Washington Street Drainage Improvement Project Phase II – Champaign

The Washington Street Project is a drainage and site improvement project let by the City of Champaign April 5th, 2017. The project is located next to the Wirco Foundry and along Mattis Avenue and Washington Street.

After ultimately completing Phase I in 2015 and acquiring both early completion and minority work force participation incentives, Stark was the successful bidder and was awarded Phase II of this project.

Flooding has occurred in the Glenn Park area for many years as this area lies in the flood zone. The basins being constructed will alleviate the pressure on the storm structures and will help eliminate the floods. Also, the site will have decorative views, paths, and parks which will enhance the neighborhood.

This Phase II project includes 4 Stages:

Stage 1 included mobilization, tree removals, excavation of a dry basin, constructing rain gardens, paving road entrance, removals and paving of the Mattis Avenue and Glenn Park Drive intersection, work on water, sanitary, and storm systems. This phase has been completed.

Stage 2 is currently in progress and nearing completion. Stage 2 includes excavating a basin on the east side of the site, constructing a retaining wall and associated curtin wall for that basin, paving a roadway next to the Wirco building, installing decorative guardrails and fences by the basin, a waterfall feature in the basin, work on sub-terrain systems, and redistributing topsoil stored from early excavation.

Challenges: This project required extensive pre-planning including submittals and associated approvals for specialty items as well as coordination of specialty subcontractors.

Even before starting mass excavation, unsuitable soil existed at various locations throughout the job site that had to be disposed to a landfill. The process took several layers of testing, re-testing, and approvals which took an extended period of time on an already tightly scheduled project.

Approximately 15-18 trucks each day were used during mass excavation operations. Coordinating traffic on Mattis Avenue during peak hours was crucial for effective trucking.

The anchor tieback system is a very sophisticated and complex operation. There are approximately 200 anchor tiebacks and all had to be carefully checked, coordinated, and adjusted to ensure they don’t hit/conflict with the water or gas main lines behind it.

Project Team: Jason Wissmiller, Kenny Funston, Brad Jameson, Parthiv Brahmbhatt