| Blue Cross Blue Shield to Get 25-Story Addition
Continuing the vision of the existing 32-story building in
downtown Chicago that serves as headquarters for both Health
Care Service Corp. and its Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois
division, Chicago-based Goettsch Partners is preparing the
final documents for a 25-story addition to accommodate company
growth.
The building was designed with plans for expanding vertically
when it was initially conceived more than 10 years ago.
Health Care Service Corp., which operates the Blue Cross and
Blue Shield insurance plans in Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma
and Texas, realized in the early 1990s that growth had forced
it to relocate from leased space four times in a 25-year period.
As a result, the company set out to build a facility that
would accommodate immediate space requirements and expectations
for continued growth. Goettsch designed a solution for a building
that could be expanded vertically in phases.
With the initial building completed in 1997 nearing capacity,
the decision was recently made to move forward with the second
phase of the project to complete the headquarters facility.
When finished in 2010, the 57-story, 2.3 million-sq.-ft. building
will accommodate 8,000 workers, up from 4,200 currently.
Illinois DOT Uses New
High-Performance Steel
The Illinois Department of Transportation has announced the
completion of a bridge in northwest suburban Lake Villa constructed
with a new type of high-performance steel developed by engineering
researchers at Northwestern University.
The steel has a strength of 70,000 psi compared with 50,000
psi in commonly used structural steel. It is also easy to
weld, and tests have shown it has high-impact toughness at
low temperatures. In addition, the high copper content gives
the alloy much better resistance to atmospheric corrosion
than other high-performance steels.
About 500 tons of the copper alloy steel, known as ASTM A710
Grade B high-performance structural steel, was used in constructing
the 430-ft. span that carries Illinois Route 83 over the Canadian
National Railroad tracks.
IDOT is in the process of applying to the American Society
for Testing and Materials and the American Association of
State Highway and Transportation Officials to have this steel
designated as standard for bridge construction.
The only previous use was in the rehabilitation of the Poplar
Street Bridge over the Mississippi River in the St. Louis
area.
"We developed this steel nine years ago and application
has been a long time in coming," said Morris Fine, professor
emeritus of materials science and engineering at Northwestern
University. Fine developed the new alloy with his colleague
and research professor Semyon Vaynman and with key support
from Northwestern's Infrastructure Technology Institute.
The $5.75 million Lake Villa bridge was constructed by Glendale
Heights-based Dunnet Bay Co., and the bridge designer was
Milwaukee-based Graef, Anhalt Schloemer & Associates Inc.
The steel was produced by Mittal Steel USA in Coatesville,
Pa., and fabricated at Industrial Steel Construction in Gary,
Ind.
IDOT received federal funds to pay for the steel through the
Federal Innovative Bridge Research Fund.
Design Improvements Coming
For Chicago Wastewater Plant
The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
has announced the upgrade of the sludge treatment process
at one of the world's largest wastewater treatment plants,
the Stickney Water Reclamation Plant.
The facility's two-stage sludge thickening process will be
converted to one stage. In addition, other improvements will
be made to increase solids capture and achieve a higher total
solids concentration feed to the digesters at the plant, which
has an average design capacity of 1,200 million gallons per
day.
Long Beach, Calif.-based Earth Tech Inc. will provide project
management and preliminary and final design services.
"Through this project, we will enable the Metropolitan
Water Reclamation District to not only meet the needs of Chicago
metropolitan area residents, but to do so in a way that ensures
a sustainable level of service in the future," said Bill
Webb, executive vice president of Earth Tech.
Five Midwestern
Bridges Win Awards
Five of 10 winning entries in the Skokie-based Portland Cement
Association's Tenth Biennial Bridge Awards Competition were
from the Midwest
Brady Street Bridge, Milwaukee.
University Avenue Arched Pier Bridge over I-74, Peoria,
Ill.
Perry Street Bridge, Napoleon, Ohio.
Wapello County Mars Hill Bridge, Wapello County, Iowa.
Moose Creek Bridge, Timmins, Ontario, Canada.
The competition recognizes excellence in design and construction
of concrete bridges. The winning projects were selected based
on creativity, functionality and economy by a jury of prominent
bridge professionals.
The program attracted 79 entries from the United States and
Canada, covering a variety of structure types and construction
methods. All structures were completed between June 2004 and
March 2006.
The winners will be recognized at the American Concrete Institute's
Fall Convention in Denver.
Erdman Plans New Headquarters
Madison, Wis.-based Marshall Erdman & Associates has
announced it is designing and building a new corporate headquarters
in Madison.
The 132,000 sq.-ft. building will be the centerpiece of
the 500-acre Old Sauk Trails Park office park.
Erdman's five-story facility will feature a glass and stone
facade reflecting the 55-year old company's evolving mission
and customer-focused approach. The building will apply for
LEED certification.
The headquarters pay tribute to Erdman's heritage while
embodying a progressive new era of growth and development
and rapidly expanding success in new market segments.
The project broke ground this summer and the facility will
be completed in early fall 2007.
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