I-65: One of the South’s Key Interstates

The air is full of excitement! Your bags are packed, the dogs have been dropped off at the kennel, and snacks have been packed. Today is the day you have been waiting for – it’s your family’s first trip to the beautiful Alabama beaches! It does not take long in your journey for you to realize that you are not the only family heading south. Crashes, stoppages, and slow-moving traffic increase each mile you drive. Sound familiar?

I-65 is a crucial interstate for the southeastern United States, and Alabama’s 365 miles of this highway are especially vital for travel and tourism. The Birmingham area sees a traffic volume averaging 150,000 vehicles per day, while Montgomery averages 100,000 vehicles daily, and Mobile averages 85,000 vehicles per day. Despite the heavy traffic, only 80 miles of I-65 in Alabama have three or more lanes. In August of 2023, Governor Kay Ivey announced a project to widen a portion of I-65 south of Alabaster.

Sain Associates was awarded a contract for surveying services to supplement the design of a proposed widening project along two miles of I-65 from mile 236 to 238. Our work included establishing the existing right-of-way of I-65, Old Highway 31, and Fulton Springs Road. The survey work also included coordination with CSX Railroad to establish the rights-of-way for two tracks crossing under I-65.  Sain also performed field locations to check the Alabama Department of Transportation’s LiDAR data and locate and map existing storm and drainage structures along I-65. In addition, our team completed the mapping of current conditions of two CSX Railroads, Old Highway 31, and Fulton Springs Road.

This project was particularly exciting as it offered one of our first opportunities to utilize Bentley’s OpenRoads design software for drawing production. The collected field data was processed and drawn in OpenRoads, utilizing ALDOT’s survey point codes, survey levels, line types, text style, dimension styles, and cell libraries. This allowed a seamless transition for the engineers to perform their design in ALDOT’s format.

We completed our survey work on schedule in October of 2023, and engineers began their design immediately. Currently the project is scheduled for construction letting in December of this year.