RiverEdge Park Pedestrian Bridge Wins 2022 ENR Midwest Best Project Award

TYLin’s bridge design creates safe, aesthetic icon for downtown redevelopment in Aurora, IL

TYLin, a globally recognized full-service infrastructure consulting firm, announces that the RiverEdge Park Pedestrian Bridge over the Fox River in Aurora, Illinois, has won the Best Project Award, Landscape/Urban Development, in Engineering News-Record (ENR) Midwest’s 2022 Best Projects competition. The City of Aurora contracted TYLin to design the signature pedestrian-bicycle bridge, which is a critical part of the master plan to redevelop the City’s historic downtown district.

TYLin’s services included bridge architecture, aesthetic lighting design, structural engineering, and electrical engineering. The firm initially developed eight bridge concepts along four alignment profiles. The final bridge design, which was developed through a series of public meetings and refinements with City staff, is a seven-span concrete girder structure with a graceful S-curve alignment.

The RiverEdge Park Pedestrian Bridge unites the new RiverEdge Park on the east side with local neighborhoods, redeveloped parks, and trails on the west side. Considering the diverse group of bridge users, TYLin designed the superstructure to have a central beam “spine” with two pathways cantilevering on either side. The segregated twin pathways prioritize safety and convenience, separating slower pedestrians from faster commuter bicyclists.

From the riverbanks, the pathway decks gradually rise to the top of the girder at the midspan, where overlooks and benches offer strollers scenic views of the river and the city’s eye-catching downtown area. For commuters speeding to the updated, multimodal Aurora Transportation Center, the bridge offers an easy, non-motorized connection across the river.

“On behalf of the City of Aurora, TYLin, and our project partners, we thank ENR Midwest for honoring the RiverEdge Park Pedestrian Bridge with the 2022 Best Project Award, Landscape/Urban Development,” said Dan Fitzwilliam, PE, TYLin Senior Bridge Engineer. “This project met every criterion for the client as well as this competition. It’s also proof that a landmark pedestrian bridge can meet a client’s needs while being cost-effective to design and build.”

ENR Midwest’s annual Best Projects competition honors the best construction projects and the companies that designed and built them. The program utilizes an independent panel of safety judges who consider numerus factors in their decisions, including a project’s overall safety program, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recordable incident rate, lost-time accident rate, and total work hours on the job.

Image Credits: Dave Burk Photo, Savanna Rita Photo