Lee County Courts Building

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WILLETT, HOFMANN & ASSOCIATES, INC.
Consulting Engineers
Land Surveying - Transportation - Structural - Environmental - Architecture

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Lee County, Illinois

Courts Building Expansion

Dixon, Illinois

Willett, Hofmann & Associates, Inc. was the civil engineer for this multi-million dollar building renovation and expansion project. The project required successfully managing a great variety of challenging site design issues on an approximately 2-acre constrained site. The site is bound by a State Highway, a City Street and a creek with nearly 30 feet of change in elevation across the site. A portion of the site is in the 100-year flood plain. Willett, Hofmann & Associates, Inc. performed the complete site design and engineering including acquisition of all required permits from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Natural Resources - Office of Water Resources, Department of Transportation and Local Municipal Officials.

This project included the demolition of existing residential structures and an existing parking lot, the realignment of an existing creek, the design and construction of nearly 500 feet of reinforced concrete retaining walls along the new creek alignment (with portions as tall as 25 feet high) and over 400 feet of decorative segmental block retaining walls along the State Highway (with portions as tall as 10 feet). The project also entailed the design of over 400 feet of decorative ornamental fencing, nearly 300 feet of safety railing and security fencing including a cantilever sliding gate for secure vehicular access, as well as over 300 SF of decorative patterned concrete paving at the new building entrances. New water service and sanitary sewer connections were provided to the building and a new parking lot and storm water management systems were also designed.

The new parking lot provides capacity for over 160 vehicles with improved ingress, egress and overall vehicle circulation patterns and incorporates two underground storm water detention systems with nearly 6,500 cubic feet of storage capacity. The site design also introduced a “green” landscaping strip along the State Highway for a greater aesthetic presentation of the site to the public.

Scope of Work

· Topographic Survey

· Grading and Drainage

· Storm Sewer

· Creek Realignment

· Stormwater Management

· Water Distribution System

· Coordination with Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA)

· Coordination with the Department of Natural Resources - Office of Water Resources

· Coordination with the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT)

· Coordination with Local Municipal Officials