INFRASTRUCTURE
The basic physical structures needed for the operation of society. Together, these structures facilitate the efficient production of goods and services in our world; thereby becoming the lifeline connecting every community to the entire nation.
From multi-lane interstate highway construction to bicycle paths, we’re building the infrastructure for the 21st Century! Massive concrete work, bridge building, sewer line installation and other major projects are continually under construction. Any Job — Any Size
SHELLY & SANDS, INC.
From the earliest times there has been a need for infrastructure. Today, our system of infrastructure is a vital, valuable element of the United States. While our infrastructure has evolved, so have the materials, engineering, equipment and construction techniques required for its construction. SHELLY & SANDS, Inc. endeavors to continually be on the leading edge of that construction. Utilizing state-of-the-art testing laboratories, material manufacturing plants, engineering technologies and construction equipment; SHELLY & SANDS, Inc. team of builders strive to construct the best infrastructure throughout the Midwest. SHELLY & SANDS, Inc.is proud that the quality of our work, and the important role of our trade, is such an integral element in the fabric of American life.
Shelly & Sands is expected to resume the reconstruction of Muskingum Avenue between Pine Street and the railroad tracks on Aug. 5 and complete the entire project by May of 2025.
The 1,500-foot stretch of Muskingum Avenue, or Dug Road as locals call it, closed in 2018, after parts of Putnam Hill fell into the road causing hazards for motorists. Zanesville City officials kept one lane open to traffic, using a barrier to prevent cars from driving in the lane closest to the hill, until it was discovered that lower portions of the road were slipping into the Muskingum River and City officials closed the road completely.
The City of Zanesville accepted a bid from Shelly & Sands for road reconstruction, which included taking part of Putnam Hill Park, and work began in March 2024 but was stopped a few months later when more slips along the Muskingum River changed the scope of the project.
“We were making great progress until recently as there have been additional landslips on the Muskingum River side of the roadway, which will need to be addressed by extending the project retaining walls,” said Chip Saunders, Zanesville City Engineer.
Saunders said the project was estimated to cost $6.6 million and even with the change order the project is expected to come under that figure – at $5.5 million.
The city is using a mix of grant funds for the project from FEMA, the Ohio Department of Development and the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District. Since FEMA is providing 90-percent of the funding, the agency had to sign off on the change order.
Zanesville City officials learned this week that FEMA accepted the change order and Saunders said construction should resume Aug. 5.
Saunders estimated the total average daily traffic on Dug Road prior to the road’s final closure at “approximately 5000 vehicles per day.”
Zanesville Mayor Don Mason said Muskingum Avenue is used as an access point to Ohio 60, U.S. 22, and Interstate 70. Closing the road affected residents’ access between the north and south portions of the city, negatively affected emergency vehicle response, and caused rerouting to local businesses.
Closures related to construction on I-70, which is slated to continue through Oct. 2027, also have increased the need for the 0.28-mile of Muskingum Avenue to reopen.
“With I-70 under construction and Sixth Street access to I-70 West being closed, Dug Road could see greater use by intercity traffic,” Mason said.
The entrance ramp to I-70 from Sixth Street remains closed this year and 60-day, temporary closures of Sixth Street are slated for this summer, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation.
Shelly & Sands started a mass excavation of Putnam Hill March 20.
To make the road safe, Shelly and Sands crews are removing part of the hillside, which will affect Putnam Hill Park. By closing off the park’s access road from Pine Street that wound through a deep ravine, crews are filling in the ravine with dirt removed from the hillside. Though crews have removed the park’s river overlook and part of the park’s parking spaces, both will be replaced, and a 0.3-mile multi-use path will be added where the Pine Street access was removed, according to project maps.
A steel retaining wall will prevent further slippage from the lower portion of the road along the river and a rock-fall barrier on Putnam Hill will prevent slippage onto the road.
The road will be reconstructed in the same location but the two lanes of Muskingum Avenue will be widened, making each lane 12-feet wide, and a six-foot walking path will be built along the river side of the road.
Shelly & Sands also is reconstructing the sanitary sewer line that runs underneath the road.
Shelly & Sands is expected to reopen Muskingum Avenue by November of this year – after a six-year closure — and Putnam Hill Park will be refurbished and open by May of 2025.
Muskingum Avenue, or Dug Road as locals call it, has been closed between the railroad tracks and Pine Street since 2018, after parts of Putnam Hill slid into the road causing hazards for motorists. Zanesville City officials kept one lane open to traffic, using a barrier to prevent cars from driving in the lane closest
to the hill, until it was discovered that lower portions of the road were slipping into the Muskingum River and the City closed the road completely.
As cost estimates came out, some reaching more than $4 million, many City officials pondered whether to repair the road or keep it closed.
“Back when Dug Road was fully open in both directions the total average daily traffic was approximately 5000 vehicles per day,” said Chip Saunders, Zanesville City Engineer.
Zanesville Mayor Don Mason said Muskingum Avenue is used as an access point to Ohio 60, U.S. 22, and Interstate 70. Closing the road affected residents’ access between the north and south portions of the
city, negatively affected emergency vehicle response, and caused rerouting to local businesses.
Closures related to construction on I-70, which is slated to continue through Oct. 2027, also have increased the need for the 0.28-mile of Muskingum Avenue to reopen.
“With I-70 under construction and Sixth Street access to I-70 West being closed, Dug Road could see greater use by intercity traffic,” Mason said.
The entrance ramp to I-70 from Sixth Street remains closed this year and 60-day, temporary closures of Sixth Street are slated for this summer, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation.
Crews started mass excavation of the hill March 20 and have begun installing erosion control and trench drains.
The road will be reconstructed in the same location but the project includes expanding the two lanes of Muskingum Avenue, making each lane 12-feet wide, and adding a six-foot walking path along the river side of the road. A retaining wall will prevent further slippage from the lower portion of the road along the river and a rock-fall barrier on Putnam Hill will prevent slippage onto the road.
Shelly & Sands also is reconstructing the sanitary sewer line that runs underneath the road.
To make the road safe, Shelly & Sands crews are removing part of the hillside, which will affect Putnam Hill Park. By closing off the park’s access road from Pine Street that wound through a deep ravine, crews can fill in the ravine with dirt removed from the Muskingum Avenue hillside. Though crews have
removed the river overlook and part of the park’s parking spaces, parking will be replaced, and a 0.3- mile multi-use path will be added where the Pine Street access was removed, according to information from the City.
Work on Putnam Hill Park is expected to be completed in May 2025.
The Gaysport Bridge in Blue Rock closed in 2021 because of structural issues but it reopened Nov. 29, 2023 — eleven months ahead of schedule — with help from Mother Nature and Shelly and Sands crews.
“The Muskingum River was the controlling factor on this project,” said Steve Williams, Government Affairs Director for Shelly and Sands, explaining the river only reached the causeway twice, which allowed steady work.
Muskingum County Engineer Mark Eicher said the bridge, originally built in 1886 as a timber covered bridge, showed wear in a 2015 inspection. The county replaced the entire superstructure in 1955 and again in 1970, replacing steel beams on the approach spans and the bridge deck in 2001. Muskingum County limited the bridge to one-way traffic in 2015 and reduced the speed limit to 25 miles per hour in 2019 before a 2021 inspection caused Eicher to close it to traffic completely, despite the fact that it limited traffic to river crossing several miles north and south of the project.
“It was simply a safety issue,” Eicher said.
The $7.5 million project was funded with $5 million in federal money and a State Infrastructure Bank loan. Lighting will be completed in 2024, Eicher said.
As part of the project, Shelly and Sands was able to save the bridge’s original sandstone piers by capping them in concrete. Saving original piers of bridges from this era, according to Williams, is something that is “becoming more unusual to do.”
Information from Eicher’s office states the sandstone piers were likely built by T.B. Townsend who also built the Muskingum County Courthouse. Williams said the piers were built on timber foundation and bedrock, using locally-cut trees.
“I would not be surprised if there are chestnut logs underwater that could last forever,” Williams said.
Gaysport Bridge Project Facts
-The Gaysport Bridge was built in 1886 as timber covered bridge by Smith Bridge Company who built many covered and truss bridges
-The bridge is comprised of three, 150-foot timber covered bridge fixed spans, and one 140-foot Howe truss swing span
-Sometime in 1887 the three timber spans were blown down by a cyclone and were later replaced by iron Pratt trusses
.-Shelly and Sands was awarded the $6,855,410 project bid on April 14, 2022 and began work July 25, 2022. Muskingum County Engineer Mark Eicher said the project will come in just under $7.5 million with the addition of lighting, guardrail upgrades and change orders.
-Traffic counts of bridge users are unknown and are difficult to calculate because of construction at the Duncan Falls/Philo Bridge crossing and work on State Route 60.
– Steve Williams of Shelly and Sands credited the success of the project to Bridge Superintendent Randy Shull; Foreman Al Schockling and his crew; and Bridge Engineer Austin Bates. He said the job was built with a small crew and when it was time to deck the structure, more people were pulled from other jobs. Extra equipment and operators also helped when installing and removing the causeway.
Shelly & Sands Inc., ODOT
Receive Top National Award For Quality in Asphalt Paving
Innovative I-77 Project Encompassed 23 Lane-Miles of Pavement Work
The National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) honored Shelly & Sands Inc. of Zanesville, Ohio, as the winner of the 2019 Sheldon G. Hayes Award for excellence in construction of an asphalt pavement 
for its work for the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) on Interstate 77 in Guernsey County, Ohio.
The Sheldon G. Hayes Award, bestowed annually since 1971, recognizes the country’s highest quality highway pavements. The company received its award today at a ceremony during the association’s 54th Annual Meeting in Maui, Hawaii.
The asphalt pavement industry is committed to building high-quality projects that deliver superior performance to the traveling public,” said 2019 NAPA Chairman John Harper. “All contractor’s projects earning a Sheldon G. Hayes Award are measured against industry best practices, rated for smoothness a year after construction, and visually inspected to ensure the project lives up to our promise. I’m honored to say that, in earning a 2019 Sheldon G. Hayes Award, Shelly & Sands has exceeded these rigorous standards.”
Over the 5.23-mile-long I-77 project, Shelly & Sands milled the old pavement and placed more than 55,792 tons of new asphalt pavement mixture. As part of the project, the interchange with State Route 541 required complete rehabilitation and upgrading, including removal of old concrete pavement and replacing it with full-depth asphalt.
A 1-mile test section with a void-reducing asphalt membrane (VRAM), construction of a new bridge deck, and the need to begin paving in the middle of the project due to the scheduling of the bridge work were some of the challenges that Shelly & Sands needed to overcome on the project. Despite this, Shelly & Sands received full incentive payments for joint density and smoothness.
In partnering with ODOT, the project was one of the first pilot tests of a thermal imaging camera to monitor pavement temperature to identify thermal segregation from side to side across the mat. All data was shared with ODOT for research purposes.
This marks the second time in three years that Shelly & Sands has been a finalist or winner of the Sheldon G. Hayes Award………………..
Duncan Falls 5th grade class visited Shelly & Sands
On Thursday, May 16th over 140 kids and teachers from Duncan Falls 5th grade class visited Shelly & Sands employee park for a field trip. The kids spent about 4 hours at the park doing several activities such as fishing, playing in the creek, frisbee, baseball, basketball and walking around the park . Fun was had by all on a beautiful, sunny day!
SHELLY & SANDS ZANESVILLE OFFICE EMPLOYEES DONATE GIFTS FOR FOSTER KIDS
Shelly & Sands Zanesville office employees raised $850 and the company donated $1,000 to purchase gifts for the Muskingum County Adult and Child Protective Services Foster Child Christmas party. The money was used to purchase gifts for 93 kids for the Foster Kids Christmas party and also provided eight individual kids gifts to open on Christmas morning.
According to Muskingum County Adult and Child Protective Services for the past 13 years Shelly and Sands Inc. and their main office staff have been providing Christmas for needy children in Muskingum County and sponsoring the gifts at the Muskingum County Adult and Child Protective Services Foster Child Christmas party.
The 8 children that S&S have provided Christmas for this year are part of the Adopt-A-Child Christmas Program………..VIEW MORE DETAIL
