Work marks major milestone in highway-to-highway improvements in Manteca

Long, heavy girders are being installed this week in the next major milestone of the San Joaquin Council of Governments’ (SJCOG) highway-to-highway State Route 99/120 Connector project in Manteca.

Girders are large horizontal concrete beams that support the bridge decking on which vehicles will travel. The 63 girders – 115 to 159 feet long, 6.5 feet deep, weighing up to 95 tons each – will be hoisted by a 300-ton crane with a 217-foot boom and lowered lightly in place. Construction crews have made significant progress in the project, including building columns for the new Austin Road bridge that will span State Route 99’s new lanes and Union Pacific Railroad tracks once completed.

“This represents a major milestone for this project, and we are pleased to have reached this stage,” Stockton Mayor and SJCOG Board Chair Christina Fugazi said. “While it has been a lengthy and deliberate process, it feels as though it was only recently that board members and our partners stood together at the groundbreaking. The progress achieved since then has been substantial and commendable.”

There will be rolling nighttime closures of State Route 99 for the next few weeks as crews place the girders on concrete columns already in place. A detour will be in place around the work and the highway will reopen each day before the morning commute. Once the girders are in place, crews will begin decking the bridge and later build slopes to gradually connect the bridge with the surface street on either end.

This is the first time in its history that SJCOG is leading a construction project. SJCOG and its partners are making improvements to State Route 99 and the State Route 120 Connector ramp, nearby local streets, and other freeway infrastructure. The project will benefit everyone living, working and traveling in San Joaquin County as it improves safety, eases traffic congestion, enhances mobility and goods movement, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions for better air quality.

Project updates can be found by visiting SR 99/120 Connector website, signing up for email updates, calling the project hotline at (209) 209-4690, or emailing the project team at 
99-120connector@sjcog.org. Questions or messages to the project team also can be sent via an electronic form on the website.