Bridge Street Bridge

City of Evanston | Evanston, IL
photo of Bridge Street Bridge during construction when the beams were being placed

Benesch led preliminary and final design and construction management for the rehabilitation and widening of the existing Bridge Street bridge over the North Shore Channel.

The existing Bridge Street bridge consisted of a three-span bridge carrying one lane of traffic in each direction spanning a total length of 172’-0” (back-to-back of abutments). The roadway width was 28 feet, with five-foot sidewalks on each side for a total deck width of 40 feet and a total deck area of approximately 6,880 square feet.

Benesch prepared the Environmental Survey Request (ESR), Underwater Investigation Report, Bridge Condition Report (BCR), NBIS Special Feature Inspections, Project Development Report (PDR) and performed utility coordination.

The final design plans for the structure’s rehabilitation included widening the bridge deck to provide raised, protected sidewalks and shared bike lanes in both directions with connections to new shared paths.

The new structure features energy-efficient induction roadway lighting with black-painted aluminum davit arm poles, as well as navigational LED lighting across the North Shore Channel. The design was accomplished by widening the bridge to one side while re-using the existing superstructure and substructure. The existing stub abutments were converted to semi-integral abutments.

After completing the final design, Benesch provided construction management for the project, which included extensive coordination with impacted stakeholders and the traveling public to accommodate maintenance of traffic efforts. The roadway pavement was reconstructed between Brown Avenue and McCormick Boulevard and the project also included traffic signal modernization and drainage improvements.

In addition to the roadway and bridge improvements, a portion of the North Shore Channel Trail was reconstructed, and upgrades were made to the pedestrian crosswalks to bring them into ADA compliance.

Benesch provided field observation of the contractor’s activities as well as measurement and payment of final quantities. Following the installation of cofferdams, detailed inspections of the existing concrete substructures were performed.