SEI - Illinois Chapter May Dinner Meeting

Illinois Tollway: Inspection and Load Rating of Post-Tensioned Segmental Bridges

Presented by: Brett Sauter, P.E., S.E. & Elias Ajami (ISTHA)

The interchange of the Veterans Memorial Tollway (I-355) and the Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88) in Downers Grove, Illinois contains four post-tensioned segmental concrete box girder bridges. Built in 1988, they range in length from 558’ to over 2,000’ on horizontally curved alignments and are supported by tall piers with post-tensioned elements. To maintain the integrity of this vital infrastructure, the Illinois Tollway tasked Ciorba to perform full in-depth inspection, material testing, assessment of the P-T condition, and load rating through time-dependent Finite Element analysis for current and additional future lane configurations.

Brett Sauter is the Structural Group Manager at Ciorba Group. He has over 17 years of experience in the study and design of bridge improvement projects including prestressed precast concrete and steel bridges on curved alignments, post-tensioned concrete bridges, and steel arch structures. Brett is a licensed Structural Engineer in Illinois and is a licensed Professional Engineer in five states. He received his bachelors from Valparaiso University and his masters from University of Illinois at Chicago.

Elias Ajami earned a Bachelor of Science degree in structural engineering and materials from the University of Illinois in 1981 and a master’s degree in civil engineering from Midwest College of Engineering in 1982. He has more than 35 years of experience in designing, rating and inspecting bridges and other structures. He has been with the Illinois Tollway for more than 26 years as a bridge program manager. His job is to ensure that Tollway bridges and other structures are safe and well-maintained, perform review of bridge condition reports and structural repair plans, evaluate bid documentation and contractor’s qualifications and investigate structural damage by vehicular or other incidents. He has been commended by the Illinois Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration for his efforts to properly inspect and maintain the Illinois Tollway’s bridges.