Wabash Avenue Bridge | |
---|---|
Wabash Avenue Bridge at night | |
Coordinates | 41°53′17″N87°37′37″W / 41.887924°N 87.626839°W |
Carries | Automobiles Pedestrians |
Crosses | Chicago River |
Locale | Chicago, Cook County, Illinois |
Official name | Irv Kupcinet Bridge |
Other name(s) | Wabash Avenue Bridge |
Maintained by | Chicago Department of Transportation |
ID number | 000016605226647 |
Characteristics | |
Design | Double-leaf bascule bridge |
Total length | 345 feet (105 m) |
Width | 90 feet (27 m) |
Longest span | 232 feet (71 m) |
No. of spans | 3 |
Clearance below | 22 feet (7 m) |
History | |
Designer | Thomas Pihlfeldt |
Opened | 1930 |
Statistics | |
Daily traffic | 5,800 [1] |
Location | |
![]() |
The Wabash Avenue Bridge (officially, Irv Kupcinet Bridge) over the Chicago River was built in 1930. Standing west of the Michigan Avenue Bridge and east of Marina City, the bascule bridge connects the Near North Side with "The Loop" area.
The single-deck, double-leaf bascule bridge was designed by Thomas Pihlfeldt and built by the Ketler and Elliot Company. [2] The American Institute of Steel Construction awarded it the "Most Beautiful" bridge in 1930. [2]
The control houses for controlling bridge operations are on the northwest and southwest corners of the bridge. The control houses are identical in design. In 1961 the control houses were upgraded to allow single man operation. Electrical modernization also accompanied this upgrade. While the northern control house is no longer in use, it still stands. [2]
The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of 156 miles (251 km) that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center. Though not especially long, the river is notable because it is one of the reasons for Chicago's geographic importance: the related Chicago Portage is a link between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River Basin, and ultimately the Gulf of Mexico.
Joseph Baermann Strauss was an American structural engineer who revolutionized the design of bascule bridges. He was the chief engineer of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California.
The Morrison Bridge is a bascule bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. Completed in 1958, it is the third bridge at approximately the same site to carry that name. It is one of the most heavily used bridges in Portland. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in November 2012.
The Broadway Bridge is a Rall-type bascule bridge spanning the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, United States, built in 1913. It was Portland's first bascule bridge, and it continues to hold the distinction of being the longest span of its bascule design type in the world. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in November 2012.
Goose Island is a 160 acre artificial island in Chicago, Illinois, formed by the North Branch of the Chicago River on the west and the North Branch Canal on the east. It is about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long and 0.5 miles (0.80 km) across at its widest point.
Downtown Chicago, Illinois, has some double-decked and a few triple-decked streets immediately north and south of the Main Branch and immediately east of the South Branch of the Chicago River. The most famous and longest of these is Wacker Drive, which replaced the South Water Street Market upon its 1926 completion. The resulting bi-level street has an upper-level riverfront boulevard, a lower-level roadway for commercial and through traffic, and a recreational walkway at water level.
The DuSable Bridge is a bascule bridge that carries Michigan Avenue across the main stem of the Chicago River in downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States. The bridge was proposed in the early 20th century as part of a plan to link Grant Park (downtown) and Lincoln Park (uptown) with a grand boulevard. Construction of the bridge started in 1918, it opened to traffic in 1920, and decorative work was completed in 1928. The bridge provides passage for vehicles and pedestrians on two levels. An example of a fixed trunnion bascule bridge, it may be raised to allow tall ships and boats to pass underneath. The bridge is included in the Michigan–Wacker Historic District and has been designated as a Chicago Landmark.
The North Avenue Bridge can refer to one of three bridges that has carried North Avenue over the North Branch of the Chicago River on the north side of Chicago, Illinois. A center-pier swing bridge built in 1877 was replaced in 1907 by a bascule bridge, allowing river traffic more room for maneuvering in and out of the North Canal, just north of Goose Island.
The Franklin–Orleans Street Bridge, commonly known as the Franklin Street Bridge, is a bascule bridge over the Chicago River, in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It was built in October 1920, and is located directly southwest of the Merchandise Mart. Connecting the Near North Side with "The Loop," is at the junction of the branches of the river, lying directly west of the Wells Street Bridge. It carries four lanes of traffic in the northbound direction, and sidewalks are available on both sides of the bridge.
The Wells Street Bridge is a bascule bridge over the Chicago River, in downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States, which was built in 1922. Standing east of the Franklin Street Bridge and southeast of the Merchandise Mart, the bridge connects the Near North Side with "The Loop". The bridge is double-decked, the lower deck carrying three lanes of traffic south over the river with sidewalks on both sides of the street. The upper deck serves as a bridge for the Chicago Transit Authority's Brown and Purple lines. Bridge tenders' houses for controlling the bridge are on the northwest and southeast corners of the bridge.
The Cortland Street Drawbridge over the Chicago River is the original Chicago-style fixed-trunnion bascule bridge, designed by John Ericson and Edward Wilmann. When it opened in 1902, on Chicago's north side, it was the first such bridge built in the United States. The bridge was a major advance in American movable bridge engineering, and was the prototype for over 50 additional bridges in Chicago alone. The bridge was designated as an ASCE Civil Engineering Landmark in 1981, and a Chicago Landmark in 1991.
The Chicago and North Western Railway's Kinzie Street railroad bridge is a single leaf bascule bridge across the north branch of the Chicago River in downtown Chicago, Illinois. At the time of its opening in 1908 it was the world's longest and heaviest bascule bridge. The previous bridges on the same site included a pedestrian span that was the first bridge across the Chicago River; a second bridge that served as Chicago's first railroad bridge; and a third bridge that was one of the first all-steel spans in the United States.
The University Avenue Bridge is a double-leaf bascule bridge crossing the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The four-lane bridge links University Avenue in West Philadelphia with South 34th Street in the Grays Ferry section of South Philadelphia. It measures 536 feet (163 m) long, 100 feet (30 m) wide, and clears the water by 30 feet (9.1 m).
The West Jefferson Avenue–Rouge River Bridge is a historic double-leaf bascule bridge in Wayne County, Michigan, at the border of the cities of Detroit and River Rouge. The bridge carries Jefferson Avenue, a major thoroughfare in Southwest Detroit, over the River Rouge, an important inland route for lake freighters. The bridge was built in 1922, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
The St. Charles Air Line Bridge is a Strauss Trunnion bascule bridge which spans the Chicago River in Chicago, Illinois.
The La Salle Street Bridge is a single-deck double-leaf trunnion bascule bridge spanning the main stem of the Chicago River in Chicago, Illinois, that connects the Near North Side with the Loop area. It was constructed in 1928 at a cost of $2,500,000 by the Strobel Steel Constructing Company.
The Outer Drive Bridge, also known as the Link Bridge, is a double-deck bascule bridge carrying DuSable Lake Shore Drive across the Chicago River in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Construction was started in 1929 and was completed in 1937 as one of the Public Works Administration's infrastructure projects in Chicago. The bridge is officially named the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Bridge in 1982 to honor the centennial anniversary of the birth of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It was planned by the Chicago Plan Commission, using Hugh E. Young as the consulting engineer, was designed by the Strauss Engineering Company, built by the American Bridge Company, and erected by Ketler and Elliot Company. It crosses near the mouth of the Chicago River.
Collins Engineers, Inc. is an ENR Top 500 Design Firm and provides water resources, waterfront, program management and underwater engineering services to government agencies, contractors, and private sector clients. The firm was founded by Thomas J. Collins in April 1979. It is a privately held company with eighteen offices in the United States, United Kingdom, and Ireland. Collins Engineers, Inc. is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Collins Engineers, Inc. was an early advocate for the use of professional engineers as diving inspectors in the evaluation of underwater structures. The firm provides underwater engineering services performed by in-house engineer-divers around the world to clients including the United States Navy and state departments of transportation. Reference manuals were developed on the subject for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and National Highway Institute (NHI).
In 2006, Collins Engineers, Inc. acquired MacIntosh Engineering and Development Co. located in Auburn, California. In 2008, Collins Engineers, Inc. acquired Charles Keim & Associates, Inc. located in Boulder, Colorado.
Eighth Street Bridge is a road bridge over the Passaic River in northeastern New Jersey, United States. It connects the City of Passaic in Passaic County with the Borough of Wallington in Bergen County and is jointly owned by both counties. The bridge connects Eighth Street in Passaic with County Route 507 in Wallington.