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The one highest award given each year, the Eminent Conceptor Award, recognizes an engineering achievement which demonstrates a high degree of merit and ingenuity, contributes to the advancement of the private practice of engineering, and enhances the economic and social welfare of the general public.
STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS
ALFRED BENESCH & COMPANY
Murray Baker Bridge
Owner: Illinois Department of Transportation
The Murray Baker Bridge truss is 180 feet shorter than it was only months ago as a result of the first known bridge shortening of its kind.
The Murray Baker Bridge carries four lanes of I-74 traffic over the Illinois River. The bridge is 3250 feet long with the main span being more than 600 feet long. Plans for reconfiguring a hazardous interchange on the north end of the bridge were at a standstill, largely because the truss posed a significant site constraint. Shortening the truss was an ideal, yet complex solution utilizing unique load transfer devices and synchronized operations.
Benesch conducted several workshops with the client that addressed all detailed engineering aspects involved with the project. Shortening the truss was the pivotal component of an economical bridge rehabilitation, as well as the key to designing an interchange that improved the connection between I-74 and Peoria and enhanced public safety."
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