Identifying Hairline Cracks and Surface Gaps

Coordinates: 42°03′50″N 88°08′49″W / 42.06389°N 88.14694°W / 42.06389; -88.14694CountryUnited StatesStateIllinoisCountiesCookTownshipsSchaumburg, Palatine, Hanover, BarringtonIncorporated1959 (village)Government

 • MayorWilliam D. McLeod^{[citation needed]} • Village ManagerEric J. Palm^{[citation needed]}Area

21.25 sq mi (55.03 km²) • Land21.07 sq mi (54.56 km²) • Water0.18 sq mi (0.47 km²)  0.86%Elevation

824 ft (251 m)Population

52,530 • Density2,493.71/sq mi (962.82/km²)Zip Code

Area code(s)847 / 224FIPS code17-35411GNIS feature ID2398519^[2]Websitewww.hoffmanestates.org

Hoffman Estates is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 52,530.^[3]

The village previously served as the headquarters for Sears and is one of the American headquarters for Mori Seiki. Now Arena, home of the Windy City Bulls of the NBA G League is part of the village. Between 2006 and 2009, the village hosted the Heartland International Tattoo, one of the largest music and dance festivals of its kind in the Midwest.

Prior to the 1940s, German settlers moved into the area west of Roselle Road and north of Golf Road, then known as Wildcat Grove. The area was sparsely populated until farmers purchased land in the area in the 1940s.

In 1954, Sam and Jack Hoffman, owners of a father-son owned construction company, bought 160 acres of land in the area.^[5] The pair constructed homes and began the development of the region which now bears their name. As residents moved in, they voted to incorporate the area, and the Village of Hoffman Estates was incorporated on September 23, 1959.^[6][5][7] In 1973, six former town officials, including mayors Edward F. Pinger (1959−1965) and Roy L. Jenkins (1965−1969) were indicted on bribery and tax charges.^[8]

Once the Northwest Tollway opened, Schaumburg Township became more attractive to Chicago commuters. In the early 1960s, land annexations north of the tollway and in other neighboring regions more than doubled Hoffman Estates' land area.^[9]

The opening of the Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg to the east in 1971 made the area a major business center. An attempt to change the name of the village to East Barrington, among other names, was made in the early 1980s but failed upon a residential vote.^[10]

In the 1990s, the Prairie Stone Business Park began development. This 750-acre (3.0 km²) planned multi-purpose business park^[11] is bounded by Illinois Route 59 on the east, Interstate 90 on the south, Illinois Route 72 on the north, and Beverly Road on the west. The business park came to fruition in 1993 when Sears, Roebuck and Company relocated from the Sears Tower in Chicago to a sprawling headquarters in the northwest part of Prairie Stone.^[12][11] That was followed in by Indramat and Quest International, which in 1995 also opened facilities in the park.^[13][14][15] Throughout the 1990s, a health and wellness center and child care facility were developed, as well as other smaller office buildings, and a branch of Northern Illinois University. Development of the business park is still ongoing, and recent additions in the 2000s include the 11,000-seat Now Arena; office buildings for Serta, WT Engineering, I-CAR, and Mary Kay; a Cabela's outdoor outfitters store; a 295-room Marriott hotel; and the 400,000-square-foot (37,000 m²) Poplar Creek Crossing Retail Center, which is anchored by Target and numerous other big-box retailers. Future development will include further office buildings and retail development, Sun Island Hotel and Water Park, an amphitheater, and restaurants.

In 2011, the Village of Hoffman Estates took over ownership of the Now Arena.^[16] On June 23, 2020, the Village of Hoffman Estates approved an $11.5 million deal to rename the Sears Centre Arena to the "NOW Arena".^[17]

In the fall of 2016, papers and artifacts from President Barack Obama's administration began to arrive in town, where they are being stored in a building on Golf Road. The site is their temporary home while construction takes place on the Barack Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park, Chicago, and is not open to the public.^[18]

In January 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the second U.S. case of COVID-19 in a Hoffman Estates resident. The patient, a woman in her 60s returning from Wuhan, China, was treated at St. Alexius Medical Center.^[19] Her husband was later infected in the first case of human-to-human transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the United States.^[20]

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Hoffman Estates has a total area of 21.25 square miles (55.04 km²), of which 21.07 square miles (54.57 km²) (or 99.15%) is land and 0.18 square miles (0.47 km²) (or 0.85%) is water.^[21]

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1960	8,296		—
1970	22,238		168.1%
1980	37,272		67.6%
1990	46,363		24.4%
2000	49,495		6.8%
2010	51,895		4.8%
2020	52,530		1.2%
U.S. Decennial Census[22] 2010[23] 2020[24]

Hoffman Estates village, Illinois – Racial and ethnic composition
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.

Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)	Pop 2000[25]	Pop 2010[23]	Pop 2020[24]	% 2000	% 2010	% 2020
White alone (NH)	33,789	29,357	26,014	68.27%	56.57%	49.52%
Black or African American alone (NH)	2,141	2,393	2,472	4.33%	4.61%	4.71%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	54	60	69	0.11%	0.12%	0.13%
Asian alone (NH)	7,429	11,701	13,733	15.01%	22.55%	26.14%
Pacific Islander alone (NH)	10	4	2	0.02%	0.01%	0.00%
Other race alone (NH)	73	70	183	0.15%	0.13%	0.35%
Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)	801	1,013	1,579	1.62%	1.95%	3.01%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	5,198	7,297	8,478	10.50%	14.06%	16.14%
Total	49,495	51,895	52,350	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%

As of the 2020 census^[26] there were 52,530 people, 18,110 households, and 14,048 families residing in the village. The population density was 2,472.58 inhabitants per square mile (954.67/km²). There were 19,160 housing units at an average density of 901.86 per square mile (348.21/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 52.08% White, 26.26% Asian, 4.87% African American, 0.60% Native American, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 7.51% from other races, and 8.68% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 16.14% of the population.

There were 18,110 households, out of which 36.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.71% were married couples living together, 11.97% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.43% were non-families. 18.07% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.43% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.16 and the average family size was 2.77.

The village's age distribution consisted of 23.1% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 28.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.4 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $92,423, and the median income for a family was $103,641. Males had a median income of $56,210 versus $42,288 for females. The per capita income for the village was $40,016. About 3.3% of families and 4.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.9% of those under age 18 and 3.5% of those age 65 or over.

Many Japanese companies have their U.S. headquarters in Hoffman Estates and Schaumburg^[27] but the largest employers in Hoffman Estates as of 2023^[28] are:

No.	Employer	No. of employees
1	St. Alexius Medical Center	2,500
2	Siemens Medical Systems	400
3	Claire's[29]	400
4	Village of Hoffman Estates	370
5	FANUC America[30]	350
6	Vistex	350
7	Leopardo Companies, Inc.	300
8	Wells Fargo	300
9	The Salvation Army	270
10	Tate & Lyle	220

The village is served by several public school districts. The majority of residents who live in Schaumburg Township attend:

• Township High School District 211 (9–12)^[31]
• Community Consolidated School District 54 (K–8)^[32]

North Hoffman Estates (north of I-90) residents are served by:

• Township High School District 211
• Community Consolidated School District 15 (K–8)^[33] (East of Huntington Blvd)
• Barrington School District 220 (K–12) (Unit District) (West of Huntington Blvd).^[34]

Residents west of Barrington Road primarily attend Unit School District, Elgin Area U46.

Schools located in the Hoffman Estates village limits:

• Hoffman Estates High School
• James B. Conant High School

Other high schools in the same township high school district:

• Schaumburg High School
• William Fremd High School
• Palatine High School

Most of the village is served by Harper College Community College District 512.

The Xilin Northwest Chinese School (simplified Chinese: 希林西北中文学校; traditional Chinese: 希林西北中文學校; pinyin: Xīlín Xīběi Zhōngwén Xuéxiào) holds its classes at Conant High School in Hoffman Estates.^[35] It serves grades preschool through 12.^[36] The school predominately serves mainland Chinese families. In 2003 the school held its classes in Palatine High School in Palatine. In 2000 the school had served around 300 students. This figure increased almost by 100%, to almost 600 students. This made it one of the largest of the Chinese schools in the Chicago area.^[37]

• Barrington Area Library
• Schaumburg Township District Library
• Gail Borden Public Library District
• Palatine Township Library

Hoffman Estates has one sister city:^[38]

• Angoulême, Charente, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France

Pace provides bus service on multiple routes connecting Hoffman Estates to Elgin, Rosemont, and other destinations.^[39]

• Tammy Duckworth, U.S. Senator from Illinois (2016–present)^[40]
• Rob Valentino (b. 1985), former soccer player who is an assistant coach for Atlanta United^[41]
• William Beckett, lead singer of the band The Academy Is...

• Village of Hoffman Estates official website

 

The foundation of a structure's infrastructure transmits loads from the structure to the earth. Geotechnical engineers design foundations based on the load characteristics of the structure and the properties of the soils and bedrock at the site. Generally, geotechnical engineers first estimate the magnitude and location of loads to be supported before developing an investigation plan to explore the subsurface and determine the necessary soil parameters through field and lab testing. Following this, they may begin the design of an engineering foundation. The primary considerations for a geotechnical engineer in foundation design are bearing capacity, settlement, and ground movement beneath the foundations.^[11]

Geotechnical engineers are also involved in the planning and execution of earthworks, which include ground improvement,^[11] slope stabilization, and slope stability analysis.

Various geotechnical engineering methods can be used for ground improvement, including reinforcement geosynthetics such as geocells and geogrids, which disperse loads over a larger area, increasing the soil's load-bearing capacity. Through these methods, geotechnical engineers can reduce direct and long-term costs.^[12]

Geotechnical engineers can analyze and improve slope stability using engineering methods. Slope stability is determined by the balance of shear stress and shear strength. A previously stable slope may be initially affected by various factors, making it unstable. Nonetheless, geotechnical engineers can design and implement engineered slopes to increase stability.

Stability analysis is needed to design engineered slopes and estimate the risk of slope failure in natural or designed slopes by determining the conditions under which the topmost mass of soil will slip relative to the base of soil and lead to slope failure.^[13] If the interface between the mass and the base of a slope has a complex geometry, slope stability analysis is difficult and numerical solution methods are required. Typically, the interface's exact geometry is unknown, and a simplified interface geometry is assumed. Finite slopes require three-dimensional models to be analyzed, so most slopes are analyzed assuming that they are infinitely wide and can be represented by two-dimensional models.

Geosynthetics are a type of plastic polymer products used in geotechnical engineering that improve engineering performance while reducing costs. This includes geotextiles, geogrids, geomembranes, geocells, and geocomposites. The synthetic nature of the products make them suitable for use in the ground where high levels of durability are required. Their main functions include drainage, filtration, reinforcement, separation, and containment.

Geosynthetics are available in a wide range of forms and materials, each to suit a slightly different end-use, although they are frequently used together. Some reinforcement geosynthetics, such as geogrids and more recently, cellular confinement systems, have shown to improve bearing capacity, modulus factors and soil stiffness and strength.^[14] These products have a wide range of applications and are currently used in many civil and geotechnical engineering applications including roads, airfields, railroads, embankments, piled embankments, retaining structures, reservoirs, canals, dams, landfills, bank protection and coastal engineering.^[15]

Offshore (or marine) geotechnical engineering is concerned with foundation design for human-made structures in the sea, away from the coastline (in opposition to onshore or nearshore engineering). Oil platforms, artificial islands and submarine pipelines are examples of such structures.^[16]

There are a number of significant differences between onshore and offshore geotechnical engineering.^[16][17] Notably, site investigation and ground improvement on the seabed are more expensive; the offshore structures are exposed to a wider range of geohazards; and the environmental and financial consequences are higher in case of failure. Offshore structures are exposed to various environmental loads, notably wind, waves and currents. These phenomena may affect the integrity or the serviceability of the structure and its foundation during its operational lifespan and need to be taken into account in offshore design.

In subsea geotechnical engineering, seabed materials are considered a two-phase material composed of rock or mineral particles and water.^[18][19] Structures may be fixed in place in the seabed—as is the case for piers, jetties and fixed-bottom wind turbines—or may comprise a floating structure that remains roughly fixed relative to its geotechnical anchor point. Undersea mooring of human-engineered floating structures include a large number of offshore oil and gas platforms and, since 2008, a few floating wind turbines. Two common types of engineered design for anchoring floating structures include tension-leg and catenary loose mooring systems.^[20]

First proposed by Karl Terzaghi and later discussed in a paper by Ralph B. Peck, the observational method is a managed process of construction control, monitoring, and review, which enables modifications to be incorporated during and after construction. The method aims to achieve a greater overall economy without compromising safety by creating designs based on the most probable conditions rather than the most unfavorable.^[21] Using the observational method, gaps in available information are filled by measurements and investigation, which aid in assessing the behavior of the structure during construction, which in turn can be modified per the findings. The method was described by Peck as "learn-as-you-go".^[22]

The observational method may be described as follows:^[22]

1. General exploration sufficient to establish the rough nature, pattern, and properties of deposits.
2. Assessment of the most probable conditions and the most unfavorable conceivable deviations.
3. Creating the design based on a working hypothesis of behavior anticipated under the most probable conditions.
4. Selection of quantities to be observed as construction proceeds and calculating their anticipated values based on the working hypothesis under the most unfavorable conditions.
5. Selection, in advance, of a course of action or design modification for every foreseeable significant deviation of the observational findings from those predicted.
6. Measurement of quantities and evaluation of actual conditions.
7. Design modification per actual conditions

The observational method is suitable for construction that has already begun when an unexpected development occurs or when a failure or accident looms or has already happened. It is unsuitable for projects whose design cannot be altered during construction.^[22]

 

• Bates and Jackson, 1980, Glossary of Geology: American Geological Institute.
• Krynine and Judd, 1957, Principles of Engineering Geology and Geotechnics: McGraw-Hill, New York.
• Ventura, Pierfranco, 2019, Fondazioni, Volume 1, Modellazioni statiche e sismiche, Hoepli, Milano

• Worldwide Geotechnical Literature Database