GRAEF-USA Inc.

McCormick Place West Expansion

The $850 million expansion of McCormick Place, with the new 2.5 million square foot McCormick Place West, is slated for completion by 2008. This new facility will include 470,000 square feet of new exhibition space and 250,000 square feet of new meeting space. The new 100,000 square foot ballroom (Chicago’s largest), will give McCormick Place West more meeting space than any other facility of its kind. GRAEF is teamed with A. Epstein and Sons, International and Walter P. Moore and Company to provide structural engineering services for the project.

GRAEF is the primary structural engineer for the elevated truck apron and bridge to the existing hall. This 100,000 sq. foot apron, elevated approximately 33 feet above the street below, will serve as the major access center for trucks setting up or tearing down shows. Semi trailer trucks will be able to access the new West Facility through this apron, and drive directly onto the exhibit hall floor, or dock at one of the 40 new truck berths. The south face of the apron also supports a large, landscaped screen wall. There are also two large ramps that lead to grade from the apron.

In addition to the truck apron, the work also includes a 1000 -foot long bridge over Martin Luther King Drive to the existing McCormick Place South Building. The new apron and bridge are only a few feet from the existing Stevenson Expressway, and the south face of the new structure cantilevers as much as 38 feet over an entrance ramp to the expressway. The location of new columns to support this apron required intense coordination with many stakeholders, including the Illinois Department of Transportation, and the City of Chicago.

GRAEF also provided engineering for structural changes inside of the existing South Hall. This work included complex changes to the existing loading dock ramp structure, to facilitate truck access to the new West Hall, and new elevator and escalator installations.
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LOCATION Chicago, IL