AECOM/TranSystems (joint venture)Client: Illinois Department of Transportation
Completion of the $640 million interchange reconstruction marks the successful conclusion of a multiyear effort to upgrade a key gateway into downtown Chicago and a critical transportation hub for the entire region. One of the largest projects in the state’s history, the new interchange eliminates a notorious national bottleneck and improves safety, efficiency, and mobility across multiple modes of transportation while more effectively connecting people and jobs throughout the Chicago area, as well as neighborhoods surrounding the interchange. The project included 19 bridges, nearly 50 retaining walls, and more than 32 miles of expressway lanes.
AECOMClient: NASA Langley Research Center
The new NASA Measurement Systems Laboratory (MSL) building at Langley Research Center is developing next-generation precision sensor technologies needed to accelerate NASA’s future space exploration goals. The five-story, 175,000-square-foot facility is the latest in an ongoing program to modernize Langley’s existing facilities into a smaller, state-of-the-art, energy-efficient, and sustainable core campus. Integrating operations previously dispersed in five buildings, the MSL contains vibration-sensitive wet and dry electronics, chemistry, and laser/lidar laboratories; shops; shielded chambers; high-bay spaces; and cleanrooms. The systems were optimized to minimize energy needs and meet NASA’s ambitious sustainability goals.
Barr Engineering Co.Client: Mississippi Watershed Management Organization
Located in a rapidly developing neighborhood spanning more than 300 acres, Towerside is the first designated innovation district in the Twin Cities. The Mississippi Watershed Management Organization saw a rare opportunity to build a district-scale urban stormwater treatment system that would reduce costs for landowners, implement more effective and environmentally friendly stormwater treatment methods, and provide public green space. The project team’s design features two large biofiltration basins that collect, treat, and convey runoff to a massive 207,000-gallon underground cistern for additional treatment using ultraviolet light. The project includes thousands of feet of piping and supports about $250 million in new development.
Barge Design SolutionsClient: Alabama Department of Transportation
An expansive 31-acre, 10-block project incorporates innovative spaces to reconnect neighborhoods along both sides of the now-reconstructed I-59/I-20 bridges. Five years of collective, community-focused efforts shaped the project team’s master plan, providing direction for a design that features walking paths, a dog park, a food truck area, sports fields, a world-class playground, water features, an amphitheater, a 60,000-square-foot skate park, a biergarten, pickleball courts, open-air classrooms, and other long-sought amenities. Parts of the project represent Alabama’s five physiographic regions and Birmingham’s important history in the Civil Rights Movement.
HDRClient: City of Pittsburgh
The new I-579 Urban Open Space Cap bridges the interstate with a new 3-acre green space that restores a direct pedestrian link to the economic opportunities and amenities of downtown Pittsburgh. More than 60 years after construction of the Crosstown Boulevard created a divisive “concrete canyon” in Pittsburgh’s Lower Hill District, the Open Space remedies the development hurdle with an innovative land bridge spanning the interstate to reconnect to the predominantly African-American neighborhood. The site also features native trees, shrubs, and grasses to help reduce road noise and relieve heat island effects. All stormwater is retained through a system of tiered rain gardens.
HDRClient: City of Billings
The design for one of the largest public works projects in Billings’ history originally called for constructing all-new secondary treatment facilities at a projected cost of $250 million. The project team instead proposed reusing existing secondary treatment basins for bioreactors to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients from discharge water. The facility’s nutrient-removal process uses biology to reduce nitrogen and phosphorous, avoiding the need for expensive chemicals as well as the cost of dewatering and disposal of resultant chemical sludge. The innovative approach saved the city approximately $65 million in construction costs and enabled it to meet its permit limits for nitrogen and phosphorus for the foreseeable future.
HNTBClient: Maine Department of Transportation
In a single weekend in April 2022, workers rapidly demolished and replaced an aging I-295 bridge over Veranda Street using self-propelled modular transporters. The need to replace the three-span bridge also provided the opportunity to reconfigure Veranda Street and the I-295 ramp network to improve safety. In just 60 hours, workers demolished the existing bridge and erected new structures with exacting precision. The approach roadways were then reconstructed, allowing I-295 to be ready for the Monday morning commute. This first-of-its-kind project in the state reduced total construction time by half, lowered impact on motorists, improved safety, and drew widespread public accolades.
HNTB/WSP USA (joint venture)Client: Metropolitan Transportation Authority Bridges and Tunnels
Now nearly 60 years old but still an integral piece of the New York metropolitan region transportation system, the upper-level approach and anchorage span decks for the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge had become sources of increasing maintenance and commuter headaches. The project team replaced 225,000 square feet of bridge deck; reconstructed the anchorage span superstructure; upgraded seismic performance; implemented two-way cashless tolling; and improved lighting, drainage, and sandpipes. The project brings the historic spans into a state of good repair for their 220,000 daily users, and also adds resiliency and flexibility for future rehabilitations.