 | 08/12/2009 Fox River Bridge Arch Transport Begins August 12 for Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88) Rebuild & Widen Project
Arch Deliveries Escorted by Police Will Impact Travel on Local Roads Including Butterfield Road, IL Route 25 and IL Route 31
DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. – The Illinois Tollway will begin transporting arch beam supports for the new westbound Fox River Bridge this week using local roads to move the 90-foot long segments from an assembly site on Butterfield Road/IL Route 56 to the construction site at the Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88). This work is part of the Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88) Rebuild & Widen Project between the Aurora Toll Plaza and Orchard Road and is scheduled for completion by the end of this year.
Fox River Bridge Arch Transport Begins Wednesday
Work to transport the 40 arch beam supports for the new westbound Fox River Bridge currently under construction is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, August 12, and continue daily for the next two weeks dependant upon weather. Up to six transports per day are scheduled to move the arches into place for erection. Deliveries will be escorted by Illinois State Police as well as local police and will be traveling at a low rate of speed between the hours of 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. Deliveries are planned at 1 ˝ hour intervals.
The cast-in-place concrete arches are fabricated at Geneva Construction Co.’s yard in North Aurora by James McHugh Construction, which is working on the project. Each of the 40 precast arch segments weighs approximately 92 tons and is comprised of approximately 48 cubic yards of concrete. The segments will be trucked approximately 5 miles to the bridge site with special 90-foot, heavy-load semi-trailers, featuring 13 axles, rear steering and custom engineered swivel bolsters.
Delivery Routes
The first deliveries will be transported to the east side of the bridge, traveling westbound on Butterfield Road/IL Route 56 to IL Route 25, and south on IL Route 25 to South Street to reach the bridge. Deliveries for the west side of the project will travel westbound on Butterfield Road/IL Route 56 and south on IL Route 25 to Sullivan Street, west on Sullivan Street to IL Route 31, and north on IL Route 31 to reach the project area just south of I-88.
Part of Tollway’s Congestion-Relief Program
Reconstruction of the Fox River Bridge project is a key part of the Illinois Tollway’s Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88) Rebuild & Widen Project, which is widening I-88 from two lanes to three lanes in each direction between the Aurora Toll Plaza and Orchard Road. This project, including the new bridge, is scheduled for completion by the end of 2009. All of the work is part of the Illinois Tollway’s $6.3 billion Congestion-Relief Program – Open Roads for a Faster Future.
When complete, the new Fox River Bridge will be 1,345 feet long, supported by 10 spans underneath the roadway – including a series of five, 178-foot-long arch spans. The bridge will carry three lanes of westbound traffic and mirrors the adjacent bridge structure to the south completed in 2008 to carry three lanes of eastbound traffic. The pair of bridges are the only arch bridges in the Tollway’s 286-mile system.
About the Illinois Tollway
The Illinois Tollway maintains and operates 286 miles of interstate tollways in 12 counties in Northern Illinois, including the Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88), the Veterans Memorial Tollway (I-355), the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90) and the Tri-State Tollway (I-94, I-294, I-80/I-294). Tollway customers save time and money with I-PASS electronic toll collection - Get I-PASS & Get Going!
All Work Is Weather Dependent.
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