I tried searching for this topic but couldn't see that anyone else asked about it yet:

On Lake Hefner Parkway around 36th street to 63rd street there is some roadwork being done and I'm curious as to what they're doing.

There are these rectangular cuts in the road all over the lanes they're working on, they look like they are about 2-3 feet apart. I can't fathom what these are used for or how they help the road structurally. Are these for speed measurements? Traffic counting? Anyone have a clue?

Perhaps the Illuminati are tracking everyone. haha

That is a surface rehabilitation project that is typically done on bumpy freeways where concrete slabs have settled. What the crew is doing right now is cutting rectangular pits into the concrete where metal slats will be installed to prevent the concrete slabs from settling further. Once the slats are installed, the rectangular pits with be filled with concrete. Once complete, a milling machine will shave off the top surface of the concrete to a smooth surface.

The highway will then be restriped. Hence, you now have a nice, smooth freeway that no longer goes thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump.

This is from ODOT:




Lake Hefner Pkwy/SH-74 narrows nightly until mid-September


Drivers can expect various lane closures on north and southbound Lake Hefner Pkwy/SH-74 between 39th Expwy/SH-66 and N.W. 63rd St. until mid-September for surface repair at the following times:

7 p.m. Tuesdays through 6 a.m. Wednesdays, continuing nightly through Friday mornings
7 p.m. Saturdays through noon Sundays and again Sunday nights through noon Mondays

That is a surface rehabilitation project that is typically done on bumpy freeways where concrete slabs have settled. What the crew is doing right now is cutting rectangular pits into the concrete where metal slats will be installed to prevent the concrete slabs from settling further. Once the slats are installed, the rectangular pits with be filled with concrete. Once complete, a milling machine will shave off the top surface of the concrete to a smooth surface.

The highway will then be restriped. Hence, you now have a nice, smooth freeway that no longer goes thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump.

Drop some knowledge!

dang......now that is some knowledge. Muchos gracias. My family and I were having this conversation and I'll be sure and quote you if I can remember all of that.

The exact same thing was done recently from that area going South to I40.

And the Belle Isle bridge area and 1-40/I-44 junction from there towards Portland (this area is already falling apart, the strips are missing in multiple places and are rapidly becoming potholes)

That is a surface rehabilitation project that is typically done on bumpy freeways where concrete slabs have settled. What the crew is doing right now is cutting rectangular pits into the concrete where metal slats will be installed to prevent the concrete slabs from settling further. Once the slats are installed, the rectangular pits with be filled with concrete. Once complete, a milling machine will shave off the top surface of the concrete to a smooth surface.

The highway will then be restriped. Hence, you now have a nice, smooth freeway that no longer goes thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump.

I always wondered what those slits were and what they were putting in them. Thanks

There is an old thread on the topic that goes way more into detail if you care to find it. They've been doing this process around the metro for years now and Hefner Parkway doesn't start until NW 39th.

And the Belle Isle bridge area and 1-40/I-44 junction from there towards Portland (this area is already falling apart, the strips are missing in multiple places and are rapidly becoming potholes)

That means that the freeway's subsurface has deteriorated to the point where reconstruction may be in order sometime in the near future. Milling the surface extends the life of the freeway, but in some cases not for long. Those freeways were built before newer construction methods were deployed for building concrete (also called white-top) freeways.

Lake Hefner Parkway is an example of the new construction method I often point to. This stretch of freeway is now 18 years old, and its surface, which stretches from NW 63rd to just north of Memorial, is still in good condition where no settling has occured. The same method has been applied to the widened stretches of Broadway Extension, I-35 from SW 15th to Moore and is being used right now on the new I-40 Crosstown.