State to begin inspecting I-80 bridges soon: IDOT

State to begin inspecting I-80 bridges soon: IDOT

By Shaw Media
The Herald News
April 19, 2019

I-80 Des Plaines River Bridge

Shaw Media Photo

 

Regularly scheduled inspections of the Interstate 80 bridges over the Des Plaines River will begin Monday, April 29 in Joliet, ahead of larger repairs.

The Illinois Department of Transportation announced in a news release Thursday that state workers would begin the inspections April 29, weather permitting.

Daily lane closures will be required, starting with the westbound bridge until May 6, when inspections begin on the eastbound bridge. Inspections on both bridges are expected to be complete by May 11. The closures will take place between 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday and Saturdays, if necessary.

The inspections are being done in conjunction with an upcoming yearlong maintenance project on both bridges. Any additional issues will be addressed once construction begins this summer.

The larger project, which is under contract, involves steel repairs and bearing replacements. The process for building new parts has already begun, with work on the bridges expected to start in June or July.

The repairs will be taking place under both structures, with any necessary lane closures scheduled at night to avoid disrupting traffic during the daytime hours. The project will be finished next summer.

The twin I-80 bridges garnered attention earlier this year, when a CBS Chicago news story cited an IDOT inspection report from April 2018, which listed the westbound bridge superstructure as in “critical condition – may require closure.”

In unrelated work, IDOT will close the south sidewalk over the Jackson Street Bridge starting Monday. The sidewalk will remain closed for a couple of months. One sidewalk will remain open throughout the project.

 

Des Plaines Bridges News

IDOT insists I-80 bridge in Joliet is safe

The state on Thursday declared the Interstate 80 bridge over the Des Plaines River in Joliet is safe despite an inspection report describing sections as “critical,” “intolerable” and a “high priority for replacement.”

read more

The worn steel city

The worn steel city

Joliet, Ill., battles crumbling bridges, including I-80 span

By Bill Wilson
APRIL 01, 2019

I-80 des plaines bridge

 

Joliet, Ill., was at one time a true blue-collar city. Steel fabrication echoed through the streets of this river dwelling … a constant buzz was in the air.

Today that collar is badly faded and has a couple of noticeable stains on it, one being the I-80 bridge over the Des Plaines River, specifically its westbound portion which received a bridge inspection report full of engineering expletives a year ago, and still remains open to traffic today with a promise of repair work in May.

Joliet has a total of five bridges crossing the Des Plaines River, and all of them have lost significant strength over the years. The Ruby Street Bridge, which carries S.R. 53, West Bridge Street Bridge, Cass Street Bridge, Jefferson Street Bridge, and the I-80 westbound and eastbound structures are all structurally deficient. Four of them received a rating of 2 out of 9 in at least one bridge inspection category over the last year. The Ruby Street Bridge received a 2 in the Deck Geometry category, with inspectors tagging it “structurally intolerable” and a “high priority for replacement.” The West Street Bridge received identical marks, as did the Jefferson Street Bridge, which also received a 3 rating in the Structural Evaluation category marked “structurally intolerable.” But the most critical span is the I-80 bridge, which is made up of two spans that carry over 84,000 cars every day. The I-80 westbound bridge received a rating of 2 in the Superstructure and Structural Evaluation categories, with the superstructure flagged in critical condition which “may require closure.” The eastbound portion is in only slightly better health, receiving a 3 rating in the Structural Evaluation category.

Read the full article.

 

Des Plaines Bridges News

IDOT insists I-80 bridge in Joliet is safe

The state on Thursday declared the Interstate 80 bridge over the Des Plaines River in Joliet is safe despite an inspection report describing sections as “critical,” “intolerable” and a “high priority for replacement.”

read more

State’s bridges are safe

State’s bridges are safe

State’s bridges undergo rigorous inspections

By OMER OSMAN
The Herald News
March 22, 2019

Photo Provided

Photo Provided

At the Illinois Department of Transportation, our top priority is safe and efficient transportation. We take this mission extremely seriously and work hard every day to provide our travelers with the best experience possible.

Recently, we’ve heard concerns regarding the health of the Interstate 80 bridges over the Des Plaines River.

We hear you and want to ensure we are being fully transparent as we move forward.

First, all of the state’s bridges that are open are safe for travel. If there are any bridges we believe to be unsafe, they are immediately closed.

These particular bridges in Joliet undergo a rigorous inspection schedule that goes above and beyond federal requirements. The results, which are shared online with the public and reviewed for concurrence by the Federal Highway Administration, show that these are older bridges requiring a greater level of monitoring and maintenance.

The ratings that have been widely reported actually are the “sufficiency rating” that evaluate many different factors. The condition of the bridge is one factor, but others, such as lack of shoulders, insufficient number of lanes and older design, contribute to the low rating and do not indicate a bridge is unsafe. Older bridges, built in areas that have experienced rapid growth and without the benefit of modern engineering and design, typically receive among the lower sufficiency ratings.

Read the full article.

 

Des Plaines Bridges News

IDOT insists I-80 bridge in Joliet is safe

The state on Thursday declared the Interstate 80 bridge over the Des Plaines River in Joliet is safe despite an inspection report describing sections as “critical,” “intolerable” and a “high priority for replacement.”

read more

State Plans Structural Overhaul Of I-80 Bridges Over Des Plaines River in Joliet

State Plans Structural Overhaul Of I-80 Bridges Over Des Plaines River in Joliet

BERNIE TAFOYA
March 29, 2019
CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO)

The state has made plans for making structural repairs on a couple of well-used bridges that need them: The I-80 bridges over the Des Plaines River in Joliet.

The bridges were built in 1965 and received major updates 21 years ago. But now, the bridge inspection reports indicate that they’re in serious need of work. They have sufficiency ratings of 7.4 or less, with 100 being the best.

“We’ll be out in the field, more than likely, in the next couple of months,” Tridgell said. “There’s some fabrication work that takes place prior to that. We’re going to be replacing some of the bridge bearings on the approach sections of the bridge and then some structural steel repairs, as well.”

In the meantime, he said, the bridges are safe and open to nearly 43,000 vehicles a day.

“They’re assuring us the bridge is structurally sound,” Joliet Mayor Bob O’DeKirk said. “That makes us all feel better.”

O’DeKirk said IDOT has been consistent that, if they felt the bridges were in imminent danger, IDOT would close them now.

Read the full article.

 

Des Plaines Bridges News

IDOT insists I-80 bridge in Joliet is safe

The state on Thursday declared the Interstate 80 bridge over the Des Plaines River in Joliet is safe despite an inspection report describing sections as “critical,” “intolerable” and a “high priority for replacement.”

read more

A message from the I-80 bridge — get out the repair tools, Illinois

A message from the I-80 bridge — get out the repair tools, Illinois’

March 22, 2019
By Sun-Times Editorial Board

A billboard purchased by IUOE Local 150

A billboard purchased by IUOE Local 150 warns motorists that the I-80 bridge in Joliet is not safe. State officials say they’re working on repair plans. | FOX32 Chicago

In what other state do highway billboards warn you to drive over a bridge at your own risk? We’re guessing it is not many.

But that’s what motorists on I-80 see as they cross the Des Plaines River in Joliet. A billboard on one side of the bridge says, “Cross Bridge at Your Own Risk.” A billboard for traffic going the opposite direction says, “Bridge ahead in critical condition.”

And you thought the unexplained whining sound from your alternator was bad.

We’re guessing those signs make motorists a bit jumpy, especially if they remember the I-35W Mississippi River bridge that collapsed in 2007 in Minneapolis, killing 13 people and injuring 145. Or the Lake Shore Drive bridge that had to be shut down in early February because of a crack in a support beam. That could have been a big disaster if no one had noticed the crack in time.

Meanwhile, 165 miles away in Springfield, lawmakers will debate a $2 billion-a-year Senate amendment that emerged last week to fix deteriorating roads, bridges and transit with a 19-cents-a-gallon increase in gasoline taxes, a doubling of license fees, an increase in registration fees for most vehicles from $98 to $148, and other fee increases.

We don’t know if the final capital plan will revise those tax-and-fee increases, but the I-80 bridge illustrates why something must be done.

The rotating message billboard ads are the part of an International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 campaign to warn motorists of deteriorating road and bridge conditions, especially on the span over the Des Plaines River. The union has an ownership stake in the Chicago Sun-Times.

Joliet Mayor Bob O’Dekirk has threatened to post similar signs on streets approaching I-80 entrance ramps.

Meanwhile, the Illinois Department of Transportation says the bridge is safe for now, and the agency is planning to spend $5 million starting in April to fix problems found in inspections.

Read the full article.

 

Des Plaines Bridges News

IDOT insists I-80 bridge in Joliet is safe

The state on Thursday declared the Interstate 80 bridge over the Des Plaines River in Joliet is safe despite an inspection report describing sections as “critical,” “intolerable” and a “high priority for replacement.”

read more

I-80 bridge in Joliet needs fixes, work slated for spring

I-80 bridge in Joliet needs fixes, work slated for spring

SUBURBAN CHICAGO
By Grant Morgan | Capitol News Illinois
March 19, 2019

Interstate 80 bridge over the Des Plaines River in Joliet. | Google Earth

Interstate 80 bridge over the Des Plaines River in Joliet. | Google Earth

SPRINGFIELD – The bridge on Interstate 80 that spans the Des Plaines River has garnered recent media attention after state inspectors in a report early last year described sections of it as “critical,” “intolerable” and a “high priority for replacement.”

Tuesday, the House Transportation Committee brought a panel of three witnesses to discuss the bridge’s conditions.

“There’s a whole lot of [industrial] growth going on there, and our municipalities are attempting to deal with it as best they can,” said Hugh O’Hara, executive director of the Will County Governmental League. “But concerns about the safety of the bridge are making that more and more difficult.”

About 18 percent of I-80 traffic is freight vehicles, according to Carl Puzey, the Illinois Department of Transportation’s chief engineer for bridges and structures.

Puzey’s colleague, IDOT Director of Highways Paul Loete, said freight traffic generally causes a high degree of wear and tear on roads and bridges.

“And there’s no question that if you look at our bridges up and down I-80 from Iowa to Indiana,” Loete added, “that corridor maintains a high degree of truck traffic, and bridges are in general less than their ideal service lives because of it.”

Read the full article.

 

Des Plaines Bridges News

IDOT insists I-80 bridge in Joliet is safe

The state on Thursday declared the Interstate 80 bridge over the Des Plaines River in Joliet is safe despite an inspection report describing sections as “critical,” “intolerable” and a “high priority for replacement.”

read more