The construction team working on the Illinois Tollway Oases Redevelopment Project never had a chance to rest.

Contractors knew the existing Oases had been solidly built in 1958, but they had no idea how solidly until it came time to demolish them. And the work had to be done while traffic flow was maintained on the roadways below.

The roof structures of the Oases were cast-in-place concrete bridges standing 14 ft. above the "floor" bridges spanning the tollways, said Joe Bodzioch, project manager with James McHugh Construction Co., the Chicago-based general contractor. Each roof structure bridge featured four 80-ton cast-in-place concrete girders.

"We were able to demolish the bridge, down to just the bare concrete girders," Bodzioch said. "The girders were scaffolded and then cut into pieces that required a 450-ton crane to hoist them out during evenings. Each of the four girders was cut into six pieces."

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The size of the girders surprised the construction team, agreed Jay Wilton, CEO of Los Angeles-based Wilton Partners, the development firm on the project.

"When we got to the demolition, we discovered they were much thicker and heavier than we first estimated," he said. "We had to get a different crane system and a different overhead system because they were too big to pick off the bridges without cutting them up."

After the demolition was completed, every other challenge on the project seemed more manageable, Bodzioch added. But that didn't mean the remaining work was free of obstacles.

Seven Oases

The project involves demolishing and rebuilding over-the-road Oases at Des Plaines, O'Hare, Belvidere, Lake Forest, Hinsdale and Lincoln, and expanding and remodeling a seventh Oasis, a facility in DeKalb that stands south of the tollway.

The DeKalb Oasis was built in the 1970s and is in much better condition than the others. It will undergo a wholesale renovation and expansion and when finished will feature the same amenities as the completed over-the-road Oases, Bodzioch said.

The project, with an overall budget of $94 million, will be done in phases. Work started in July 2003 at O'Hare and Belvidere and was completed this spring. These Oases reopened on July 1.

Work on the Hinsdale and Lake Forest Oases started in late April. Work is expected to be complete by Dec. 31, with a reopening set for late winter 2005. The remaining three Oases will start construction in July and finish in April 2005, for a reopening next spring.

The six over-the-road Oases will feature a Cordogan Clark & Associates design chosen by the Downers Grove-based Illinois State Toll Highway Authority and Wilton Partners.

Clad in curtain wall with 30-ft.-high ceilings, the masonry and steel truss buildings showcase an arched design on the sides overlooking the tollway.

There will be more bathrooms and considerably more restaurant and service businesses in the Oases than before. The main anchor restaurants will now feature drive-throughs for motorists who do not want to leave their cars. There will be picnic areas and dog runs outside.

Each Oasis will have 11 in-line or permanent tenants and another 10 free-standing tenants in main-concourse kiosks. Among the tenants are Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, McDonald's, Subway, Panda Express, Travel Mart and Illinois Lottery, as well as a Fifth Third Bank ATM facility.

In addition, ExxonMobil is rebuilding all of its Oases gas stations and is opening car washes at what the Illinois Tollway calls "select facilities," including the Lake Forest Oasis.

Tunneling Over a Roadway

One of the little-known facts about the over-the-road Oases is that most of the utilities for the rest stops and their bookend gas stations run through the bridge spanning the tollway below.

Water and power come in on one side, and travel across the bridge to the other side.
That meant logistical headaches for the contractors, Bodzioch said. At the O'Hare Oasis, for instance, the gas stations shut down at the beginning of the project in July and remained shut through September.

"We had to complete a number of aspects of work in order for the gas stations to be able to open," he said. "We had to complete the Oasis utilities, water and sanitary sewer, and electrical."

Work on the utilities also involved problems, Wilton said. "The bridges are only about 4 ft. thick, and there was a tight crawl space where the old utilities were laid in," he added.

"We had to demo out those spaces and put in all new utilities. And that literally meant guys had to crawl into those tight spaces to do the demolition, almost like they were in a mining operation. It really is a tunnel."

Before those workers got accustomed to tight spaces, Wilton Partners had to adjust to working with a state agency.

"Time frames were extended, and there was a lot of oversight by consultants hired by the state," Wilton said. "We ended up doing something akin to a public works project in that we were doing all the design before the project was even bid."

He added that in the private-sector retail development projects Wilton Partners normally undertakes, work is fast-tracked. The concept is finalized, working drawings are started and all final design work is completed while the project is in process.

But in the Oases Redevelopment Project "we were not able to even begin demolition until 65 percent of the final drawings were done," Wilton said.

Safety First

A major priority throughout the work has been the safety of workers and the traveling public, Bodzioch said.

"We tried to minimize impact to the public by having operations work during off-peak hours," he added. "We have further ensured safety by doing certain operations in conjunction with lane closures, such as demolition, steel erection, masonry and curtain wall. We've worked closely with the [Toll Highway Authority] to develop plans for each operation. And we have a dedicated safety manager for the projects."

A great deal of nighttime work was performed to minimize impact to traffic and to ensure lane closures were undertaken at the safest times of the day.

"We had round-the-clock operations going on in multiple sites at times," Bodzioch said.

Wilton termed the project "one of a kind" and said, "It's a bellwether project for other toll authorities and transportation agencies."

For instance, the Florida Turnpike Authority has pushed through legislation that will open up development opportunities along its roads. Pennsylvania has 22 rest stops in need of renovation, and the state is preparing a request for proposal expected to be issued later this year.