The challenge of this design build project was to carve the toll road through the rugged Santa Ana Mountains by moving as much dirt as approximately one fourth size the of the Panama Canal.

A design-built project with Sukut performing earthwork, drainage, and roadway construction, and FCI constructing bridges. Move 67 million cubic yards of earth, including15 million cubic yards of rock. Make 300 ft. cuts and 400 ft. fills. Moving dirt to 72 bridges Build 102 structures, 82,000 cubic yards of drainage concrete (1/2 the volume in 4 months), 213,000 linear feet of storm drain pipe, hundreds of utility relocations Self-Performed 30% of the work

• Assembled over 100 scrapers, one of the largest scraper fleets in Southern California for the project.
• Construction working with surveyors and engineers to resolve design issues immediately making it possible to build without completed plans.
• Moved large diameter RCP from low elevation at the bottom of canyon fills to down drain type system allowing grading to proceed until the design caught up.
• Work was completed out of sequence. Through strategic planning, Sukut moved the dirt to the bridges so they could begin construction before the roads were completed.
• A Meandering Multiplate RCC Design was conceived and constructed to solve Caltrans’ maintenance issue in Blind Canyon and allowed Sukut to continue moving dirt at a 100K CY/day pace.
• Using an under drain system as an initial dewatering system prior to excavation of roadway boat section then leaving it in place as part of the permanent dewatering system.
• Long hauled high R-value soils to low R-value areas to maximize pavement strength and minimize cost.
• Establish a storm drain pipe yard on site that was perpetually restocked, thereby guaranteeing a ready supply of S.D. pipe for the project.
• Routinely used super aggressive schedules, including hourly schedules, and 24 hours per day schedules, to construct entire intersections, freeway ramps, box culvert road crossings or local streets on a weekend.
• Most successful design-build transportation project in Southern California, garnishing more than 5 national awards including: