| Address | Calumet River, N of 98th St & E of Chicago Skyway |
|---|---|
| Built | 1912-1915 |
| Architect | Waddell & Harrington; Dravo Contracting Co. (substructure) |
| Status | Designated Chicago Landmark |
| Designation Date | December 12, 2007 (Final) |
| Neighborhood | East Side |
| Type | Bridge |
| Landmark ID | L-240 |
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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“Located just south of 19th Street on the South Branch of the river, it was designed by engineers John Alexander Low Waddell and John Lyle Harrington. Considered to be the most innovative and influential designers of vertical-lift spans, Waddell and Harrington are credited with bringing the design of the important bridge type to maturity during their six-year partnership.”
“Not as frequently constructed as other patented bridges, the Page trunnion bascule (as it is often called) is significant for being the first of its kind erected for railroad use, and may be the only one of its kind in existence.”
“The “Annual Review of Commerce” published by the Chicago Tribune in 1850 announced, “The three great avenues of Chicago's commerce abroad are the Lakes, the Illinois & Michigan Canal, and the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad.” By 1852, just four years after its first run, the Galena would carry over half the wheat that arrived into the city.”