March 4, 2018
Horner & Shifrin’s Martin Luther King Bridge Connector Project Wins ACEC Special Achievement Award
H&S used many innovations when designing a ramp connecting eastbound traffic of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Bridge over the Mississippi River to southbound I-55/I-64/US40.
Horner & Shifrin, Inc. was presented the Special Achievement Award for the Martin Luther King Bridge Connector to WB I-55/64 Project at the Illinois Chapter of American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) Engineering Excellence Awards Banquet on February 8, 2018. The annual project competition recognizes quality engineering design performed by member firms in the State of Illinois.
Horner & Shifrin (H&S) prepared Phase II design plans, for a ramp connecting eastbound traffic of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Bridge over the Mississippi River to southbound I-55/I-64/US40. This new curved plate girder structure project is part of a larger, regional transportation improvement initiative and maintains a traffic corridor between the St. Louis airport and the Sauget, Illinois, industrial area.
H&S teamed with several other consultants to provide IDOT with a successful project including: Lochmueller Group, SCI Engineering, Inc., ABNA Engineering, EFK Moen, LLC, Lin Engineering, TSi Engineering, Geo Services, Inc. and Added Dimensions.
The design team used many innovations when designing this project. This structure was the first in Illinois to use the large, 5-foot diameter pipe piles. In addition, this was one of the first bridge projects in Illinois to use pre-cast pier caps cast onsite; lightweight concrete fill was used behind the MSE walls along with permanent sheet piling to ensure slope stability of the existing adjacent roadways; finite element modeling/analysis was required to design the girders due to the tight radius of curvature.
“Horner & Shifrin received many compliments from the IDOT construction staff and contractor,” said Region Five Engineer, Jeffrey Keirn, PE, Illinois Department of Transportation, “and met or exceeded expectations for the preparation of these plans and continued support during construction.”