This project was born in support of the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program’s overall goal of improving freight and passenger rail operations as well as Chicago metropolitan highway operations, while reducing the environmental impacts of rail operations on the general public.

The Metra/CREATE Rock Island 79th Street clearance improvement project benefits freight and passenger rail operations throughout Chicagoland, adding clearance and improving flexibility for the Norfolk Southern (NS) and Belt Railway of Chicago (BRC) tracks. The project limits are from Metra Rock Island District MP 8.6 to MP 8.9. The design includes modifying and raising two spans (span 3 and span 5) of the five span Rock Island Bridge 87 at MP 8.71. New bearing seats/ bolsters and temporary shoring towers for jack support were required.

Special construction methods were considered in the design to maintain access to weekday trains, with minimal disruption to train traffic. Due to the age of the bridge and the suspected presence of hazardous material, appropriate measures were outlined in the design to ensure the safety of the workers and the general public during construction and repair work at the site. Ardmore Roderick served as the Project Manager for this project and prepared the structural design for span 3 and span 5.