Times Staff Reports

CHICAGO | The Illinois Department of Transportation is expected this summer to begin reconstruction of the 115th Street overpass that was damaged last December by an inbound Bishop Ford Freeway crash.

IDOT spokesman Mike Claffey said the project likely will be finished by the end of the year.

Projected impacts to traffic weren't immediately available, but Claffey said he expects there could be nighttime lane closures along the Bishop Ford.

"We are trying to make it so that there are no daytime lane closures," he said, adding the details are not finalized.

The project will include replacing the bridge deck and a beam, while five other beams have to be removed and reset, Claffey said.

The overpass was damaged by a Dec. 7 accident after a semitrailer dump truck struck the concrete deck and severely damaged a support beam. The accident caused the cab to rip off the trailer and become perched on a median.

IDOT engineers found that while the trailer didn't break through the beam, its structural integrity is essentially destroyed.

The 115th Street overpass carries four lanes of traffic, and since the accident has been restricted to one lane in each direction.