CME.04 – Union Station Rehabilitation Project – Scope 2

• Derek Budnik
• Dafne Henriquez
• Abraham Jaramillo
• Walter Luong
• Dominik Marcisz
• Luis Moscosa

Amtrak is investigating the possibility of restoring the Union Station Power House in Chicago, Illinois. The proposed project scope includes repurposing and rehabilitation of the Power House, as well as a means of accessibility to the Power House. The goal of the project aims to preserve the Union Station Power House as it is a potential Chicago landmark and a symbol of Chicago’s industrial and architectural roots. The project was split into two parts: rehabilitation and accessibility. The group’s contribution to the project is to design a simple way for the public to visit the repurposed building. The proposal from Group 4 is to construct an access bridge that will span across the Chicago River and connect the Union Station Power House and Wells Street. The group discussed various bridge designs for this project but concluded that a bascule bridge would be best. A bascule bridge will resemble the city’s aesthetic as bascule bridges are common in Chicago; just as the Union Station Power House is a historical building, the bascule bridge will perfectly fit into Chicago’s architecture.

By designing a bascule bridge, we can connect the city of Chicago to the Power House while still maintaining free passage for boats to travel up and down the Chicago river by opening the two bascule spans. To accomplish this task, the team will utilize AutoCAD/Revit to model the bridge, and its most critical structural components, such as trusses, beams, gusset plates, bolt welding, and stringers. Additionally, the team will use information from previous courses, such as structural analysis and steel design, to calculate the bridge’s dead and live loads while adhering to AASHTO and IDOT, which will result in rehabilitating the Union station but will have the liability and sufficient cost in the city of Chicago.