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HONOR AWARDS are given for those projects which are recognized for exceptional engineering that meet the needs of the client and benefit the public welfare.
STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS
RICE, BERRY & UZMAN / HAMPTON, LENZINI AND RENWICK, INC.
Orchard Road Bridge over the Fox River
Owner: Kendall County Highway Department
Subconsultants: ENCAP, Inc., DeKalb; Terracon, Inc.,
Naperville; PSI, Elgin, IL
 The project includes construction of 0.72 miles of a two lane county highway on new
alignment. The roadway embankment and bridge piers were constructed to accommodate a
future four-lane roadway.
Phase I engineering included an Environmental Class of Action Determination, Project
Report, two Intersection Design Studies and a Corps of Engineers permit.
A four span curved plate girder bridge was constructed over the Fox River and the
adjacent railroad. The 635 foot long bridge has a two-lane 44 foot wide roadway.
The 30 foot high north embankment was constructed on soft floodplain soils by using
geotech fabric and 1.5 feet of granular material to act as a working platform and to allow
water to drain from the subsoil as it is compressed by the new embankment. The embankment
was allowed to settle over the winter. Total settlement was approximately 8 inches.
Also included in the project was the construction of a 4 ½ acre wetland, an earth
noise berm, two signalized intersections and filling a gravel quarry with rock fill to
relocate a township road into the Illinois Route 71 intersection.
STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS
STRAND ASSOCIATES, INC.
State Street at I-94/I-57 & Chicago Transit Authority
Owner: IL Dept. of Transportation, District One
Subconsultants: KAM Engineering, Elgin, IL
 The State Street bridge is a nine-span structure measuring over 584 feet,
back-to-back of abutments. The bridge provides exclusive street access to the CTA's 95th
Street Maintenance Facility. Spanning I-94, I-57, a CTA train yard, and on-and off-ramps,
the structure is located at the highly congested, southern "Gateway to Chicago".
Project highlights include:
- Innovative soldier pile wingwalls supporting staged and permanent traffic.
- A continuous, curved, nine-span, steel composite superstructure eliminating deck joints
at the piers and enhances aesthetics.
- A narrowed bridge to a two-lane cross section enhances safety and provides additional
parking on approaches
- A separate adjacent structure provides safer access to the CTA facility.
- Maintenance of traffic plan, combined staged construction, and a detour
enabling access to the CTA facility.
- Significant consideration of constructability in plan development
maximized Contractor's flexibility during construction.
- A fast-track schedule met the fixed letting date.
STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS
TENG & ASSOCIATES, INC.
I-55 / Damen Avenue Interchange Structure
Owner: IL Department of Transportation
Subconsultants: Ground Engineering Consultants, Northbrook;
Gandhi and Associates, Chicago
 At Interstate Route 55 (I-55) in Chicago, Damen Avenue crosses over the expressway
with a full access interchange. The existing interchange, built in the 1960's as a
Conventional Diamond Interchange (CDI), was reconstructed as a Single Point Urban Diamond
Interchange (SPUDI) to increase the traffic handling capacity of the interchange, thus
eliminating long delays for traffic traversing through the interchange, eliminating
back-ups of the exiting-traffic onto the expressway and greatly improving the level of
transportation service for the expressway and the Damen Avenue.
In SPUDI, the access ramps flare out at the cross-street with all left-turning lanes
converging to a single point. SPUDI, when situated in fully developed urban area and
located above the expressway, poses structural challenge to design an efficient,
economical and aesthetic structure. A conventional structural solution to accommodate
SPUDI layout would be to provide a wide rectangular deck, greatly simplifying the framing
but resulting in very inefficient, uneconomical and aesthetically unpleasant tunnel-like
structure.
Teng & Associates, Inc. designed a unique structure that closely conforms to the
"minimum" deck area needed to accommodate the functional requirements of
elevated SPUDI, thus providing a compact structure that overcame shortcomings of a
conventional structure.
SURVEYING & MAPPING TECHNOLOGY
PATRICK ENGINEERING, INC.
O'Hare Airport Local Area Augmentation System Survey
Owner: City of Chicago, Department of Aviation
Subconsultants: Howard R. Green Co., Cedar Rapids, IA; ANSP,
Inc., Chicago;
Pelonus Navigation Systems, Inc., Calgary Alberta Canada;
Honeywell Aerospace Electronics Systems, Phoenix, AZ
 The Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS) is a public-use system being implemented
and tested at Chicago O'Hare International Airport. LAAS Stations receive raw Global
Positioning System (GPS) satellite signals and rebroadcast a corrected signal to aircraft
with sub-meter accuracy within 30 miles of a LAAS Station. The GPS and LAAS Systems will
support precision instrument approaches with aircraft having an on-board GPS receiver.
This system is intended to eventually replace current ground-based navigation systems. The
LAAS signal-inspace at O'Hare will help advance the following:
- Point to point area navigation for increased flexibility in
airspace design
- LAAS final approach segments for shorter final straight
segments
- Automatic Dependent Surveillance/Broadcast development for
airspace surveillance and runway incursion notification
- Aircraft ground movement enhancement
- Ground movement tracking and management
Development of Chicago-area LAAS precision approach
procedures is currently being accomplished by ANSP, for the purpose of test flying by
NASA, in support of the effort to achieve public-use certification of the LAAS facilities
at O'Hare Airport.
ENVIRONMENTAL
MONTGOMERY WATSON HARZA
JOAAP Bioremediation Facility
Owner: U.S. Army Operations Support Command
Client: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville District
Subconsultants: Sevenson Environmental Services, Niagara
Falls, NY
 The 21-acre
Bioremediation Facility is designed to remediate approximately 260,000 tons of explosives
contaminated soil created from the 25,000-acre former Joliet Army Ammunition Plant (JOAAP)
located in Will County, Illinois. It is the world's largest such facility, designed,
constructed and currently operated by MWH using the windrow composting biotreatment
process. MWH overcame unique site location challenges and developed mutually beneficial
relationships with nearby farmers to support soil amendment requirements to operate this
enormous facility. In another first, MWH proved that this highly sensitive,
temperature-dependent remediation process can work even through the harsh Midwest winter
with no apparent loss of efficiency. Through efficient management, the JOAAP Biotreatment
Facility operates well below the government's initial estimate. In the last year,
production has been optimized to reduce unit cost by 53% compared to the previous year,
helping reduce government cost's by approximately $25 million over the life of project.
ENVIRONMENTAL
THE RETEC GROUP, INC.
Remediation of a Manufactured Gas Plant Site Along the Vermilion River
Owner: Commonwealth Edison and Nicor Gas
Subconsultants: Geo-Con, Monroeville, PA; Christopher B. Burke
Engineering, Ltd, Rosemont;
Chamlin & Associates, Inc., Peru; Lafayette Home Nursery, Inc., LaFayette, IL
 On behalf of Commonwealth Edison and Nicor Gas, The RETEC Group, Inc. (RETEC) has
completed design and construction of an innovative remediation system at a former
Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP) site in Streator, Illinois. Residuals from former MGP
operations had impacted soil and ground water at the site, and were migrating off-site
toward the Vermilion River. RETEC crafted a practical and creative remedial approach
combining source removal, engineered barrier, and containment technologies. The
remediation included a 3-foot soil cover over approximately 2.2 acres, a 500-foot barrier
wall and recovery trench along the riverbank, and a fluid pumping and treatment system.
During construction, a 600-foot cofferdam was constructed to divert the river. Implemented
with aggressive and unique construction techniques, the selected remedy has efficiently
protected off-site ground water and surface water resources, prevented exposure to
impacted subsurface soil, and allowed natural processes to begin restoring impacted ground
water beneath the site.
This program, a premier example of local initiative and
commitment to improving water quality and public benefit, has reduced overflows and
unsightly debris in the canal, while assisting with economic development, recreation and
education opportunities, and historic and cultural enhancements.
TRANSPORTATION
CRAWFORD, MURPHY & TILLY, INC.
Runway 9/27: From Rubble to Rehab at ARR
Owner: City of Aurora
Subconsultants: Testing Service Corp.; O'Brien &
Associates
 Rubblizing a 40-year-old asphalt runway was an innovative, economical strategy that
also enabled up to 24 inches of reprofiling of Runway 9 / 27 at Aurora Municipal Airport.
This approach, led by Crawford, Murphy & Tilly, Inc., stabilized the entire subbase
prior to placing a new 9-inch Portland cement concrete pavement.
The project represents one of the first, and most extensive, uses of rubblized airport
pavement as a subbase. CMT's strategy reused 15,200 cubic yards of old pavement that would
have been landfilled and increased the final runway bearing strength, allowing heavier and
faster aircraft to use the airport. It also saved approximately $500,000 over traditional
pavement rehabilitation.
CMT worked closely with airport officials to realize in 2000 what had been the
airport's long-term vision for this runway. Its success has enabled the city-owned
airfield to carry out its mission of serving as an economic engine to help attract and
maintain businesses at the airport and in the community.
TRANSPORTATION
MISSMAN, STANLEY & ASSOCIATES, P.C.
Veterans Parkway (Clearwater Avenue to Fort Jesse Road)
McLean County, Illinois
Owner: Illinois Department of Transportation, District 3, Division of Highways
Subconsultants: Lin Engineering, Ltd.; American Surveying
Consultants, P.C.
 Veterans Parkway was built in 1940 as a rural four-lane divided expressway in the
cornfields of central Illinois. Now it provides local access to a heavily developed strip
of business and commercial enterprises in Bloomington/Normal, one of the Midwest's fastest
growing areas.
This project upgrades the roadway to an urban six-lane facility with raised median and
additional turn lanes. Severe right-of-way constraints required curb and gutter, storm
sewers and retaining walls. Traffic control planning kept four lanes open for use by the
heavy local traffic during construction.
Safety and efficiency are provided by a computerized traffic signal system
incorporating video detection, fiber optic interconnect, and video surveillance, allowing
remote intersection monitoring and control by the local municipality.
In addition, an aesthetically pleasing project was created by colored brick-patterned
medians and islands, matching detailed retaining walls and bollards, and median
landscaping that includes wildflower plantings.
TRANSPORTATION
TENG & ASSOCIATES, INC.
O'Hare International Airport G Concourse Renovation
Owner: American Airlines
Subconsultants: Environmental Systems Design, Inc.;
Hydro-Thermo-Power, Inc.; RADA Architects, Ltd.;
Carol Naughton + Associates Inc.; Pacific Constructions Services; Morcom, N.V., Inc.
The program called for a gut-rehab of American Airlines' existing G Concourse at O'Hare
Inter-national Airport. The design was to provide state-of-the-art facilities that would
create a new presence for American Airlines at one of the world's busiest airports. Good
design was expected to facilitate increased employee productivity, increased business
revenue, enhanced customer convenience through expanded and improved amenities, and
increased revenue for the airport through expanded concession space.
The design solution consolidated the existing seven rooftop mechanical penthouses to
three, freeing up the roof area to punch through with a series of dramatic vaulted
clerestories. These vaults draw natural light into the space and transform the dark,
cramped concourse while creating a powerful new presence for American Airlines. V-shaped
columns articulate the new structure from the old and draw the eye up into the vault space.
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