Drivers can expect daily lane closures during concrete slab replacement on the westbound side of Interstate 16 between the Chatham-Effingham county line and the Candler-Emanuel county line, the Georgia Department of Transportation announced.

The project is underway and Kiewit Infrastructure South Company started replacing selected slabs earlier this month at mile marker 94 at the Candler-Emanuel line under a $1.8 million maintenance service contract with the GDOT. The other end of the project, at the Chatham-Effingham line, will be near mile post 150. The project is scheduled to be completed in the summer, according to the DOT

Traffic will shift about one lane left or right depending on slab locations, stated the news release provided by DOT District 5 spokeswoman Jill Nagel.

This work will affect only westbound lanes at various spots where slabs are in need of replacement, Nagel said.

“They’ve already completed eastbound through Candler, Bulloch and Effingham,” she explained in a phone interview.

That work was done as a series of separate projects, not included in the current contract.

Lane closures will be required during full-depth replacement to allow for slab saw cutting, pulling, setting and curing. Material is removed to a depth of more than two feet.

“It does take at least 24 to 48 hours to remove the old slab, rebuild the rebar, and then pour and let it dry,” Nagel said.

She said she will provide information on when the work in Bulloch County will be done when this becomes available.

This and similar maintenance service contracts within the 26-county Southeast District are being funded under the Transportation Funding Act of 2015. Travelers may have seen contractors doing vegetation removal, mowing, litter pickup, shoulder widening, roadway patching, slab and guardrail repairs and pavement preservation work at various locations in the district, Nagel said.

In the 2015 legislative session, Georgia lawmakers enacted the TFA, originally House Bill 170, with a new fuel tax structure and fees expected to net $870 million the first fiscal year and to sustain funding at similar levels in the future.

Georgia DOT urges travelers to call 511 for updated information about this or any other construction project on interstates and state routes. Georgia 511 is a free phone service that provides real-time traffic and travel information statewide. More information is available at www.511ga.org.