I-495 Capital Beltway Express Lanes, Virginia, USA

Two new lanes, 50 bridges, and 12 improved interchanges. All to alleviate congestion on one of the busiest highways in the United States. This is the outcome of the I-495 Capital Beltway reconstruction project in Virginia.

Lane Construction (Webuild Group), in a joint venture with Fluor, has expanded the I-495 Capital Beltway by adding two new lanes in each direction along 14 miles, establishing a seamless network from the Springfield Interchange to just north of the Dulles Toll Road.

The project involved the replacement of obsolete infrastructures, including more than 50 bridges and overpasses, and the improvement of 12 interchanges including the Interchange 95. Lane also built more than 21.3 km of noise barriers to provide double protection for the local neighborhoods.

The project created 11,800 jobs in the Washington metropolitan area and achieved a milestone of 5 million hours of work completed in total safety in September 2012. It thus ranks among the safest complex civil engineering projects ever carried out in the United States.