Team Fishel Placing Conduit for I-10 Widening Project in Houston

AT&T has awarded Team Fishel a 3-mile conduit relocation project in Houston, Texas. As part of the Texas Department of Transportation widening project of Interstate 10 which requires conduit relocation, Team Fishel will be placing approximately 15,000 feet of conduit, 13 pre-cast manholes, five cast-in-place and two manhole rebuilds along the I-10 eastbound feeder road between Patchester and Gessner, Texas.

The project officially began in December and is truly a team effort, with Teammates from Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta working on the project. Veteran Ohio Supervisors John Blair and Tilmon Blair have also traveled to Houston to assist with the cast-in-place and manhole rebuilds. Together, they have over 85 years of experience with Team Fishel. “Their expertise has been critical to the success of the job so far,” said Houston Area Manager Brad Dunlevy.

“The two of them have played a big role in getting this job off to a great start,” he said. “It is great to have them in Houston and to have them share their knowledge with the Houston Teammates.”

According to Dunlevy, Team Fishel crews will use a variety of placing methods, but the mainline section will primarily be trenched. However, because of multiple existing utilities some areas will have to be bored. Then, steel casings ranging from 18 to 30 inches in diameter will be placed.

“The depth of the trench makes this project unique,” said Dunlevy. “We are going from 8 feet to 20 feet in some areas.”

Dunlevy expects ground water, unstable soil conditions, and multiple existing utilities to be the largest challenges as the project progresses. Though this is not the first project of its kind for the Houston Teammates – a similar project was completed for AT&T in 2003 – it is by far the largest to date. Dunlevy believes the lessons learned from that job will help on this project as well.

The project is on schedule and expected to be completed in May 2006.