Here's another reason you need to go check out the Great Western Trail in Sycamore, IL this spring! Sycamore Park District added another win under their belt for the Great Western Trail Extension Project at the APWA Chapter Awards Ceremony hosted at Medinah Shriners Banquets in Addison, IL last Friday. The project moved on to the APWA Chicago Metro Chapter level to be reviewed against all other branch winners in the same category and was selected as Project of the Year for Less Than $5 Million Transportation again! The project has now moved on to the final level of judgement for APWA National Awards and we hope to hear more good news soon on this decision. ERA was the primary consultant and Civil Constructors, Inc. was the primary contractor for this project. 

​Congratulations to Sycamore Park District for winning the APWA Chicago Metro Chapter Fox Valley Branch 2022 Award in the Public Works Project of the Year in the Less Than $5 million Transportation Category! They won for their Great Western Trail Extension project. ERA was the primary consultant and Civil Constructors Inc. was the primary contractor. #APWA

Congratulations to Naperville Park District on winning the Outstanding Park Award for Wolf’s Crossing Community Park for Division II! ERA is thrilled to have been a part of the team along with Upland Design LTD, Charles Vincent George Architects, and Integral Construction Inc.

​ERA recently welcomed Samantha Heatherly to the team! She is a design engineer in our structural engineering department. Learn more about Sam below.

​The Bliss Road culvert reconstruction was completed this summer in Sugar Grove, IL for the Kane County Division of Transportation as the initial improvement included in the upcoming realignment of the Bliss Road, Fabyan Parkway, and Main Street intersection project. The structure replacement was initiated because the existing culvert was a hydraulic restriction, causing significant flooding upstream and severe downstream erosion during flood events. It was constructed while maintaining northbound traffic using staged construction. Southbound traffic was detoured utilizing County routes.
 
Streambank stabilization measures were implemented along the downstream, northern bank of the Lake Run Drainage Ditch to address streambank erosion and enhance the native vegetation in the area. Vegetated rock vanes and rock toe were planted with native, wetland plant plugs. Various native seed mixes were also used to restore the disturbed area including a prairie mix, wet-mesic prairie mix and a wetland mix.

ERA welcomes Tom Stenslik, PE! He is a Senior Project Engineer in our Transportation Department. Learn more about Tom below. ​

Groundbreaking and heavy earthmoving continues this week for the Avenue Marketplace 7.5-acre planned development project located along the Randall Rd corridor in Batavia, IL. Every successful land development project includes geotechnical earthwork balancing and a firm foundation for the proposed improvements. Both the Starbucks and Chipotle will have free standing buildings with double drive-thru lanes along the Randall Rd frontage as part of this high-profile project anticipating completion in 2022. ​

​The newly constructed Kishwaukee Valley Road bridge located near the City of Marengo is open to traffic in time for Thanksgiving holiday travel in McHenry County. The single-span, reinforced slab bridge features the first Test Level 4 (TL-4) steel railing to be installed in the State of Illinois that meets MASH 2016 requirements. The TL-4 railing was developed and tested by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and was able to be manufactured in Illinois because the main tube beams are the same size as the standard IDOT Type SM steel railing.

The railing consists of a post and three (3) tube beam metal railings on a concrete curb with a height of 3-ft above the bridge deck for vehicular traffic. The top portion of the selected railing also doubles as a pedestrian railing with a steel tube connected to the top of the post that is 3.5-ft above the bridge deck. This open steel railing will be an integral design element of McHenry County DOT bridge projects moving forward and will pave the way to provide increased safety measures for the traveling public.