McHugh and Knight Complete CDOT's First Design-Build Project CHICAGO, Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Chicago Bears fans will find the path to Soldier Field a little easier thanks to the new 18th Street Pedestrian Bridge, the City of Chicago Department of Transportation's first design-build project, construction officials announced. As a design-build project, the bridge was completed in just five months, one-third the time of similar projects built using standard design-bid-build methods. The city selected a joint venture of James McHugh Construction Co. and Riteway Construction Services as general contractors with Knight Infrastructure, Inc. as engineers to design and build the $7.4 million pedestrian bridge. Work began April 15. The bridge opened four days before the Bears' Sept. 29 home opener at the new Soldier Field. Under design-build, McHugh/Riteway served as team leader in a partnership of equals with Knight, allowing work to begin before the design was completed. If a standard general contracting method had been used, the bridge may have taken three times as long to build, according to Mike Gould, McHugh project executive. The project also required significant coordination between the city, Knight, McHugh and six different property owners, Gould said. "Even though the design and construction schedule was very aggressive, the bridge turned out to be quite attractive," added Georgia Borovilos, project manager for CDOT's Bureau of Bridges and Transit. The 1,400-foot-long pedestrian walkway, with 4-1/2-foot railings to allow for both bicycle and foot traffic, connects Calumet Avenue to the 17th Street underpass at Lake Shore Drive. The 16-foot-wide bridge travels over the Metra railroad tracks and under the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority busway. The project also includes new railroad and vehicular bridges as well as a new busway crossing of the Metra tracks and bus turnaround. "The 18th Street pedestrian bridge proves that design-build is a viable way to deliver future projects," said Knight President Jim Wolfe. With the bridge complete, McHugh has begun tearing down the old span and installing landscaping, with this phase slated to finish at the end of November. McHugh holds more than a century's experience in general contracting, construction management and consulting. More information is available at http://www.mchughconstruction.com/ . Knight Infrastructure is a full-service engineering and firm providing design, planning and construction management services. More information is available at http://www.knightea.com/ . Both McHugh and Knight are based in Chicago. DATASOURCE: James McHugh Construction Co. CONTACT: Margaret Ahrweiler of McHugh Construction, +1-630-668-1106, Web site: http://www.mchughconstruction.com/ http://www.knightea.com/

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