University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign rail engineering students recently toured Springfield, Illinois, rail improvements under construction, including the Cook Street underpass behind them, led by Hanson's Mike Mendenhall, P.E., S.E., Kevin Seals and Dennis Wilkinson, P.E., S.E.
About 25 rail engineering students from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) recently came to Springfield, Illinois, for a Hanson-led tour of the Springfield Rail Improvements Project.
Hanson continues to lead the efforts for the ongoing, $547 million project that involves consolidating rail corridors in Illinois’ capital and reducing the number of at-grade crossings from 68 to 32 — increasing safety and improving access to the city’s medical district and other areas.
It is expected to reduce traffic congestion and vehicle emissions, decrease noise by creating a “quiet zone” for the rail corridor and enhance livability and commercial activity by diminishing the barriers created by rail lines through the city’s commercial and residential areas. The Springfield Rail Improvements Project is also a part of the Illinois High-Speed Rail Chicago to St. Louis program.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has highlighted the project as an example of a successfully federally funded rail project. It has received $98.1 million in federal grant funding, including nearly $20 million from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. As part of this project, Hanson is also providing design services for The Hub, a centralized public transportation center, and conducting a feasibility study for the Third Street corridor redevelopment in downtown Springfield.
Rail project presents learning opportunities
Hanson’s Chairman and CEO Sergio “Satch” Pecori, P.E., who is an alumnus of UIUC’s Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) program, invited students from the CEE program and the university’s Rail Transportation and Engineering Center (RailTEC) to Hanson’s Springfield headquarters for a presentation about the Springfield Rail Improvements Project. The group included students enrolled in a Railway Project Planning and Design class and members of UIUC’s American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) Student Chapter. The students were led and accompanied by Assistant Professor J. Riley Edwards and RailTEC Research Engineer Arthur de Oliveira Lima.
Hanson Springfield employees Mike Mendenhall, P.E., S.E., a senior structural engineer, and Kevin Seals, the company’s chief environmental scientist, discussed the different aspects of the project during the presentation. Then, Greg Nichelson, P.E., a senior civil/railway engineer in Sarasota, Florida, answered students’ questions via Teams while the group enjoyed lunch provided by Hanson.
Kevin talks about the archeological discoveries connected to the 1908 Race Riot that were uncovered during work downtown for the Springfield Rail Improvements Project.
After lunch, Mike, Kevin and Dennis Wilkinson, P.E., S.E., a vice president, the geostructural practice lead and the chief facilities structural engineer who works in the Springfield office, led the group on a tour of some of the rail project’s locations under construction. They visited the Cook Street underpass, where structural steel was being installed for the Union Pacific Railroad bridge; The Hub multimodal transportation center; the rail crossing at Washington Street; and the underpass at Jefferson Street.
“It was a pleasure to showcase the Springfield rail project to these RailTEC students. They were so interested and engaged in this project because it highlighted their coursework by giving them a firsthand view of all aspects of the project, from a planning, design and construction perspective,” Kevin said.
Mike details the work being done at the Cook Street underpass.
According to UIUC, RailTEC offers the most extensive curriculum in railway engineering and transportation in North America. RailTEC is known as a global leader in theoretical and applied rail research, advancing the field in a broad range of important and timely railroad and rail transit engineering and transportation topics.
Hanson pledged $150,000 to RailTEC in 2022, renewing its continued commitment to railroad engineering and UIUC. Hanson has been a longtime supporter of the program and has given five-year pledges for many years. Hanson’s pledge supports RailTEC’s advanced rail engineering courses and research on rail technologies that could improve safety, efficiency and reliability. It also helps students secure internships and jobs in the rail industry and assists Hanson with its recruitment efforts. And it helps advocate the importance of freight’s impact, advanced rail technology and rail safety through outreach efforts.
“We in RailTEC at UIUC are grateful for our longstanding relationship with Hanson that impacts our students on many levels. I am grateful to Hanson for organizing this field visit to see the Springfield project up close. It was an ideal learning opportunity for the students to see what it takes to coordinate a major railway capital project, including environmental permitting, staging, railroad coordination and even station construction. I have no doubt that this visit provided additional encouragement for students to seek employment in the rail sector,” Riley said.
Dennis leads the group through the new Sangamon Mass Transit District transfer station that is part of The Hub transportation center.
Championing the next generation of rail professionals
During its 70 years in business, Hanson has championed rail engineering, education and training. Our company’s founder, Walter Hanson, earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Kansas State University and a master’s degree in civil engineering from UIUC, both members of the National University Rail Center of Excellence (NuRail CoE) consortium, which includes nine partner institutions. In September 2023, the FRA awarded UIUC up to $5 million to lead the NuRail CoE, a pioneering initiative dedicated to developing the future workforce while advancing research and expansion that enhances the safety, efficiency and reliability of passenger and freight rail transportation.
“Walt epitomized intellectual curiosity, mentoring, teaching and leadership, and he never stopped learning and sharing his knowledge with others,” said Satch, who also works at Hanson’s Springfield office. Education was so important to Walt that he became a civil engineering faculty member at UIUC and co-author of the textbook “Foundation Engineering.”
As Walt once wrote, “Education is important to me simply because I’ve been in education and in practice. I’d like to see more cooperation and partnering between the academic and the practice world.”
“I’d like to think that Walt would be proud of our company’s ongoing commitment to engineering education, including at UIUC, and our efforts to support and promote engineering and education and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics to the next generation of professionals,” Satch said.