Geo-Institute Dinner Meeting: Construction of the Chicago Spire
2026-02-24 17:30 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Pazzo’s at 311, 311 S. Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL, 60606, United States
Join us as we learn about the construction of the Chicago Spire! When the Chicago Spire project was mothballed in 2008 at the onset of the Great Recession, many wondered what would become of the site. For years, the site sat vacant with only “Chicago’s Largest Swimming Pool” as evidence of the previous work. Fast forward 18 years and the north tower of the 400 N Lake Shore Drive complex is well on its way to its full height of 875 feet. This presentation explores the original construction of the Chicago Spire foundations and earth retention, how it was incorporated into the new 400 N LSD development, and new additions that are bringing the latest project to life.

If you want to learn more information about our speakers, click here.

Price: $25-$70

Register here!

IL-ASCE and YMG: Professional Mixer and Trivia Night
2026-02-26 17:30 - 19:30 | Benesch Office, 35 W Wacker Dr #3300, Chicago, IL, 60601, United States
Join the IL-Section ASCE Mentorship Program Committee and Younger Members Group for a night of networking, LinkedIn Best Practices, and… TRIVIA! Light food and beverages will be provided.

Registration is required by Monday, February 23rd. RSVP here.

Event is FREE for Mentorship Pairs and ASCE/Student Members

Water System Resiliency
2026-03-04 17:00 - 19:00 | V3 Consulting, 7325 Janes Ave. #100, Woodridge, IL, 60517, United States
UESI and EWRI are excited to jointly host an evening technical presentation on Water System Resiliency on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, at V3 Companies in Woodridge, IL.
The program will explore how water utilities prepare for, respond to, and recover from major system disruptions. Rebecca Cramer (Hazen and Sawyer) will discuss emergency planning and resiliency strategies for water distribution systems, including preparing for extreme weather and infrastructure failures. Ramesh Kanapareddy (NSMJAWA) will share a real-world case study on community outreach and coordination during the repair of a critical 90-inch transmission main, while Paul May (DuPage Water Commission) will highlight operational practices that ensure reliable water delivery across multiple communities.
📅 March 4, 2026
🕔 Check-in: 5:15 PM | 🎤 Presentations: 6:00 PM 🍽️ Dinner provided
📚 PDHs available
A great opportunity for water professionals to earn PDHs, gain practical insight into system resiliency, and connect with peers across the industry. Attendance is $75 per person with company sponsorship opportunities available for $350 (includes two registrations and advertisement throughout the night). If interested in sponsorship please contact Francisco Martinez, fmartinezacosta@hanson-inc.com.
Register here: https://lnkd.in/gD2nrHj9

Geo-Institute Dinner Meeting: NEORSD Project Clean Lake - Planning, Design, and Construction of CSO Tunnels
2026-03-24 17:30 - 20:00 | Pazzo’s at 311, 311 S. Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL, 60606, United States
Join us as we learn about the Project Clean Lake! It is a 25‑year program being implemented by the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) in Cleveland, OH. The program’s goal is to reduce annual raw sewage discharges into Lake Erie by more than 4 billion gallons annually. When completed in 2036, it will enable the capture and treatment of more than 98% of wet‑weather flows within the District’s combined sewer system.

If you want to learn more information about our speaker and event, click here.

Register here!

2026 Transportation For Illinois Coalition (TFIC) Legislative Lobby Day
2026-03-25 11:00 - 19:00 | Springfield, IL, Springfield, IL, United States
Please join us for the Legislative Drive Down on March 25th.
ASCE Illinois Section has been a part of the TFIC for nearly 17 years and has been a great partnership. The Transportation for Illinois Coalition unites stakeholders from business, labor, and local governments to educate policymakers and the public about the need for adequate investment in Illinois’ transportation infrastructure. The TFIC is the recognized authority on and unifying voice for transportation needs in Illinois. TFIC exists to achieve the best transportation systems in order to guarantee economic success. This includes and touches many aspects of the transportation network from roads/highways, bridges, airports, shipping/trucking, intermodal, rail, and agricultural needs. Hear from Elected Officials with regards updates with regards upcoming legislation that may impact our industry. Also, you may mention your concerns to your elected officials and bring awareness to issues that impact our industry. In the evening, there will be a legislative reception. ASCE Illinois Section has paid for participants and is first come-first serve. We encourage the full spectrum of our membership to attend.
Register here by March 18th.
Tentative agenda:

11-12: Lunch and networking – Trish and Mary’s Public House (107 W Cook St Springfield, Illinois 62704)

12-1:00: Media Briefings – Trish and Mary’s Public House (107 W Cook St Springfield, Illinois 62704)

1:00-2:30: Leadership Briefings Trish and Mary’s Public House (107 W Cook St Springfield, Illinois 62704)

2:30-5:00: Legislative Meetings – Illinois State Capitol

5-7: Reception – Trish and Mary’s Public House (107 W Cook St Springfield, Illinois 62704)

IS-ASCE T&DI March Luncheon with CDOT's Acting Commissioner, Craig Turner, PE, PLS
2026-03-26 11:30 - 13:30 | Maggiano’s Little Italy, 516 N Clark St, Chicago, IL, 60654, United States
Craig Turner, PE, PLS, is proud to serve as CDOT’s Acting Commissioner. He most recently served as CDOT’s First Deputy Commissioner and previously lead CDOT’s Division of Electrical Operations.
Craig brings a broad range of experience in transportation infrastructure, with a career spanning both public service and the private sector. He began his work in government at the Illinois Department of Transportation and later served at the Cook County Department of Transportation and Highways. From 2002 to 2020, he held a variety of roles at private engineering firms, where he fulfilled roles from staff engineer to Director of Civil/Transportation. He joined CDOT in 2020 and has since risen to his current leadership position. Across both his work in the private sector and at the City, Craig played a critical leadership role in the successful delivery of the Chicago Smart Lighting Program.
Register by 4pm on Monday, March 23rd. If you want to learn more information about our speaker and event, click here.
Price: $35-$75
Register here!

Sponsorship opportunities are available for this event!

IL Section ASCE Annual Spring Dinner
2026-04-22 17:30 - 19:30 | Maggiano’s Little Italy, 516 N Clark St, Chicago, IL, 60654, United States
Save the date for our annual President Elect / Scholarship Award Dinner. We are excited to have the
Society President-Elect, Carol Ellinger Haddock, as our guest speaker. The night will be followed by a
presentation of the Route 66 Centennial event. Then, we will conclude with recognition of our Class of
2026 IL-Section and Institutes scholarship recipients. A night of inspiration and celebration—you
won’t want to miss it!
Location: Maggiano’s Little Italy (Chicago)

IS-ASCE T&DI April Luncheon with Illinois Tollway's Chief Engineering Officer, Manar Nashif, PE
2026-04-23 11:30 - 13:30 | Maggiano’s Oak Brook, 240 Oakbrook Center, Oak Brook, IL, 60523, United States
Manar Nashif is the chief engineering officer with the Illinois Tollway and is responsible for the policies, practices and procedures of the Engineering Department, which oversees all maintenance, design and construction operations on the agency’s 294-mile system of five roadways serving more than 1.6 million daily drivers in Northern Illinois.
Currently, with more than 25 years as a professional engineer, he and his Engineering and Planning teams are responsible for delivering the Illinois Tollway’s 16-year, $15 billion Move Illinois capital program, now in its 15th year, as well as the 7-year, $2 billion Bridging the Future capital plan.
Nashif joined the Tollway in 2005 as a senior project engineer and later served as a deputy chief of program implementation. In that role, he took on responsibility for the design and construction of the Illinois Route 390 Tollway – the first entirely cashless roadway on the Tollway system – and the new I-490 Tollway as part of the Elgin O’Hare Western Access Project.

Register by 4pm on Monday, April 20th.

Price: $35-$75

Register here!

Sponsorship opportunities are available for this event!

Route 66 Centennial
2026-04-30 17:00 - 2026-05-03 21:00 | IL
Joliet, IL will be serving as an official Satellite City for the 2026 Route 66 Centennial. The kickoff for the event on April 30, 2026, will include Joliet Slammers Baseball game at the Old Joliet Prison. Other satellite cities include St. Louis, Amarillo, Albuquerque, and Santa Monica.

More information to come!

2026 Geo-Institute Lecture Series
2026-05-01 08:00 - 17:00 | UIC-Student Center, 750 S. Halsted St., Chicago, IL, 60607, United States
Please join the Illinois Chapter of the Geo-Institute for our biennial Lecture Series. The Lecture Series will take place at UIC, where we will be hosted by Prof. Reddy and his department. This events provides 5 PDHs.

Speakers and topics are:

1) “3D SLOPE STABILITY ANALSYES IN PRACTICE,” Timothy D. Stark, PhD, PE, BC.GE, University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign

2) “Monitoring of Dams and Levees using InSAR – Lessons Learned”, Georgette Hlepas, PhD, PE, USACE

3) “Milestones and Challenges in the Construction of a 42-Acre Containment Facility in Milwaukee Harbor,” Justin Johnson, Michels Construction, Inc, and Kevin R. Johnson, PhD, PE, Mi-Tech Services, Inc

4) “Tunneling Through Complexity: Subsurface Challenges for O’Hare’s Stormwater Conveyance System”, Mark Stephani, PE, HNTB

5) “Design and Construction of the World’s Largest DMM Retaining Structure”, William Tanner, PE, Geosyntec Consultants and Matthew Chartier, PE, Geosyntec Consultants

More information on the seminar, registration links, and abstracts/bios for each of our distinguished speakers can be found here.

The full registration fee covers lecture attendance, continental breakfast, and lunch. Firms are invited to exhibit your products, services, or emerging technologies to the engineering community. Exhibitor space consists of a table and electric and includes one general registration to the conference. And if your company would like to sponsor the event, please click here!

We encourage you to register early for the Lecture Series. Early bird rates are available until April 1th.

Price: Individuals $50-450 | Exhibitor $850-1000

UESI Presentation: Use of a Rigorous Utility Investigation for Project Construction on the West Lake Corridor Project
2026-05-07 08:00 - 17:00 | IL
UESI will be hosting an event on the topic: Use of a Rigorous Utility Investigation for Project Construction on the West Lake Corridor Project. The speakers from NICTD are Paul Chojenski, who oversaw the utility relocation work, and Mike Rowe, Project Manager.

More information coming soon!

IS-ASCE T&DI May Luncheon with CCDOTH's Associate Director of Project Development, Katie Bell, PE
2026-05-21 11:30 - 13:30 | Maggiano’s Little Italy, 516 N Clark St, Chicago, IL, 60654, United States
Katie Bell, P.E. is a civil engineer with over 18 years of experience in the transportation industry. She has worked on a variety of multi-modal projects in the planning, design, and construction phases throughout her career. In her current role as Associate Director of Project Development at the Cook County Department and Highways (CCDOTH), she oversees the development of CCDOTH’s capital budget and multi-year program as well as provides leadership and oversight for technical Divisions which fall within CCDOTH’s Bureau of Project Development (Programming, Project Studies, Traffic Studies, and Mechanical/Electrical). Prior to joining CCDOTH, Katie also worked at the Chicago Transit Authority and AECOM.
Register by 4pm on Monday, May 18th. Register here!
Price: $35-$75

Sponsorship opportunities are available for this event!
