Client: CH2M
Under contract to CH2M, HBK Engineering is currently serving as the Program Manager for Utility Relocation for the ISTHA’s Elgin-O’Hare project, a 12-mile project include widening of existing toll way infrastructure and construction of new toll ways along Thorndale Boulevard and around the west side of Chicago’s O’Hare airport. There are thousands of individual utility conflicts throughout the program; conflicting utilities include power (transmission and distribution), natural gas, petroleum, telecommunications providers of multiple types, water, sanitary sewer, and storm sewer.
The overall program is expected to last for several years, but many short lead-time projects require joint utility relocations to expedite completion. As the Utility Coordination Program Manager, HBK is responsible for overall utility coordination between utility owners and multiple engineering designers who are responsible for designing segments of the project.
A notable challenge on this project was the large number of utilities present throughout the corridor and the very tight ROW limits into which the utilities had to relocate. To solve this, we were able to gain the cooperation of power and multiple telecom utilities to execute joint relocations. The result of this was that these utilities relocated into common duct banks and clustered manholes/handholes; and this saved time, money and ROW space.
