FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 15, 2016
Contact: Darrel Berry, Marketing Communications Manager
Hanson Professional Services Inc.
(217) 747-9291
dberry@hanson-inc.com
Tanana River Bridge earns award from Structural Engineers Association of Illinois
The Tanana River Bridge in Salcha, Alaska, has been honored by the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois during its annual Excellence in Structural Engineering Awards. The bridge was selected as the winner in the category for best project of more than $150 million.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Tanana River Bridge in Salcha, Alaska, has been honored by the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois during its annual Excellence in Structural Engineering Awards. Hanson Professional Services Inc. designed the 3,300-foot-long bridge.
At a June 11 banquet in Chicago, the bridge was named the winner in the category for best project of more than $150 million. The awards recognize creative achievement in structural engineering. Projects do not need to be located in Illinois to be considered for an award.
The bridge is the first phase of the Alaska Railroad Corp.’s Northern Rail Extension, a project that will create an 80-mile railway between North Pole, Alaska, and Delta Junction, Alaska. The extension will provide a safer, all-weather transportation option and give the military improved, year-round access to a one-million-acre training range south of the Tanana River. Hanson has been providing design engineering services since 2006 for the four-phase extension project, including hydraulic and structural engineering services and addressing geotechnical, hydraulic and seismic issues for the bridge.
At 3,300 feet, the bridge is the state’s longest and is designed to serve roadway and railroad traffic with a single bimodal deck. The 20-span bridge was built for $187 million — $1 million under budget — and on time, with a three-year construction process. The designers had to account for wind, water pressure, scouring, sheet ice, ice jams and severe flooding in an area with a broad flood plain. The bridge crosses the glacier-fed, braided Tanana River at a remote site in an area with active and potentially active seismic faults and temperatures that range from occasional highs near 90 degrees to lows near 70 below zero. During construction, piles for the bridge were driven and concrete was placed at 20 below zero in the winter. Ice flows and damming during ice breakup in the spring required the construction causeway and temporary bridging to be removed and replaced.
Hanson is a national, employee-owned consulting firm providing engineering, planning and allied services. The firm’s corporate headquarters is located at 1525 S. Sixth St., Springfield, IL 62703. The office may be reached by phone at (217) 788-2450.
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