This week, the contractor building safety and mobility improvements on Adams Avenue used a creative solution to install the new center medians with a machine that “extrudes” the concrete in a shape of a typical curb. 

The machine was in operation for one day to quickly form the curb and roll it out rapidly. 

One day of using the new machine replaces the usual process of creating a curb that takes about two weeks. 

Normally, staff use wood and stakes to create forms that are then filled with concrete. The wood forms are then removed after the concrete hardens and staff touch things up and fill in voids and irregularities.

Members of the public who have traveled along Adams Avenue on Monday may have seen the crew working quickly to lay out the concrete (a bit like play doh), smooth out irregularities, and prepare the area for remaining paving and landscaping work. 

The Adams Avenue project will rebuild the medians, install new landscaping, slurry seal the roadway, provide fresh roadway striping, and add Cycle Track bikeways. Construction is planned to continue in May and June, with completion before the OC Fair this summer.

Thanks to everyone for your patience traveling through the construction zone and keep an eye out for continued innovations to shorten construction duration by City crews.