before they became formal disputes. That discipline produced no railroad- or utility-related schedule delays and no disputes requiring escalation to the Dispute Resolution Board. The team also completed 310,952 work hours without a lost-time recordable injury.

As the completed flyover now rises above the interchange, it stands as both a transportation improvement and a record of the project’s success. The new ramp carries traffic through the curve at approximately 40 mph instead of 25 mph, improving capacity and safety while giving the interchange a new visual identity. Phase 5B demonstrated how early planning, technical creativity, and genuine partnering can turn a highly constrained project into an award-winning success.

Cavs’ practice facility marks start of riverfront transformation

NEOtrans Blog
by: Harrison Whittaker

In 2021, Detroit-based developer Bedrock first announced its plans to develop a long-neglected portion of the Cuyahoga riverfront with 35 acres of mixed-use development and green space. While the project was originally planned to be completed in phases over two to three decades, company executives now believe they can deliver it within 5-10 years.

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