It was gold in those hills that first brought prospectors to the El Dorado Hills area in the 1800s.  Later, it became a prosperous farming area. Now, with its attractive surroundings in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, and location between the Bay area and Lake Tahoe, it has become a burgeoning affluent suburban community.  With the increases in population and traffic putting pressure on local roads, authorities are investing in another access point to U.S. 50 for residents.  The highway also has a significant history as the east-west national highway before the development of the U.S. Interstate system and a successor to the Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental auto route in the United States.

Providing Better Access

The U.S. Highway 50/Silva Valley Parkway Interchange Project - Phase 1 is located in El Dorado Hills.  The purpose of the project is to provide another access point to U.S. 50 for motorists in El Dorado Hills. The project will decrease congestion on several area roadways and improve travel time by providing more direct access to U.S. 50 for many area residents and businesses that would otherwise be required to access U.S. 50 from El Dorado Hills Boulevard, Latrobe Road, or Bass Lake Road.  The project entails constructing a new overcrossing over the highway near the existing Clarksville Road undercrossing, new on and off ramps with signalized intersections, and new bicycle and pedestrian facilities.   Carrying out the work is Myers and Sons Construction, of Sacramento, California, which was awarded the contract at a bid of $29.7 million. Construction began on November 27, 2013. Project completion is anticipated in early 2016.

A Young, But Experienced, Company 

Clinton and C.C. Myers founded Myers and Sons Construction in 2010. Sterling Construction Company acquired an interest in Myers and Sons in 2011. Today, Myers is a partnership that consists of C.C. Myers, Clinton W. Myers and the Sterling Construction Company, a publicly traded heavy civil construction company.  With 250 employees, the company focuses on heavy civil construction projects, especially transportation, heavy civil, infrastructure, and treatment facilities.  

"We're a young company with a lot of experience," says Clinton Myers, Vice President of Myers and Sons Construction.  In fact, his father, C.C. Myers has been building bridges for about 60 years.  Starting out as a teenager, who lied about his age to get his first job in construction, C.C. Myers built up two other companies before this one, and earned a formidable reputation for fast completion on complex projects.  Myers and Sons Construction has built hundreds of millions of dollars of complex heavy highway and civil projects.  Although best known for bridge projects, the company also constructs water/wastewater plants and pump stations, performs federal work, airport projects and roadway rehabilitation projects.

Myers said the company's equipment fleet consists primarily of Caterpillar and Allen brand equipment and Xtreme forklifts. "We have also made some of our own machines that produce polyester concrete overlay." Polyester concrete overlays are an emerging specialty for Myers and Sons. Having completed a number of these types of projects in California, the company was recently contracted to provide an overlay for part of the historic Pulaski Skyway bridge between New Jersey and New York City. 

Extensive Excavation 

The Silva Valley Parkway Project has had about 25 Myers employees doing the concrete work, with subcontractor Granite Construction handling the earth moving work and asphalt. The project has been extensive, with bid documents estimating roadway excavation of 231,000 cubic yards, and over 4000 cubic yards of various structure excavation.  More than 4,200 cubic yards of structure backfill and 122,000 cubic yards of imported borrow were in the plan.  More than 43,000 cubic yards of aggregate base, and 35,000 tons of hot mix asphalt were required for paving.  The overpass and structures were estimated to require over 6,000 cubic yards of structural concrete.

Still, Clint Myers says his biggest concern so far has been to adequately contain and treat rainwater landing on the site which is hilly and includes two waterways, Carson Creek and Bucks Ravine Creek.   This was done with hay, straw-wattle and hydroseed.  Made from recycled, naturally weed-free straw, these wattles imitate natural stabilization.  They reduce the rate of flow, absorb water and filter sediment from runoff.  In the process, they trap island seed and allow regeneration of native vegetation and brush. Accomplishing this was expected to require 95,800 linear feet of fiber rolls and a 231,000 square yard covering of hydroseed.

The project has run smoothly to date.  Aside from the concern with rainwater containment, and a larger need for blasting rock than was anticipated, nothing has slowed the progress of the works, and completion is still expected by early 2016.   Once completed, the project will ease congestion on many roads in El Dorado Hills and reduce travel time for residents.