The L Station, North Wells Street, Chicago, IL, USA
History
Residents of Chicago have been heavily anticipating the new construction of the Damen Green Line “L” Station. Located at 2001 W Lake Street in the Near West Side intersection with N Damen Avenue, the new structure will replace a vacant lot that was once the original Damen stop opened in 1893. Chicago’s Damen Station was opened in a once lively neighborhood in an effort to reach the World’s Fair on the south side. The station was later torn down in 1948 due to a population shift in the area. Now, many decades later, the station is being repurposed into a transportation hub for the active neighborhood and the United Center which hosts over 200 events a year.
The new construction of the Damen Green Line “L” Station is an $80.2 million project meant to fill a 1½-mile gap between existing Green Line stations at California and Ashland. The construction is scheduled to span over 18 months with a completion date in 2024. The stop will provide fast and reliable transportation to many who live in public housing in the area.
Portland Bolt’s Contribution
For this project, Portland Bolt was called upon to provide the required anchor rods, nuts, heavy hex couplers, and custom square plates. The anchor rods were specified as ASTM F1554 Grade 55 and were provided in a galvanized finish, which we do in-house with our hot-dip galvanizing line. These anchor rods were paired with a high-strength A194-2H nut, a high-strength heavy hex coupling nut meeting ASTM A563 Grade DH, as well as a custom square plate washer meeting the requirement of A572-50.
Manufacturing Process
Since this project is federally funded, everything needed to be 100% melted and manufactured in the USA. Because Portland Bolt partners with many companies that provide anchor bolts for Department of Transportation projects, we keep a wide variety of domestic anchor bolts on the shelf, and every item is fully certified with full mill test reports for compliance with CDOT requirements.
