07/08/2026
On June 15, 2007, IDOT opened bids on a series of projects to widen and reconstruct I-55 between I-80 in Joliet and Weber Road in Bolingbrook.
The I-55 and I-80 interchange sits at what is literally called the Crossroads of America. That corridor carries roughly 120,000 vehicles a day, with trucks making up over 35 percent of the traffic mix. The intermodal facilities in nearby Joliet and Elwood handle over 3.5 million international containers every year, making Will County the largest inland port in the nation.
You are not building on a quiet stretch of highway. Every stage change, every lane closure, every material delivery happens in real time against that backdrop, and there is no margin for error.
The Tri-Venture of P.T. Ferro Construction, Gallagher Asphalt Corp, and D Construction was the low bidder on Contract 62895 - a $25.7 million undertaking to widen and resurface I-55 in both northbound and southbound directions from south of I-80 in Joliet to Black Road in Shorewood. It was one of four contracts awarded to the Tri-Venture along this corridor, representing more than $100 million in improvements.
PT Ferro was the lead contractor on this project. Over multiple construction seasons, we were tasked with moving 52,000 cubic yards of earth, installing nearly 20,000 lineal feet of storm sewer, and placing more than 105,000 tons of asphalt on one of the busiest freight corridors in the country.
Eighteen years later, those lanes are still carrying the load they were built for.
So is the company that built them.