CATEGORY: H - Transportation

CLIENT/OWNER: Illinois State Toll Highway Authority

SUBMITTING FIRM: Globetrotters Engineering Corporation

KEY PARTICIPANTS: Globetrotters Engineering Corporation, Bravo Company Engineering, Hanson Professional Services, Inc., Jones Moore Construction & Consulting, LLC, Princeton Technical Services, Inc., RJSL Group, LLC, Spaan Tech, Inc., Strand Associates, Inc.

DESCRIPTION: The complexity of the I-294 over I-55 bridge construction presented several challenges that were met head-on. One specific challenge was the severe 65.3-degree skew at which the abutments, piers and girders were built in relation to the bridge deck. Extreme care was required during the deck pour to ensure paving operations did not incorrectly overload portions of the superstructure. This was further complicated by the sheer size of the bridge—672 feet long and 100 feet wide— for both the northbound and southbound structures. The pour sequence for the bridge was modified with the Tollway's approval to mitigate these challenges. This modification required the simultaneous use of two tandem Bid-Well pavers.