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Key Facts |
Bridge Name | Type | Road | Location | City | Crossing |
|
Grand Avenue Bridge |
Bascule (Truss) |
Grand Avenue |
Cook County, IL |
Chicago |
Chicago River North Branch |
This is among the older of Chicago's bridges with a 1913 construction date, and as HABS HAER mentions, is the second bridge design that the city explored. Unlike the Cortland Street Bridge, their is no gear rack visible on the top chord of the truss as you approach it. Rather, it is located on the inside of the top chord. It also is a pony truss rather than a through truss. It it an interesting comparison to the newer Franklin Street Bridge, which was built in 1920. You can see that the Grand Avenue Bridge's trusses have a simpler, more clunky appearance than the smooth curve seen on Franklin Street.
Local contractors built the Grand Avenue Bridge. The truss superstructure was built in 1913 by the Strobel Steel Construction Company, and the substructure was built by the Fitzsimons and Connell Dredge and Dock Company, both of Chicago.
I noted two odd things about this bridge, that anyone can feel free to contact me and explain. First, this object is a wheel-like piece of steel which looked like it could be just a decorative element bearing testimony to the close attention paid to improving the aesthetic quality of bridges. Does this perhaps serve a purpose beyond that? Second are the latticed towers at the end of the bridge as shown here. Were these for electric trolleys, or just to hold signs?
Be sure to check out HABS HAER's page, as it includes some photos of the inside mechanics of this bridge.
