IH 10 Electrical and Natural Gas Utilities Expansion

Houston, Texas

Binkley & Barfield | DCCM was selected to provide engineering and construction support services for the relocation of CenterPoint Energy’s electrical transmission and distribution, and natural gas facilities within the project limits. Binkley & Barfield | DCCM was required to keep close and constant coordination with TxDOT and the Katy Freeway Relocation Team to keep pace with the accelerated schedule. Services provided included route design, surveying, plan and profile drawings, traffic control plans, pavement restoration, construction staking, and as-built drawings. All designs were in accordance with CenterPoint Energy’s Standards and Specifications, as well as with federal, state, and municipal requirements.

As the largest undertaking in TxDOT history, over 25 miles of IH 10 and 2 miles of IH 610 were widened and reconstructed at a cost of $2.8 billion and completed in six years. The project included the extensive acquisition of ROW to accommodate the expansion of the highway from 11 lanes to a total of 18 lanes, accommodating an average of 207,000 vehicles per day.

For the electrical transmission lines, Binkley & Barfield | DCCM was responsible for the removal of overhead transmission facilities and the corresponding towers. The project called for the installation of over 11 miles of underground 138 kV transmission line under the new IH 10 frontage road as well as the installation of 11 miles of dual 9- to 8-inch PVC concrete encased duct banks. The electrical distribution tasks included the conversion of 45 aerial crossings to underground—42 crossings using horizontal directional drill (HDD) and three auger bore crossings. For the natural gas facilities, over 25 miles of natural gas pipeline were installed using polyethylene plastic and steel pipe with main pipe diameters ranging from 2 to 12 inches. Design pressures included intermediate pressure (IP) and high pressure (HP). During the project, hundreds of commercial and residential natural gas service lines were re-run or abandoned. Binkley & Barfield | DCCM used open trench, HDD, auger bore, and box tunneling methods for the different assignments.