Chicago Department of Transportation

Pump Station at 130th Street & Torrence Avenue Grade Separation

Chicago, IL

This $101 million complex project transformed one of the City’s most congested intersections into a safer, three-tier, multimodal grade separation. This monumental project features a depressed, realigned and widened roadway, as well as six new bridges (three rail, two pedestrian and one roadway). It also includes a new drainage system complete with a detention chamber, pump station and settling basin.

Benesch served as the designer and construction manager for the project. As part of the water management plan, a decision was made to build the intersection’s new detention chamber below the realigned 130th Street. The massive chamber sits only ten feet below the new roadway and the pump station was installed at 55.6 feet below the existing grade.

The decision to place the drainage system below the structure was made to prevent any drainage concerns involving high water tables and depressed roadways around the project area. The new facility is a 9,000 gpm tri-plex pump station with a detention chamber to adequately manage stormwater

Project highlights

  • New 9,000 gpm triplex pump station
  • Major detention chamber sizing
  • Extensive stakeholder and agency coordination
  • Minimized utility conflicts and traffic congestion