Longview Daily News from Longview, Washington • 18

The uly News I oncv i ivhtniton 18 Wednesday November 1 1978 WOffiLBSUKraS freeway means sweat dust drenching from rain unkind looks from passing motorists and a weekly paycheck Many of the construction workers are local residents but specialized tasks draw men from as far away as Texas Torn-up portions of the freeway through Kelso may be annoying to interstate travelers and a colossal nuisance to local residents but about 200 men have a df-ferent perspective For these construction workers the Photos by Roger Werth Story by Tom Paulu Stan Tallbut climbs out of a water manhole near Allen Street to get his bearings 1-5 won't look good for a while now with the northbound ramps finished in two years Bush said the use of cedar sawdust for frontage road grading just north of Allen Street is unusual The sawdust compacts more quickly than traditional earth fills allowing quicker construction A huge auger is drilling 5000 holes 125 feet deep in the wet mud near Allen Street where the new freeway will be built The mud is replaced with sand which allows moisture to escape more quickly Without the holes Bush said new concrete would have to settle three years before it was ready Bush is relieved that his superiors in Vancouver and not him have had to deal with the six-month squabble among the state Kelso and Vestel Manasco concerning new freeway bridges cutting off access along the Cowem an River dike road The DOT holding up work on the bridges though Manasco has appealed to a state hearings board the right to cut access under the bridges George Clark who is in charge of the $3 5 million Longview Wye project said that all road work will be done by Nov 15 with all the on-ramps and off-ramps open by then Drivers be affected by erosion control and planting work after that which will remain to be done he said Costing $C5 million work from Brynion Street to Rocky Point was held up slightly by this summer's heavy rains according to project engineer Frank Boyd Barring exceptional heavy rains next summer that portion of freeway construction should be completed by the fall of 1980 When work in all three sections is completed the freeway will have six lanes A frontage road will extend on the east side of the freeway from Brynion Street south past the Thundcrbird Motor Inn and hook up with Kelso Drive Brynion Street on-ramps and off-ramps will be eliminated The southbound ramps of the North Kelso interchange wU be reopened about one year from Interstate 5 through Kelso looks beautiful in the picture on Jim Bush's wall But it start looking good to motorists for another 38 months when the construction work is completed at a total cost of $365 million for three separate projects Bush is the state DOT project engineer in charge of the freeway work from the Longview Wye to Brynion Street Work on the Wye is a separate project and work north of Brynion Street is the third On the wall of his Talley Way office is an aerial photo of Kelso with neat colored strips showing where the freeway and other new streets will be all the problems had work is pretty much on Bush said Drainage has been the biggest obstacle to construction he explained Two contractors are doing the $165 million worth of grading and bridge work in Bush's area Around the beginning of 1980 the state will call for bids for paving the stretch a job that could cost $10 million All the work should be done by the end of 1981 Bush said.