Chicago Skyway Viaducts and Calumet River Bridge

TYLin was selected by the City of Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) for the project, which improved the condition and load rating of the bridge and viaducts by rehabilitating both the superstructure and substructure. The Calumet River Bridge is a 1,300-foot-long suspended cantilevered through-truss bridge. Acting as south and north approaches, the 100th Street and Commercial Avenue Viaducts have a combined length of 4000 feet and consist of multiple-span, steel truss structures.

Our services included overseeing and providing field staff for construction inspection, contract administration, coordination of reviews, and material quality assurance testing, all following CDOT procedural guidelines. Other responsibilities included conducting weekly progress meetings, monitoring the contractor's schedule, and preparing field orders and contract modifications. 

Project Challenges

• TYLin worked closely with the contractor to develop load transfer procedures and monitoring plans for the complex superstructure load transfer operations and member replacements.  
• The superstructure rehabilitation included replacement and repairs for stringers, plate girder, truss floor beams, and deck trusses, which required jacking of the existing structure. 
• All temporary jacking and shoring procedures had to be executed during off-peak hours in a 15-minute window and remain in place during full traffic loading to minimize closures of the Skyway. 
• The substructure work included replacing existing steel bents with concrete piers and required the erection of 100-foot temporary shoring towers. 
• The existing deck was replaced with a high-performance concrete bridge deck with new drainage and roadway lighting system. 
• A 2.5-mile movable barrier was employed during construction to allow two of the three traffic lanes to carry rush-hour traffic into and out of the city.