LINDON — When Gordon Olsen drives the new I-15 freeway, he doesn't worry about whether the flyover bridge in the sky can hold the traffic.
He knows that each span will hold a nose-to-nose fleet of fully loaded semi-tractor trailer trucks all slamming on their brakes at the same time and then some.
He knows there are earthquake restrainers fitted to every pier.
He's comfortable with the work.
And he should be.
"It's sufficiently built so no one ever has to worry," says the owner of the company responsible for building the bridges in the largest design-and-build project ever bid in the United States.
OlsenBeal Associates, based in Lindon, Utah County, working under the direction of the Wasatch Construction team and Kiewit Construction from Omaha, Neb., in tandem with Utah Pacific Bridge and Steel LTD. and three other steel fabricators from Portland, Ore. and Montana, has furnished and erected the steel and put up the concrete beams for the 154 bridges throughout the 17-mile project.
His only regret is that the 3 1/2-year, $1.5 billion project is coming to an end.
"I'd just love to do it all over again," Olsen said. "This is what I love to do."
To handle the I-15 project, OlsenBeal and Utah Pacific created the "I-15 Steel Structures Limited" corporation and set out to provide $150 million in materials and construction for bridges and interchanges between 600 North and 10600 South.
"There were a lot of critics when it first started. The effort behind the design was monumental but Wasatch managed it well," Olsen said. "The responsibility to supply and erect that much steel was sort of overwhelming but we really had a good plan. We staged all of the material right here in Lindon and hauled it all to the job site as needed."
Being in charge of both the design and the building meant Wasatch Construction could keep track of the many small details and control the costs without sacrificing quality, Olsen said.
"I think that saved a substantial percentage. Design-and-build is better and cheaper because the same people who have to build the bridge or road design it from the beginning. There's no middle man. We work as a team."
State transportation officials also got out of the way, Olsen said, clearing the way for the work to get done without the typical delays that come with government projects.
Olsen said the result is a project that's not only coming in on time but on budget and with no lawsuits filed against it.
"We'd have been 20 years if we'd had to go through government channels," he said. "This thing was the first project really built as a private enterprise effort with minimal bureaucratic intervention."
Olsen beams as he talks about it. He credits Gov. Mike Leavitt and Utah Department of Transportation executive director Tom Warne with having the courage to recognize the value of the design-and-build concept and support it.
"I think it's remarkable. This project will lead the nation in setting a pattern for this kind of work," he said. "Go see it. Drive it. It's beautiful."
OlsenBeal has been in business since 1987, started by Olsen and Thad Beal.
OlsenBeal and Utah Pacific have built bridges and other steel structures throughout the western United States, including the Eagle Canyon steel arch bridge in southeastern Utah, Geneva Steel's caster building, Brigham Young University's Marriott Center roof and the Tropicana Avenue Flyover Bridge in Las Vegas.
Olsen has been building bridges of one sort or another since he was a little kid.
"I was here 35 years ago. I worked on the same bridges we tore down," he said.
He's looking forward to helping to build the Legacy Highway next.
"We have good people. The Legacy Highway will be more of the same if we stay with the design-and-build concept. It's the best idea."
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