INFRASTRUCTURES * USA - Miracle on concrete: Kennedy reopens

Chicago,ILL,USA -The Chicago Tribune, by Evangeline Leventis, Andrew L. Wang, Sara Olkon and Carlos Sadovi -October 15, 2009: -- All lanes and ramps on the Kennedy Expressway reopened this morning shortly before 4:30 a.m. following a pavement-buckling construction mishap that had thrown this morning's commute on the roadway into serious doubt... Wednesday night, IDOT promised it wouldn't reopen the Kennedy unless it was "safe and 100 percent ready... This morning, the Chicago Transit Authority is adding extra trains on the Red, Blue and Green Lines at least through the morning rush period to accommodate commuters who switch from driving to mass transit. Numerous CTA bus routes also serve the downtown... The tunnel is an extension of the more than century-old subterranean freight system that flooded downtown area in 1992 when a piling was driven into the Chicago River bottom, causing the evacuation of more than 50 damaged buildings... Wednesday's accident prompted IDOT to shut down two Kennedy lanes as well as connecting ramps on the nearby expressways where average daily traffic volumes exceed 325,000 vehicles... Shortly after the noontime construction accident, IDOT advised drivers to stay off the downtown sections of the expressways for 24 hours... (Image from José M. Osorio/The Chicago Tribune - Northbound commuters head into the city on the Kennedy Expressway this morning over the spot where the roadway was repaired overnight after a construction accident on Wednesday buckled the highway)