| Address | Chicago & Alton Rwy. Bridge, near Ashland & Archer Aves.; Chicago & Illinois Western Rwy. Bridge, near 33rd St. & Kedzie Ave.; Chicago & North Western Rwy. Bridge, near Kinzie Ave. & Canal St.; Chicago & Western Indiana RR Bridge, near 126th St. & Torrence Ave.; Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Rwy. Bridge No. Z-2, near Cherry St. & North Ave.; Illinois Central RR Swing Bridge (No. 1), near Stevenson Exp.& Kedzie Ave.; (No. 2), near 35th St. between Pulaski & Lawndale Aves.; Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Rwy. Bridge s (pair), near Chicago Skyway & 98th St.; Pennsylvania RR “Eight Track” Bridge, near 31st St. & Western Ave.; Pennsylvania RR Bridge, near 19th & Lumber Sts.; St. Charles Air Line Bridge, near 16th & Lumber Sts. |
|---|---|
| Built | Not stated |
| Architect | Not stated |
| Status | Designated Chicago Landmark |
| Designation Date | December 12, 2007 (Final)City Council Journal of the Proceedings, p. 17256 |
| Type | Bridge |
Direct quotes from the Chicago Landmark Designation Report
“The Historic Chicago Railroad Bridges represent several important patented types of moveable bridges and demonstrate the innovative bridge designs developed in the Chicago in the 1890s. The Historic Chicago Railroad Bridges include several early movable bridges that are rare-surviving examples of the first of two types of significant bascule bridges to be erected in Chicago.”
“Since the first railroad tracks were laid in 1848, Chicago gained the reputation as a commercial giant credited with fueling westward expansion via the rails. Quickly the city became the nation's railroad hub with a vast network of tracks responsible for transporting goods and passengers throughout the United States.”
“The Historic Chicago Railroad Bridges exemplify early innovative bridge designs created by prominent designers and demonstrate the evolution of moveable bridge design in Chicago that would ultimately establish the city as the leader in the field of bascule bridge design in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.”
“An ensemble of rare-surviving early bascule bridge designs are situated along the North and South Branches of the Chicago River and the Canal. With names that are almost as unique as their designs, these innovative bascule bridges include: a “bob-tail" swing bridge on the Near North Side, two excellent early “Strausstype" bridges in the North Loop and the Near South Side, a “Page”-designed bridge in Bridgeport, a “Rall” roller bascule in South Lawndale, and the visually striking “Eight-Track” bascule bridge spanning the canal on the Lower West Side.”
“On a daily basis fifty-eight passenger trains and thirty-eight freight trains rolled into the city everyday. By 1857, over 3,000 miles of railroad track led to Chicago, making it the center of the largest railway network in the world at that time.”
“This early movable bridge was the first of two types of bascule bridges to be erected in Chicago, and it was an important predecessor to the “Chicago-type" trunnion bascule bridges that today are a familiar sight along the Chicago River and around the world.”
“Their collaboration resulted in some of the most acclaimed vertical-lift bridge designs nationally and internationally. Waddell and Harrington's vertical-lift bridges quickly became national renown as popular alternatives to the designs then available to railroads.”
“At the close of the nineteenth century and early in the first decades of the twentieth century, major feats of civil engineering, including the reversal of the flow of the Chicago River and the straightening of the river, greatly underscored the importance of railroad bridges to the city's interconnected river and rail network.”
“In addition, the bridge once carried limited vehicular traffic, making it perhaps the only surviving bridge in Chicago that served combined modes of transportation. Bridge No. Z-2 is a single-track bridge designed and erected by the Milwaukee Road railroad (owner of the CM & St.”