October 10, 2024

By Lane Kimble

FOND DU LAC, Wis. — The descriptions were wide ranging.

“Very odd… like glue,” Berl Bolle said.

Brad Diener chose a different analogy.

“If you’ve got children, it’s very similar to kinetic sand,” Diener explained.

One thing’s for certain: the possibilities of Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) are vast.

“This isn’t your grandpa’s concrete,” Bolle added with a smile.

This week, Lunda Construction teamed up with MCC, Inc. to pour the first UHPC bridge deck overlay in the state’s history.  WisDOT chose to use the relatively newconcrete on a two-lane bridge carrying Townline Road over I-41 in Fond du Lac.

“We definitely did rehearsals for the rehearsal, sent folks out to jobs to get familiar with the product because we want it to be successful,” Diener, who is Lunda’s Regional Manager, told WTBA.UHPC takes longer to produce than traditional concrete, but it’s much stronger.  It supports up to 20,000 PSI compared to about 4,000 and reaches that strength in just 48 hours instead of 28 days.

Bolle, MCC’s Concrete Division General Manager, says the coordination between Lunda, MCC, WisDOT, and supplier Ductal has been fantastic on this project.

“When I get a chance to do something new and represent MCC, I’m all over it,” Bolle said of working with UHPC for the first time.  “I think if we do everything right, it’s going to perform very well.”

As with anything new, the project is drawing a lot of attention from many different people.  Check back next week for WTBA’s latest video to find out who’s paying particular interest and how Lunda is making sure to commemorate the inaugural experience.