James Madison University

Land-Bridge & Paul Jennings Residence Hall

Harrisonburg, Virginia

Paul Jennings Residence Hall was completed in 2019 and built in conjunction with the Land-bridge which crosses over Driver Drive. The site was originally a softball field and parking lot which was demolished to build the project.  One of the early challenges was dealing with unsuitable material, since that original site was used as a “fill site” from earlier projects. The Student Housing project required a lot of coordination with the General Contractor and Subcontractors to be completed on time. There were a lot of areas which numerous subcontractors had to be working in at the same time.

The Land-bridge is an earth bridge over Driver Drive which took 35,000 CY yards of dirt to construct. The material came from the Atlantic Union Bank Center which was being built at the same time. The elevation was raised from original ground up to 50’ in certain areas. Utilities had to be relocated and large drainage culverts were installed for existing storm water runoff. One of the challenges was amending the wet material being brought in so compaction requirements could be met. The project was completed on schedule thanks to the team we had onsite.