ADOT Blog

An ADOT Highway Operations Supervisor came across a sight Monday morning that he’s never seen before … As he was driving by Jeddito Wash on SR 87, Elliott Koinva noticed that thousands of tumbleweeds had clustered together to form a kind of solid wall.

Now that you know a little about the ADOT permitting process involved with moving oversize loads, take a look at the latest heavy haul to cross Arizona’s highways. The video above shows just a portion of the journey this 285-ton load took beginning the first week of August.

Last week we gave you an update on how the new Mescal/J-Six bridge is coming along... You might also remember that the night the damaged bridge was taken down, the old Marsh Station bridge was also demolished just a few miles away. It was a huge project that required completely shutting down I-10 for the night.

With roughly 240,000 vehicles driving through it each day, the I-10 Deck Park Tunnel needs the night off every once in a while for a good, thorough scrub! Just about every four months, the tunnel is closed to traffic in order to allow crews the chance to wash the walls, maintain the ventilation systems and check on the tunnel’s 3,700 light fixtures (about 150-200 light bulbs are changed out each quarter!).

Remember when we first blogged about Arizona’s Long-Range Transportation Plan? It’s the plan that’s updated every five years and helps set ADOT’s priorities when it comes to the state’s transportation needs over the next 25 years.

The need for pedestrian and bicyclist safety at schools, especially involving young students, cannot be overemphasized. While federal, state and local agencies are encouraging fit and healthy lifestyles by promoting walking and biking to school, the safety of these children should be our highest priority.

Think back to 1984. You might recall that the United States hosted the summer Olympics in Los Angeles and Michael Jackson’s Thriller snagged eight Grammy Awards. It’s also when the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) identified the need for a West Valley regional connector freeway later to be dubbed Loop 303.

The new Mescal Road/J-Six interchange is taking shape! The Cochise County bridge will soon reunite two communities that were unexpectedly disconnected after trucks collided beneath the old overpass in March.

When it comes to describing some hauls, the term “oversize load” is a major understatement. We’re talking about the enormous “super-loads” driven through the state each day. Maybe you’ve seen them on the freeways … they’re the trucks lugging gigantic transformers, generators, turbines, and even houseboats.

Much has changed since ADOT got its start in 1927. Back then, the agency was known as the Arizona State Highway Department and roads certainly were built a little differently. Methods, materials and technology have changed so much since then.