Civil Engineering Magazine

Like many highways built in the 1950s and 1960s, the Inner Loop in Rochester, New York, was designed to provide vehicular access and boost growth. But also like many highways, it divided the very communities it was meant to serve, in this case via a six-lane sunken highway with six lanes of adjacent street connectors. In the mid-2010s, Stantec led a project to fill in more than half a mile of the underused eastern section of the loop, creating a multiuse boulevard and opening up the land for development. The roadway today is an easily accessible boulevard with on-street parking, wide sidewalks, green spaces, and a two-way cycle lane that is safely separated from vehicular traffic. The reconstruction project, completed in 2018, is sparking economic growth and redevelopment, including the construction of housing and businesses and the expansion of the nearby Strong National Museum of Play.

The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles recently underwent two seismic retrofit projects, one involving the roof over its backstage areas and the other improving two elevated seating terraces. Other work at the open-air entertainment venue included a historical rehabilitation and upgrade to the facilities.

The gala for ASCE's 2021 Outstanding Projects And Leaders, or OPAL, program took place on Oct. 8 during the Society's annual convention, which was virtual this year as it was last because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It was during the OPAL Gala that the winning projects honored in the 2021 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement awards were announced. The projects cover the gamut, from parks and water supplies to transportation and flood control; there's even a mysterious, moving mud spring.

One of the largest environmental restoration efforts in the country recently concluded in North Texas, leading to the rebirth of Willow Branch Creek, a stream that is a renewed water source for wetlands, grasslands, and millions of newly planted trees. The multimillion-dollar environmental restoration project is a vital piece in an overarching endeavor — the Bois d'Arc Lake reservoir construction project, which will be completed in 2023.

A century-old, abandoned hospital in Chicago has been converted into a mixed-use facility as part of a larger, $1 billion redevelopment of the city's Illinois Medical District. Members of the hospital project's design team explain their efforts to preserve, restore, and reimagine the historic structure.