Cortland Street Bridge

"West Clybourn Place Bridge"

Visit HABS HAER's Page For This Historic Bridge

Most Recent Visit To Bridge: August 12, 2006

Chicago is today known by bridge enthusiasts as the bascule bridge capital of the world, and this bridge is where much of that legacy started. The design of this bridge is that of trunnion style bascule bridge. This was in fact the first bridge ever built that lifted by rotating around a trunnion, (like a giant axel) to lift. This style was frequently used in Chicago after this bridge was built, giving this style the nickname "Chicago style" bascule bridge. Back in Port Huron, Michigan, I had the opportunity to tour the machinery of a 1930s trunnion bascule bridge. See that page for the photos of a trunnion.

The decorative treatments of the superstructure reflects the age of this bridge, which was built in 1901, and opened to traffic in 1902, resulting in some things that are reminiscent of the late 1800s pin connected truss bridges such as Morseville Bridge. Many of the other Chicago bascule bridges run from 1915-1930. The plaques on the bridge are not the simple square bronze plaques seen on other bridges in town; rather they are fancy shaped decorative plaques proudly mounted on the portal for all to see. The ornate finials placed at the middle of the span also show the additional attention given to the aesthetic design of the bridge. In contrast, the bridge-tender's tower is much more simple than the fancy stone towers seen in downtown, and is a simple wooden building.

This bridge's truss superstructure was built by the American Bridge Company, Lassig Plant. The American Bridge Company would have been a new company at the time. The Fitzsimons and Connell Company were the substructure contractors.

The bridge no longer raises for boats, which is all too obvious due to the i-beam that was bolted on the middle of the span to lock the bridge closed. This is a most unfortunate course of action. If it were me, I would maintain the mechanics and create a bascule bridge museum, and give people tours of the machinery, and raise the bridge so that people could see the interior mechanics work to raise the bridge. Since it is outside the downtown area the disruption to the flow of traffic would be less critical.

The truss superstructure of this bridge is in good condition, and like many Chicago bascule bridges features rivets that have been replaced with bolts on select portions of the bridge. Original railings appear to have been replaced by pole railings on the bridge itself, although beautiful ornate railings that feature lattice on the bottom and a gothic arch-like design above are present on the approaches, which likely were originally present all the way across the bridge. A plaque added to the bridge announces that the bridge was restored in 1997. The fact that this bridge was restored, despite the fact a movable bridge is no longer needed here, is excellent news, since the retaining this significant historic bridge, which is now over a century old, is very important. The city of Chicago clearly recognizes that these bascule bridges are important to making Chicago the interesting city it is today.