Link-Belt crawlers drive piling for hurricane evacuation route
23 August 2023
Madison, MS-based Key Constructors is hard at work building seven bridges and an interchange as a major subcontractor of Yates Construction on a 9.8 mile stretch of Highway 57 near Vancleave, MS. Key is using three Link-Belt Cranes, two 248 HSL and one 238 HSL to drive over 300 prestressed concrete pilings for the project.
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“We’ll drive 32 piling for each of the intermediate bridges, then 24 for the bridge abutments—all with Link-Belt cranes,” said Jeff Jackson, site superintendent. “We like Link–Belt’s – we’ve had good service from them. We’ve owned various Link-Belt models, most of our bigger cranes like the 238 HSL and 248 HSL handle pile driving and steel erection.”
The project will eventually serve as a secondary evacuation route as well as a bypass around Vancleave. Mississippi 63, twelve miles to the east is the only other north-south route for quickly moving the local population off the coast for hurricane evacuation. The new four-lane highway will go north from Interstate 10 in Jackson County and travel north to Gautier-Vancleave Road in Jackson County, MS.
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