Michael Baker International has entered a partnership with the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) to rebuild an eight-mile stretch of US Route 49 in the Jackson metro area.

The $19.3m construction, engineering and inspection (CE&I) contract focuses on a section from Florence to the Scale Area in Rankin County.

Route 49 serves as the primary route from the state capital of Jackson to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, with more than 50,000 vehicles travelling on the road a day.

It also serves as the important artery in the state’s hurricane evacuation plan.

“We look forward to collaborating with MDOT to make this roadway safer and more efficient for the travelling public.”

With heavy commercial development along the northern end of the project, the current four-lane highway requires expansion to reduce traffic congestion and improve mobility.

Michael Baker International Mississippi operations office executive Ray Balentine said: “US 49 has historically been one of the most important routes in Mississippi, connecting the capital and the southern part of our state, and has been a keystone project for our local operations as we provided the final design services in 2017.

“Michael Baker understands the complexities of this highway and the reconstruction task, and we look forward to collaborating with MDOT to make this roadway safer and more efficient for the travelling public.”

Under the contract, the Michael Baker team will be responsible for construction inspection, survey and post-design services on the three-year multi-phase project.

The team and its partners will build a six-lane route as well as associated curb and gutter with a closed drainage system.

Michael Baker will use its mobile light detection and ranging (LiDAR) systems to record visuals of the site at preconstruction that will eliminate the need of cataloguing information.

It will also help to accurately collect digital data to inform reconstruction design plans.

The project is expected to be completed by late 2020.