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CME.01 – Salt Creek Pedestrian Bridge

Team Members Heading link

  • Jesus Avila
  • Eduardo Barbosa
  • Misael Canas
  • Alexis Escobar
  • Matthew Gasienica
  • Grant Jarrett
  • Alan Quintana

Project Description Heading link

In 2021, Christopher B. Burke Engineering, Ltd (CBBEL) completed the design and build of a multi-use pedestrian bridge over Salt Creek in the Village of Oak Brook (Village), DuPage County, Illinois. The pedestrian bridge is located between Harger Road and Illinois Interstate-88 (I-88). The construction of the pedestrian bridge connected the Harger Road Multi-Use Path and the Salt Creek Greenway Trail. The bridge superstructure was a prefabricated build, but the substructure was built using conventional construction methods. The objective of this project is to minimize the pedestrian bridge’s footprint by redesigning the bridge abutments with prestressed members to reduce the size and material requirements of the structure. The redesign incorporated a review of alternative materials, including carbon-neutral concrete and geopolymer materials, with the goal of finding a more sustainable and durable material. This project includes a structural analysis and design of the abutment, performed on SAP2000 and MS Excel, respectively. Environmental impacts were also reviewed with the revised substructure designs given the proximity of the crossing to regulatory floodplain and floodway. Using software HEC-RAS and HEC-18, compensatory storage and scour analysis were completed for each design alternative analyzed. The analysis assumed that the other bridge parameters remained constant, including factors such as loadings and load paths, materials and structure type for components that are not the abutment, namely the superstructure. After analysis and design were completed, ArcGIS was used to create 3D renderings of the project location and show impacts to the floodplain. SolidWorks was then utilized to print a 3D model of the proposed abutment. The final deliverable consists of an abutment structure redesigned for prestressed members, with reduced cross section size, to minimize the bridge’s footprint, lessen the environmental impact of the bridge, while not sacrificing significant durability of the bridge.