SME | Markets

Drive on nearly any interstate in Michigan, cut across the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron, or touch down on a runway at Detroit Metropolitan Airport or at Air Force Bases in Ohio, Alabama, Oklahoma, Nevada or Alaska -- you’re riding on SME work. Roads, highways, bridges, and runways are a big part of our business. In fact, we’ve been paving the way for the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for over 20 years. Our pavement PhDs have spent a good portion of their careers with state transportation agencies so they know state and federal regulations infinitely better than you can read a road map.

We are leaders in pavement management. Condition evaluation procedures range from standard methods – coring and drilling – to state-of-the-art procedures such as nondestructive pavement evaluation. Our pavement design services include rehabilitation and pavement repairs, runway replacements, and pavement management systems. Our engineers have pounded the pavement, literally, from coast to coast, conducting nondestructive testing on highways on the East Coast to providing pavement repairs at Kulis Air National Guard Base in Alaska. You would have to go around the world four times to match the miles of pavement in their portfolio. UPS, another SME client, is continuing our travels with upgrades to several runways and aprons.

SME is one of only a handful of companies in the country to own and operate a Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD). The benefit to clients? Time and money saved. FWD tests convinced the City of Fowlerville that their main street was in good condition – only patching was needed – saving the town over $250,000 in restoration costs.

The M-63 reconstruction project – winner of a national award from the U.S. DOT and FHWA and an Honorable Conceptor Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Michigan (ACEC/M) and the Michigan Society of Professional Engineers (MSPE) -- is another example of SME innovation at work. We provided the geotechnical muscle to build a 1300-foot-long embankment up to 40 feet high and a 400-foot-long bridge in St. Joseph and Benton Harbor, Michigan. The upshot? Reduced maintenance costs for MDOT and a revitalized area for redevelopment.

“Grand” is indeed the operative word for the Grand River Road Reconstruction project in Livingston County, winner of an “Award of Excellence” from the Michigan Concrete Paving Association. SME proposed a state-of-the-art concrete mix design to widen a two-mile stretch of Grand River Road between US-23 and Pleasant Valley Road from two lanes to three, four and five lane configurations. It was the first time that the Livingston County Road Commission and SME used both a dense graded aggregate specification for the overall master stone gradation for the concrete and a special provision covering the screening of combined aggregates and cements for Alkali-Silica Reaction (ASR) susceptibility. Reconstruction required numerous gate wells for water main, sanitary sewer manhole connections and extensive new storm water piping and structures. In addition, five bioswales were created, offering a sustainable solution to storm water issues.

The intense artesian groundwater conditions at the new Dixboro Road Bridge over the Huron River in Ann Arbor required a fresh approach for the bridge foundations. SME’s solution: a foundation system utilizing jet grouted soil-cement for both ground improvement and cofferdam seals allowing spread footings instead of pile-supported foundations with conventional tremie-poured seals. This is the first known application of jet grouted soil-cement cofferdam seals for a bridge project in Michigan. ACEC/M and MSPE awarded the project team an “Honorable Conceptor Award” for innovative bridge foundation engineering.

Our pavement work also takes us to airports around the globe serving as principal investigator on pavement and evaluation projects. SME has logged over one million miles for the Strategic Highway Research Program, evaluating highway conditions across 13 Midwestern states and Canada. Our ongoing, hands-on research on pavement performance for the FHWA has resulted in new guidelines for constructing smooth concrete pavements with good long-term performance.

On the road again. Willy Nelson may sing the song, but our road warriors live the words, happily, every day.

For more information contact our Plymouth office or an SME office near you.










	Click on image above to see larger view. Click here for a list of representative projects.