IADOT – Mills County/US34 DMS and Signage

Construction started in September of 2014 with Sadler Electric as the Prime Contractor for the IADOT.

Major work included the installation of (42) steel breakaway sign post and associated footings, (3118 sq ft) of Type B extruded back sign panels, cable guard rail system, (1) 75’ overhead DMS sign structure, (1) DMS Sign at 30’ wide by 8’ tall by 4’ deep made by Skyline Industries and weighing in at 4000 pounds.

The difficulty of this project was the poor soils and presence of ground water at about 2-4’ below grade. All of the new sign footings at 32” round x 7’6” or 9’ deep where required to be installed with temporary casing. The water was pumped just prior to concrete placement, casings pulled, and the sign stub post installed in the plastic concrete.

Not only was the water and sandy soils as issue, but the severe side slopes were all of the signs were to be installed created another issue. All of the holes were not accessible via convention digger derrick rigs. An auger mounted on an excavator was required to drill, place concrete, set the W8 and W12 sign post beams, and some of the Type B signs. An extremely difficult project with unforgiving site conditions was ultimately resolved by Sadler Electric’s know-how, equipment, and experienced employees.