Structural Engineering & Design Featured Projects

This $6 million project included the removal and replacement of the Broadway St. Bridge over the BNSF RR switching yard in Streator, IL. The existing 20 span, 843’ long truss bridge spanned a total of ten tracks and a public street in an urban area adjacent to many residential and commercial developments. The new 386’ long bridge was a three-span composite, continuous welded steel plate beam girder superstructure supported on pile bent abutments and piers. The new structure included a 6 feet wide sidewalk separated from traffic by a parapet. This project included the establishment of a new profile, structure and MSE wall construction, curb and gutter and storm sewer installation. The project also involved extensive railroad and utility coordination. HEI provided the Resident Engineer and two construction inspectors that were responsible for all ICORS entries including daily diary, quantity documentation and materials inspection and testing.

HEI was selected by the Pike County Highway Department to provide phase I and II engineering services for the replacement of the structure carrying County Highway 4 over Kiser Creek. The project is located approximately three miles south - southeast of Barry, Illinois. County Highway 4 is classified as a rural major collector with an average daily traffic of 375. This project involved the removal of the existing three-span structure consisting of a reinforced concrete deck on steel girders supported by open abutments and individual concrete encased pile bent piers. The existing structure was 215 feet in length and 26 feet in width and showing significant signs of distress in the superstructure elements. The stream channel had also wandered up against the west abutment causing significant scour of the embankment at the abutment and the abutment itself on several occasions. The replacement structure is a three-span structure consisting of a reinforced concrete deck on 42-inch steel plate girders. The structure is supported on solid wall piers with pile supported footings and pile supported concrete integral abutments. The new structure is 280 feet in length and 32 feet in width with no skew. The new bridge is adjacent to a curve in the roadway, and therefore a continuous two percent superelevation was used along the length of the bridge to avoid a superelevation transition on the bridge.

HEI was selected by the Scott County Highway Department to provide Phase I, II, and III engineering services for the replacement of the structure carrying County Highway 12 over Mauvaise Terre Creek along with roadway realignment through the project area. HEI was successful in securing Illinois Special Bridge Funding for the county for this project. The project is located approximately two miles northeast of Exeter, Illinois. County Highway 12 (Chapin Road) is classified as a rural minor collector with an average daily traffic of 150. This project involved the removal of the existing three-span structure consisting of a reinforced concrete deck on continuous steel girders supported by open abutments and three column concrete piers on concrete footings. The existing structure was 174 feet in length and 22-ft in width and showing significant signs of distress in the superstructure elements. The project also included nearly one quarter mile of roadway realignment to correct a blind switchback curve at the project location. This included significant right of way acquisition, tree removal, environmental coordination, and embankment construction. The replacement structure is a three-span precast, prestressed, concrete deck beam structure consisting of 27-inch deck beams for one span and 33-inch deck beams for the remaining two spans. The structure is supported on fully encased steel H-Pile bent piers and concrete spill-thru pile bent abutments. The new structure is 225-ft in length and 30-ft in width with a 35 degree skew. The new roadway embankment construction consisted of earthen fill topped with a 12-inch Type A aggregate base course and three inches of hot mix asphalt for the final driving surface. The project was constructed under full road closure.

HEI was selected by the Knox County Highway Department to provide Phase I and II engineering services for the replacement of a double CMP culvert structure carrying Township Road 52 (Macomb Road) over a Branch of Brush Creek. The project is located approximately 6.5 miles south of Galesburg, Illinois. Macomb Road (TR 52) is a local road with an ADT of 125. The existing structure at this location was a twin corrugated metal pipe culvert with each barrel measuring nine feet in diameter. The seams of the existing pipe culverts were buckling in some locations along with extensive corrosion along the flowline of the pipes. This was coupled with the existing pipes being hydraulically undersized for the location. The scope of the project involved replacement of the twin CMP culvert structure with a triple barrel 12-foot by 12-foot cast in place reinforced concrete box culvert. The new culvert is 101 feet out to out of headwalls and is skewed 25 degrees. HEI completed the field surveying, hydraulic analysis, Preliminary Bridge Design & Hydraulic Report, environmental coordination, utility coordination, structure design, and approach roadway design. The construction of this culvert utilized Township Bridge Program and REBUILD Illinois funding.

HEI was selected by the Mason County Highway Department to provide preliminary engineering services for the replacement of the bridge carrying CH 20 over Quiver Creek. This project was funded with Illinois Special Bridge Program funds and Highway Safety Improvement Program funds. County Highway 20 is a major collector between Havana and Pekin, connecting small towns and unincorporated areas to cities and services not available in the rural area. Along this route, there is a national wildlife refuge, a state forest, local and state fish and wildlife areas, prime farm ground, and natural wetlands where endangered species have taken up home. Design criteria included accommodating a Bald Eagle’s nesting site, keeping the existing bridge and road open during construction for as long as possible, a Sole Source Aquifer, and the availability of materials in the rural area. The existing bridge consisted of a three span haunched T-beam superstructure with a reinforced concrete deck on pile bent piers and abutments. The structure was 168-ft long and the driving surface was 24-ft wide. The roadway alignment featured a broken back horizontal curve with super-elevation on each end of the bridge. The Phase I engineering included substantial coordination for wetland preservation and endangered species protection. The new structure consists of a three span, curved, steel plate girder superstructure, with a reinforced concrete deck on concrete stub abutments and fully encased concrete pile bent piers. The structure is 195-ft long and 37-ft wide with a 30 degree skew in addition to the curvature. The project also included reconstruction of 3,325-ft of County Highway 20 on a shifted alignment to correct the horizontal curvature and remove the broken back curve.

HEI was selected by the Knox County Highway Department to provide Phase I and II engineering services for the replacement of the structure carrying County Highway 17 (1800 E Road) over a Tributary to Spoon River. The project is located approximately 5 miles east of Gilson, Illinois. County Highway 17 is classified as a rural major collector with an average daily traffic of 125. This project involved the removal of the existing double barrel corrugated metal culvert pipe structure. The existing CMPs were each 9 feet in diameter with an upstream concrete headwall for an overall structure length of 27 feet and width of 65 feet. The CMPs were showing significant section loss and were very near the point of failure. The roadway over the culvert was beginning to pothole as the pavement base and fill above the culvert was quickly eroding through the ceiling of the pipes. The replacement structure is a single-span precast, prestressed, 27-inch concrete deck beam structure. The structure is supported on concrete spill-thru pile bent abutments. The new structure is 68 feet in length and 28 feet in width with no skew. The project was constructed under full road closure.

HEI was selected by the City of Washington to perform Phase I, II, and III engineering services for the replacement of the structure carrying Stratford Drive over Farm Creek. The project is located in the north central portion of Washington within a residential neighborhood just north of the high school. Stratford Drive is classified as a local street with an average daily traffic of 275. This project involved the removal of the existing double barrel (10-foot by 5-foot) reinforced concrete box culvert constructed in 1961. The existing box culvert was 44 feet in length and showing signs of distress as well as hydraulic inadequacy. The replacement structure is a single-span precast, prestressed, 17-inch concrete deck beam structure. The structure is supported on concrete spill-thru pile bent abutments. The new structure is 45 feet in length and 48 feet in width with no skew. The cross section of the bridge includes two 18 -foot travel / parking lanes and 5-foot sidewalks on both sides of the bridge with a concrete parapet wall and aluminum bridge railing. This project was complicated by the presence of separate sanitary and storm sewers in close proximity to the north abutment, as well as a 6-inch potable water main running under the length of the proposed bridge. The project also provided connection to the existing sidewalks and the Washington Recreational Trail. This project was constructed with local funding from the city of Washington. HEI completed the field surveying, hydraulic analysis, Preliminary Bridge Design & Hydraulic Report, environmental coordination, public involvement, traffic control plan, utility coordination, structure design, and approach roadway design. The plans, specifications, and estimates were prepared for a local construction bid letting coordinated by HEI.

Hutchison Engineering, Inc. (HEI) was selected to perform Phase I, II, and III engineering services for the removal and replacement of the Sugar Creek Road Bridge over Sugar Creek in the Joliet Township. The existing structure was replaced at the existing location and alignment with a three-span pre-cast, pre-stressed deck beam superstructure on integral abutments and concrete encased pile bent piers. The final structure included a back-to-back abutment length of 88 ft. with a face-to-face of rail width of 40 ft. This project also included HMA pavement reconstruction, earthwork, channel scour protection, new box culverts, curb & gutter, and guardrail reconstruction. HEI performed the following engineering services: Data Collection, Surveying, Hydraulic Survey, Bridge Condition Report, Preliminary Bridge Design & Hydraulic Report, Soil Boring Analysis, TS&L Drawings, Environmental Coordination and Permitting, Soil Erosion & Sediment Control Plan and Coordination, Utility Coordination, Traffic Staging Design, Roadway Design, culvert design, prepared and held letting, Detailed Structure and Roadway Design Plans, Specifications and Estimates. HEI also provided a resident Engineer to ensure quality construction and adherence to proper documentation.

HEI was selected by the Brown County Highway Department to provide Phase I and II engineering services for the replacement of the structure carrying Township Road 208 over a Branch of Little Creek. The project is located approximately 4.5 miles north - northeast of Versailles, Illinois. Township Road 208 (1550 E Road) is classified as a rural local road with an average daily traffic of 175. This project involved the removal of the existing single-span structure consisting of a reinforced concrete deck on steel channel beams supported by closed concrete abutments. The existing structure was 21 feet in length and 17 feet in width and showing signs of distress in the superstructure and substructure elements. This structure was experiencing a significant amount of scour around the abutments and along the approach roadway from the south. Little Creek flows parallel to Township Road 208 prior to its confluence with the project stream immediately downstream of the project structure. The replacement structure is a single-span precast, pre-stressed, 21-inch concrete deck beam structure supported on concrete spill-thru abutments. The new structure is 51 feet in length and 24 feet in width with no skew. The project also included channel and roadway front slope rip rap protection in the area where Little Creek parallels Township Road 208. The project was constructed under full road closure.

HEI was selected by the Henry County Highway Department to provide Phase I and II engineering services for the correction of an embankment failure in the northeast quadrant of the interchange between Interstate 80 and Henry County Highway 5 just south of Atkinson, Illinois. County Highway 5 is classified as a Major Collector with an average daily traffic of 1,700. The correction of this slope failure was critical to keep the roadway open to traffic as a multitude of over the road semi trucks use this exit to access an adjacent truck stop. HEI coordinated all of the Phase I environmental reviews and Phase II design engineering for the reconstruction of this embankment. The environmental review, and eventual construction, of this project location was aggravated by an identified wetland within the northeast infield of the interchange ramps, as well as a retention basin north of the exit ramp and south of the first commercial drive. HEI developed plans and specifications to reconstruct this embankment under live traffic through a series of embankment benches with furnished excavation of better quality soils. In addition, this embankment slope was flattened to help increase stability. The county highway drainage, and the general site drainage, were all taken into account with the design including reconstructed ditches at the toe of the embankment slopes. In all, this project involved over 3,500 cubic yards of furnished excavation and over 1,250 tons of rock fill for construction. The project was constructed under live traffic with staged construction.