The Scherzer rolling lift bridge is similar to a rocking chair, with large counterweights above the road level to help balance the bridge as it opens and closes.The first swing bridge completed in 1856 at Rush Street was an improvement, but the narrowness was still an issue. The posted clearances serve as a guideline and are advisory only. CDOT is responsible for more than 300 bridge and viaduct structures, including 37 operable movable bridges along the Chicago and Calumet rivers. Constructed of timber, it was similar to bridges found over moats at medieval castles, with large chains lifting it. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial between Wabash and State was first phase of the Riverwalk Project and was dedicated on Veterans Day in 2005. The under bridge connections at Michigan and Wabash were completed in 2009 providing an uninterrupted route along the Main Branch of the Chicago River from State Street to Lake Michigan. The Riverwalk build out will eventually resume at State Street and end at Lake Street. CDOT provides landscape maintenance for the Riverwalk and has partnered with the Chicago Park District to provide vendors and concessions along the path. The Commissioner of the Department of Transportation is also the Harbor Master for the City of Chicago. CDOT has jurisdiction over the Lake Michigan harbors, the Chicago River, the Calumet River and any of its tributaries.CDOT works with the Chicago Park District, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to reconstruct deteriorated revetment structures along the Lake Michigan Shoreline. Reconstruction includes concrete and steel sheet pile stair-step revetments, beaches with piers and groins, and rubblemound stone revetments. Some of the bridges, that were up due to protests throughout The Loop, are now back open. This black and white picture of downtown Chicago features a few of the famous Chicago bridges. CDOT designs, builds and maintains the structures that are a critical part of the city’s transportation network through its Capital Bridge and Bridge Maintenance Programs. You’re walking on one of five different types of movable bridges found in Chicago. There’s a total of 52 movable bridges within the city limits and 43 are still operable.The first trunnion bascule bridge in the country opened in 1902 over the north branch of the Chicago River at Cortland Street. In the years that followed, there was much trial and error as new styles were designed. A flood in 1849 swept away a number of floating bridges and drawbridges proved to be too narrow to accommodate the influx of people traveling through the rapidly growing city.After 1910, involvement from the Chicago Plan Commission and architect Edward Bennett improved the bridges’ architectural elements, including bridge houses.
How and why did Chicago become home to so many movable bridges?What is it that made these bridges so unique to Chicago and so necessary to perfect?
By 1857, when the swing bridge was being introduced, the population had grown to 90,000. CDOT is responsible for more than 300 bridge and viaduct structures, including 37 operable movable bridges along the Chicago and Calumet rivers. A flood in 1849 swept away a number of floating bridges and drawbridges proved to be too narrow to accommodate the influx of people traveling thro…
The city build its first drawbridge in 1834 with a modest timber structure and chain lifts—picture any bridge you would see above a Medieval castle moat. CHICAGO (CBS)– The city is reopening to traffic. In 1863, the Rush Street bridge actually collapsed under the weight of a herd of cattle being driven over it, further proving that the bridges were unstable and impractical. A vertical lift bridge is pulled up and down from counterweights in two tall towers on either side of it. A map and photographs of all 29 regularly operated bridges is at this The earliest movable bridge in Chicago was a drawbridge at Dearborn Street built in 1834. In the years that followed, there was much trial and error as new styles were designed.