SEI/GI/CI Illinois Chapter March Dinner Meeting

VE Alternative Foundation Design at Jane Byrne Interchange

Presented by: Zachary Pucel, P.E., Ryan Clark, & Dipal Vimawala, P.E., S.E.

The foundation design for WB I-290/Congress Parkway at the Jane Byrne Interchange called for drilled shaft foundations at the piers and west abutment.  The Contractor, Kenny Construction, provided a Value Engineering proposal to use a Micropile foundation design for the pier between EB and WB I-90/94 and the west abutment.  Because of existing CTA and proposed future CTA facilities, the designer, OUC and IDOT were hesitant to approve this change.  Kenny Construction was ultimately able to demonstrate the proposed change would work despite concerns.  The presentation and discussion is intended to provide Kenny’s reason for the VE and the process to approve the proposal.

Zachary Pucel is a Licensed Professional Engineer in IL and several other states.  He has been a Construction Engineer at TranSystems for 15 years and is currently the Consultant Resident Engineer on the WB I-290/Congress Parkway Bridge at the Jane Byrne Interchange.  Most of his projects involve structural work including the replacement of Ohio St Ramp over I-90/94.

Ryan Clark, is the Operations Manager for Kenny Construction Co.'s Civil Division.  Kenny specializes in heavy civil work including pile driving, earth retention, and bridge construction.  Ryan has worked on a wide range of projects in his career including cut and cover excavations, track reconstruction, ethanol plant construction, and accelerated bridge construction.

Dipal Vimawala is a licensed PE and SE in the State of Illinois and works at AECOM