Rogers Group Experts in Crushed Stone, Aggregates, Gravel, Asphalt Paving, Road Construction, Quarries for 100 Years

A Hard Day's Night

Just about 48 hours after Rogers Group got the call about a section of the Vietnam Veterans Boulevard that had buckled, we had repaired the road and reopened it in time for some of the commuters heading home from work to start the long Labor Day weekend.

"I could absolutely not be more proud of this bunch of people working with me," said Randy Allen, construction manager for Rogers Group.

Crews worked around the clock beginning about 6 p.m. Wednesday, August 30 to rebuild about a 75-foot stretch of the highway and reopen it for traffic.

"We're a day ahead of where I thought we'd be," Allen said Friday afternoon as he watched employees put the finishing touches on the road before reopening it.

"We just had a bunch of people that really stepped up to the plate and performed," Allen said.

The highway was closed between New Shackle Island Road exit to the east and the U.S. 31 Business Loop exit to the west after a portion of the road collapsed.

The three-foot drop of the road occurred as crews from the W. L. Hailey Co. were installing a 36-inch water line for White House Utility District. The line will connect a water storage tank to the utility's water treatment plant on Rockland Road, Hendersonville.

Located under the bypass just west of the Forest Retreat Road overpass was a large box culvert made of reinforced concrete.

When the bypass was built, the city of Hendersonville owned the land on both sides of the highway at the site and had been considering building a city golf course on the site.

The state installed the culvert so service vehicles would have easy access to property on both sides of the by-pass.

White House Utility District wanted to install the new water line under the culvert.

Workers cut about a 4-foot section out of the middle of the culvert's floor so they could bury the line.

After the cut, the floor and the bottom of the culvert's walls slid inward and the tops of the walls pushed out, which allowed the roof of the culvert, and the road on top of it, to drop about three feet.

Because there is no longer a use for the culvert, the state Transportation Department decided to demolish what was left of the culvert and fill in the hole.

The Gallatin office got a call from state Transportation Director Bruce Saltsman about 4 p.m. Wednesday, August 30 asking for our assistance with an emergency repair.

Rogers Group redirected the majority of our resources to the project, Allen said.

We had about 36 trucks running for "10 hours solid" delivering about 4,800 tons of surge rock from the Gallatin quarry to fill the hole, Allen said. Each truck holds about 20 tons. As the rock was dumped in the hole, heavy bulldozers were used to compact it.

Two crews led by Buck Woodard, Gary Blackburn and Paul Stafford shared a 24 hour non-stop working day and stopped for barely a few hours of sleep before coming back in to finish up the job. Tennessee Department of Transportation crews assisted with traffic control.

By the afternoon of Friday, September 1, we had started paving the road and installing guard rails and temporary concrete dividers. A contractor installed poured concrete permanent dividers the following week.

Unless traffic puts deep ruts in the new pavement, Allen said, "We'll let traffic run on it for a couple of weeks" before putting the final layer of asphalt on the road.

The work went a little faster than anticipated, said Keith Massey, superintendent of the Tennessee Department of Transportation District 32, covering Sumner, Macon, Smith, Trousdale and Wilson counties.

The by-pass was reopened about 5 p.m. Friday, September 1 in time for the start of the Labor Day weekend traffic.

While the road was closed, the more than 40,000 cars a day that use the by-pass were diverted to Gallatin Road and Long Hollow Pike, compounding rush-hour congestion.

Considering the inconvenience for motorists, things went fairly smoothly, said Hendersonville Police Lt. John Watson. "A lot of people adjusted their schedules and their routes accordingly," he said.

Special thanks to all employees who did such an amazing job:

Gallatin Quarry and Asphalt employees: Randy Petty, Charles Thompson, Leslie Martin, Wilma Price, Betty Dye, Homer Morris, Charles Key, Lee Creasey, Wanda Phillips

NMTN SBU and Construction employees: Mark Heatherly, Randy Allen, Tom House, David Neal, Rick Turner, Cecil Cook, Jerome Reid, Devon Rock, Matthew Baltz, John Davis, David Draper, Mark Juechter, Gene Estep, Johnny Lamb, Bonnie Beam, Gary Blackburn, Randall Blanton, Roy Street, Rex Smith, Buck Woodard, John Goff, Raymundo Rodriguez, Roy Estep, Mike Grogan, Robert Fields, Jim Richardson, Greg Barrass, Jerry Hollis, Howard McCarter, Jim Hamilton, Jack Martin, Phillip Spencer, Paul Stafford, George Allen, Jason Bowman, Greg Hamlet, David Hancock, Roger Kemp, P.J. Maxey, Jackie Pippin, Mike Ragland, DeWayne Hamlet, Paul Spangler,

Corporate employees: Don Williamson, Rich Warden, Mike Agee

Just about 48 hours after Rogers Group got the call about a section of the Vietnam Veterans Boulevard that had buckled, we had repaired the road and reopened it in time for some of the commuters heading home from work to start the long Labor Day weekend. "I could absolutely not be more proud of this bunch of people working with me," said Randy Allen, construction manager for Rogers Group. Crews worked around the clock beginning about 6 p.m. Wednesday, August 30 to rebuild about a 75-foot stretch of the highway and reopen it for traffic. "We're a day ahead of where I thought we'd be," Allen said Friday afternoon as he watched employees put the finishing touches on the road before reopening it. "We just had a bunch of people that really stepped up to the plate and performed," Allen said.
	The highway was closed between New Shackle Island Road exit to the east and the U.S. 31 Business Loop exit to the west after a portion of the road collapsed. The three-foot drop of the road occurred as crews from the W. L. Hailey Co. were installing a 36-inch water line for White House Utility District. The line will connect a water storage tank to the utility's water treatment plant on Rockland Road, Hendersonville. Located under the bypass just west of the Forest Retreat Road overpass was a large box culvert made of reinforced concrete. When the bypass was built, the city of Hendersonville owned the land on both sides of the highway at the site and had been considering building a city golf course on the site. The state installed the culvert so service vehicles would have easy access to property on both sides of the by-pass. White House Utility District wanted to install the new water line under the culvert. Workers cut about a 4-foot section out of the middle of the culvert's floor so they could bury the line. After the cut, the floor and the bottom of the culvert's walls slid inward and the tops of the walls pushed out, which allowed the roof of the culvert, and the road on top of it, to drop about three feet. Because there is no longer a use for the culvert, the state Transportation Department decided to demolish what was left of the culvert and fill in the hole.
The Gallatin office got a call from state Transportation Director Bruce Saltsman about 4 p.m. Wednesday, August 30 asking for our assistance with an emergency repair. Rogers Group redirected the majority of our resources to the project, Allen said. We had about 36 trucks running for "10 hours solid" delivering about 4,800 tons of surge rock from the Gallatin quarry to fill the hole, Allen said. Each truck holds about 20 tons. As the rock was dumped in the hole, heavy bulldozers were used to compact it. Two crews led by Buck Woodard, Gary Blackburn and Paul Stafford shared a 24 hour non-stop working day and stopped for barely a few hours of sleep before coming back in to finish up the job. Tennessee Department of Transportation crews assisted with traffic control. By the afternoon of Friday, September 1, we had started paving the road and installing guard rails and temporary concrete dividers. A contractor installed poured concrete permanent dividers the following week. Unless traffic puts deep ruts in the new pavement, Allen said, "We'll let traffic run on it for a couple of weeks" before putting the final layer of asphalt on the road. The work went a little faster than anticipated, said Keith Massey, superintendent of the Tennessee Department of Transportation District 32, covering Sumner, Macon, Smith, Trousdale and Wilson counties. The by-pass was reopened about 5 p.m. Friday, September 1 in time for the start of the Labor Day weekend traffic. While the road was closed, the more than 40,000 cars a day that use the by-pass were diverted to Gallatin Road and Long Hollow Pike, compounding rush-hour congestion. Considering the inconvenience for motorists, things went fairly smoothly, said Hendersonville Police Lt. John Watson. "A lot of people adjusted their schedules and their routes accordingly," he said. Special thanks to all employees who did such an amazing job: Gallatin Quarry and Asphalt employees: Randy Petty, Charles Thompson, Leslie Martin, Wilma Price, Betty Dye, Homer Morris, Charles Key, Lee Creasey, Wanda Phillips NMTN SBU and Construction employees: Mark Heatherly, Randy Allen, Tom House, David Neal, Rick Turner, Cecil Cook, Jerome Reid, Devon Rock, Matthew Baltz, John Davis, David Draper, Mark Juechter, Gene Estep, Johnny Lamb, Bonnie Beam, Gary Blackburn, Randall Blanton, Roy Street, Rex Smith, Buck Woodard, John Goff, Raymundo Rodriguez, Roy Estep, Mike Grogan, Robert Fields, Jim Richardson, Greg Barrass, Jerry Hollis, Howard McCarter, Jim Hamilton, Jack Martin, Phillip Spencer, Paul Stafford, George Allen, Jason Bowman, Greg Hamlet, David Hancock, Roger Kemp, P.J. Maxey, Jackie Pippin, Mike Ragland, DeWayne Hamlet, Paul Spangler, Corporate employees: Don Williamson, Rich Warden, Mike Agee