Halsted Street South Branch Bridge

Bridge Documented: August 12, 2006

Cities often choose to paint all their bridges the same color, likely because they think it looks the nicest when they all match. I personally like it however when a variety of paint colors are used in a city. It helps give each bridge an identity of its own, and helps highlight that at least with historic bridges, each one usually has something different of interest. For the most part, Chicago bridges are the same color based on region, with most being maroon/rust colored, with the exception of those on the Sanitary and Ship Canal where most are an off-white. There are a few pleasant exceptions, and this is one of those. This one actually has a variety of colors on it, but is mostly a lighter red color than the maroon seen on other Chicago bridges. One of a number of wide three-trussed four-lane bridges on the Sanitary and Ship Canal, this bridge appears to still operate.

 The substructure for this bridge was built by the Fitzsimmons and Connell Company of Chicago, who appears to have built most of the substructures for Chicago's bascule bridges. For most Chicago bridges, the superstructure was built by local contractors, or at least small contractors who are not well-known nationally. This bridge is an exception, with its superstructure being built by the Mount Vernon Bridge Company of Mount Vernon, Ohio. The Mount Vernon Bridge Company was one of the bridge companies that existed back during the height of the pin connected truss era, and built bridges like Michigan's Martin Road Bridge. The company apparently did not die out or get absorbed by the American Bridge Company during the turn of the 20th century, allowing it to make an appearance here in Chicago during the 1930s.