U.S. 45 LaGrange Road

HNTB is providing Phase III construction engineering and inspection services, including site inspection, layout verification, as needed design changes, and geotechnical inspection and testing for this seven-contract IDOT reconstruction project. HNTB prepares project records, maintains documentation, and prepares and submits pay estimates and change orders.

The project includes removal of an existing one-span railroad bridge and construction of a new, 205-foot Metra and Norfolk Southern Railroad, a two-span, two-track steel bridge and a new pedestrian bridge over U.S. 45.

Construction of an 800-foot, cast-in-place retaining wall is required to accommodate the grade raise of one mile of two new tracks and involves furnishing and driving more than 28,000 feet of steel piles, grading and stabilizing the subgrade with more than 600, 30-inch-diameter aggregate columns, sub-ballast and ballast work, a new railroad crossing, station platforms, and gate and signal work.

The proposed U.S. 45 cross section consists of 6.3 miles of three new PCC through lanes in each direction with continuous landscaped median and curb and gutter and sidewalks on each side. The project also includes construction of 38 retaining walls, drainage and a street lighting system. Work on the existing 13 intersections involves the construction of more than two miles of cross streets and the removal and replacement of traffic signals. The United States Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration approved IDOT's request to use an experimental feature on this project to evaluate the use of a dowel bar inserter for use on jointed portland cement concrete pavements.