Calumet River Elgin, Joliet, and Eastern Railroad Bridge

Most Recent Visit To Bridge: August 11, 2006

Visit HABS HAER's Page For This Historic Bridge

Lacking lattice and v-lacing and other tell-tale signs of an old bridge, and instead having steel members with hole-shaped designed cut into them, this bridge looks like a bridge built somewhere between 1940 and the 1960s. Regardless, the bridge is still an attractive structure. The truss bridge part of the structure has an unusually shaped top chord which I find appealing. Speaking of different, I like the refreshingly different paint color on this bridge which is a bit lighter than the maroon that the city of Chicago feels all of its highway bridges must be painted. Even the Skyway Bridge was painted maroon! To find a railroad bridge with a color other than rust or black is equally difficult, so this bridge is interesting on that note. Anyhow, this bridge is the last bridge before you meet Lake Michigan, and so the bridge has a distinct gateway feel to it.

I am unsure why this bridge even has a HAER entry. While I like the bridge and personally feel it has historic value, HAER is usually rather conservative on what bridges they pick. They offer no discussion in their page as to why they placed the bridge in the database either.