COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS The scope of the Tri-State Tollway Plazas 36 and 39 Rehabilitation covered bid solicitation; pavement and shoulder widening; removal and replacement of mainline median; removal and replacement of Open Road Toll Plaza 39; construction of toll plaza, gantry and sign foundations and overhead structures; removal and replacement of drainage structures and pipes; removal and replacement of guardrail, barrier wall and attenuators; removal and replacement of lighting; temporary and permanent erosion control devices; pavement marking and signage installation; maintenance of traffic during construction; and protection and/or relocation of utilities.
The NB Plaza 39 marks the first open Road Toll plaza gantry on the Illinois Tollway’s system to span five lanes of traffic. An all new toll monitoring and violations system was installed, tested, and certified in the northbound traffic lanes through Plaza 39.
Significant grade separation between the northbound and southbound lanes required the construction of 57 drilled shafts for additional structural support below the median retaining wall.
Due to the extremely high volume of traffic in this section of the Central Tri-State Tollway, innovative maintenance of traffic solutions were proposed by the Gonzalez team and utilized by the client in an effort to minimize impacts to the motoring public during construction. Also in an effort to minimize the impact to the motoring public, it was decided by the client to utilize the proposal from the Gonzalez team, to install an additional 90 linear feet of 42” reinforced concrete drain pipe under the existing roadway utilizing a boring process know as jacked pipe installation.
