Having already cleared nearly 90,000 cubic yards of rock material from a mountainside, the Arizona Department of Transportation is entering its final stages of blasting work needed to build a passing lane and widen roadway shoulders east of Superior.

After having no travel restrictions this week, US 60 blasting operations will resume on Tuesday, March 1, and Thursday, March 3, and continue on a twice-weekly schedule until the end of the project in late April.

During that period, the closures for work between Devil’s Canyon and Oak Flat (mileposts 231-233) will be every Tuesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Motorists should plan ahead and consider alternate routes.

Traffic on eastbound US 60 will be stopped east of Superior (milepost 227), and traffic on westbound US 60 will be stopped at the Top of the World, west of Miami (milepost 235), until the blasting work is completed and debris is cleared.

Blasting operations are expected to be completed by the end of April. ADOT needs to excavate an additional 40,000-50,000 cubic yards of earth. Following the blasting work, ADOT will pave the widened roadway before opening the additional travel lane to traffic this summer.

ADOT started the $8.8 million project in August 2015 to provide the westbound passing lane, shoulder widening in Devil’s Canyon (mileposts 233-234), bridge work at Waterfall Canyon (milepost 229) and drainage improvements (milepost 242) west of Miami.

Approximately 30 minutes prior to each blast, motorists should be prepared for possible delays and lane closures as crews set concrete barrier prior to each scheduled closure.

Motorists seeking an alternate route can consider state routes 77 and 177, which is approximately 68 miles long. Motorists headed to the White Mountains region, including Show Low and Springerville, can take State Route 87 through Payson and travel east on State Route 260.

Drivers should use caution, watch for construction equipment and personnel, and allow extra time.

PHOENIX — Whether it’s adding travel lanes to relieve congestion on a Phoenix-area freeway, building a new interstate bridge outside Tucson or reconstructing a landslide-damaged northern Arizona highway, engineers stamp their mark on the state’s transportation system each and every day.

With National Engineers Week at hand, the vision and handiwork of the Arizona Department of Transportation’s professional engineers shows in more than 100 highway improvement projects underway around the state at any given time. That’s in addition to dozens of local roadway projects ADOT develops in partnership with Arizona communities.

“Engineers are on the front lines of meeting the goals Governor Ducey has set for Arizona,” ADOT Director John Halikowski said. “Whether boosting the economy, making Arizona safer or improving the overall quality of life, our 21st-century engineers must be relationship builders, team players and partners in working with many diverse people and organizations to deliver the transportation systems of today and tomorrow.”

“The challenges are large and the days are often long, but an engineer’s job includes the reward of seeing improvements that save travel time and bolster highway safety,” said Dallas Hammit, ADOT’s state engineer and deputy director for transportation. “We know people appreciate these advances, and we want to take time to thank our staff of engineers for their contributions.”

ADOT is nearing completion of a $109 million widening project along a 20-mile stretch of the Loop 202 Red Mountain Freeway between Loop 101 and Broadway Road in Mesa. The project, which has added new freeway lanes as well as other features such as overhead message signs and closed-circuit traffic cameras, presented its share of challenges.

“It’s never easy to manage construction while also working to keep existing lanes open as much as possible,” said District Engineer Madhu Reddy of ADOT’s Central Construction District. “Our project team worked with the community to limit restrictions while adding the new lanes. That’s also part of the role of the engineer.”

When a 2013 landslide severely damaged US 89 south of Page, ADOT engineers mobilized to get the closed highway realigned, repaired and reopened as soon as possible, while also quickly paving a temporary route to Page in collaboration with the Navajo Nation. US 89 reopened last year following an accelerated reconstruction project.

Audra Merrick, district engineer for ADOT’s North Central District, called the US 89 project an enormous engineering feat.

“We had to remove about a million cubic yards of rock from the area, but our success was even more dependent on maintaining communication at all levels,” said Merrick, one of 34 women currently serving among ADOT’s 250 professional engineers. “Engineering goes beyond drawings on a plan sheet. I can’t say enough about the teamwork involved in re-establishing the primary highway between Flagstaff and Page.”

One of ADOT’s largest southern Arizona projects is upgrading 17 miles of Interstate 10 pavement between Tucson and Benson while also replacing a large bridge crossing Davidson Canyon, approximately 20 miles east of downtown Tucson.

“Our engineering staff had to take heavier interstate traffic, including commercial trucks, into account when designing and building what we call the Quad Project,” said Rod Lane, ADOT’s district engineer for the agency’s South Central District. “It’s actually four separate projects being delivered as one. The engineering and planning include working in stages and scheduling shifts in traffic when needed. We’re looking forward to completing a modern, even safer Davidson Canyon bridge for generations to come.”

The $15.1 million Quad Project is scheduled for completion this summer.

Halikowski said National Engineers Week provides a great opportunity to highlight how engineers are working to advance Arizona’s transportation network.

“Governor Ducey wants us to ‘think big,’ and our engineers will work across all disciplines to bring innovative ideas to reality,” Halikowski said.