Tag: bridge

Death Won’t Even Be Still

Seth Anderson0 comment

Death Won't Even Be Still

Lake Street Bridge, Christmas Day.

I processed this photo in my digital darkroom on April 11, 2020.

Gear:

Nikon D7000
35.0 mm
ƒ/1.8
35.0 mm
1/50 shutter speed
250 ISO

And of course Photoshop to emulate TRI-X 400 film, pushed a couple of stops.

Death does seem to be on everyone’s mind these days. I’ve been having weird dreams, I assume you are as well. I won’t bore you with mine, at the moment. We’ll see if the Stay At Home continues through summer, all the rules will be different…

Oh, and lyric magpied from Jeff Tweedy’s great song, New Madrid.

Come on, do what you did, roll me under New Madrid
Shake my baby and please bring her back
Cause death won’t even be still, caroms over the landfill
Buries us all in its broken back

Weary Of Remaining Upright was uploaded to Flickr

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Kinzie Street Bridge

embiggen by clicking
https://flic.kr/p/2hrcZeH

I took Weary Of Remaining Upright on October 20, 2017 at 04:44AM

and processed it in my digital darkroom on October 06, 2019 at 04:35PM

City nears takeover of North Side rail line, in move to create new public transit route

Seth Anderson0 comment

Cherry Avenue historical bridge

Chicago Tribune:

City nears takeover of North Side rail line, in move to create new public transit route.

Chicago is close to assuming control of abandoned railroad tracks that run through Goose Island, a key step toward creating a public transit route along the Chicago River on the city’s North Side.

On Wednesday, the City Council is expected to vote to take over rights to the Chicago Terminal Railroad line. The former freight train route could eventually become part of a transit way for buses or trains that the city wants to create from the edge of Lincoln Park and Bucktown to commuter trains at Ogilvie Transportation Center.

The route would boost public transportation options between downtown and an area of the North Side expected to see a dramatic influx of residents and office workers. The plan has the potential to reduce traffic and relieve crowding on the CTA’s Red, Blue and Brown Line trains.

A trip from Lincoln Yards — on land along the river between Webster and North avenues — to Ogilvie could take as little as 12 minutes under the preliminary plan, said Ald. Brian Hopkins, 2nd, whose ward includes much of the proposed transit route.

(click here to continue reading City nears takeover of North Side rail line, in move to create new public transit route – Chicago Tribune.)

Hmmm. More public transit options is more better, right? 

Cherry Ave Bridge

140 ton Counterweight, Cherry Ave Bridge

Maybe You Decided You Didn't Want To Carry That Weight

Chicago Avenue Bridge is For Sale

Seth Anderson0 comment

Chicago Avenue Bridge For Sale
Chicago Avenue Bridge For Sale

The funny thing is that this isn’t a joke! 

Loop North News reports:

 According to a public notice on the city’s website, the Chicago Avenue Bridge over the north branch of the Chicago River is available to anyone who will remove it at their expense, maintain it, and assume all financial responsibility.

 Otherwise, the bridge is expected to be demolished so that a non-movable concrete and steel bridge can be built.

The city is asking interested parties to send a letter by July 13 detailing means of funding, how the bridge will be moved, how quickly it will be moved, and where it will be moved to.

The current bridge at Chicago Avenue, a pony truss bascule bridge, opened to traffic in 1912, replacing a swing bridge that had been there since 1849. It was one of the first of the Chicago River bridges to have an operator house made of concrete and not wood. According to a 1911 report by Chicago Department of Public Works, the city intended to eventually build a subway under Chicago Avenue, and so the Chicago Avenue Bridge was specially designed to accommodate future construction of a double subway tunnel.

Today, with its rusted surfaces, broken lights, and loose wire, the bridge has suffered from lack of regular maintenance, according to Ward Miller, executive director of Preservation Chicago.

 

 

(click here to continue reading City offers Chicago Avenue Bridge free to good home – Loop North News.)

A shame that something engineered so well it lasted over 100 years is going to be discarded because the City has other priorities. 

Oxidized Infrastructure
Oxidized Infrastructure

Chicago Avenue Bridge
Chicago Avenue Bridge

The Days Fell On Their Knees
The Days Fell On Their Knees

Easier To Think
Easier To Think

Carter H Harrison Mayor marker Chicago Avenue Bridge
Carter H Harrison Mayor marker – Chicago Avenue Bridge (I think. Maybe Grand Ave?)

Our Desire To Believe in A Metaphor was uploaded to Flickr

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Kinzie St Bridge aka Chicago & Northwestern Railway Bridge

Located just north of the Loop, the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Bridge is an early example of an overhead counterweight bascule bridge based on the patents of Joseph Baermann Strauss. Strauss was a prominent engineer who later achieved fame as the designer of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. The Chicago & Northwestern Railway Bridge was reported to be the world’s longest and heaviest bridge of its type at the time of its completion. The single-leaf bridge is made from heavily-bolted steel girders and plates whose superstructure consists of a fixed tower and an overhead counterweight comprised of concrete, reinforced with a steel skeleton. The leaf’s axis of rotation, the main trunnion, is located about halfway up the tower and power is provided by a pinion which engages a rack on the operating strut to raise and lower the leaf. Today, the bridge is no longer in service, due to the rerouting of passenger traffic and dwindling freight traffic. It is locked in a raised position creating a massive steel silhouette familiar to residents of the Near North side and commuters on Brown Line and Metra trains.

via
http://webapps.cityofchicago.org/landmarksweb/web/landmarkdetails.htm?lanId=13091&counter=52

embiggen by clicking
http://flic.kr/p/Q2acgn

I took Our Desire To Believe in A Metaphor on April 25, 2014 at 01:22PM

and processed it in my digital darkroom on January 15, 2017 at 12:27PM

Born Already Ruined was uploaded to Flickr

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Cruising on Highway 41 (aka LSD)

embiggen by clicking
http://flic.kr/p/Nhb2Ed

I took Born Already Ruined on September 25, 2016 at 11:34AM

and processed it in my digital darkroom on November 23, 2016 at 09:22AM

You Cannot Truly Escape was uploaded to Flickr

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Cook County Forest Preserve somewhere

embiggen by clicking
http://flic.kr/p/DirBpQ

I took You Cannot Truly Escape on August 11, 2011 at 04:44AM

and processed it in my digital darkroom on February 02, 2016 at 01:28PM

Nearly Perfect Music was uploaded to Flickr

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Grand Avenue Bridge in the rain

embiggen by clicking
http://flic.kr/p/BwsDTK

I took Nearly Perfect Music on November 17, 2015 at 01:04PM

and processed it in my digital darkroom on November 29, 2015 at 04:59PM

Steam Rising Beneath Washington Bridge was uploaded to Flickr

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January, 2014

embiggen by clicking
http://flic.kr/p/yaHBnY

I took Steam Rising Beneath Washington Bridge on January 06, 2014 at 01:39PM

and processed it in my digital darkroom on September 04, 2015 at 04:10PM

Barges, River Thames was uploaded to Flickr

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added Lith Slenium/Gold tone in Photoshop

embiggen by clicking
http://flic.kr/p/vHtxpb

I took Barges, River Thames on August 06, 2010 at 09:19AM

and processed it in my digital darkroom on July 14, 2015 at 04:43PM

Reveal A Thing You’ve Forgotten was uploaded to Flickr

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North Avenue Bridge over the Chicago River

embiggen by clicking
http://flic.kr/p/uGKBfF

I took Reveal A Thing You’ve Forgotten on April 25, 2014 at 07:00PM

and processed it in my digital darkroom on June 15, 2015 at 06:39PM

The Gold Doesn’t Burn was uploaded to Flickr

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Franklin Bridge over the Chicago River

embiggen by clicking
http://flic.kr/p/szEei9

I took The Gold Doesn’t Burn on August 03, 2013 at 11:25PM

and processed it in my digital darkroom on May 14, 2015 at 11:28AM

Every False Thing Ends was uploaded to Flickr

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Franklin St. Bridge in the rain

embiggen by clicking
http://flic.kr/p/raHLho

I took Every False Thing Ends on December 22, 2014 at 03:32PM

and processed it in my digital darkroom on February 13, 2015 at 04:46PM

Replacement Of Division Street Bridge Begins Monday

Seth Anderson0 comment

Division Street Bridge in need of repair
Division Street Bridge in need of repair

Per Chuck Sudo of the Chicagoist, the Division Street Bridge lost its race to collapse before being repaired…

Starting Monday crews will begin demolishing Division Street Bridge near Goose Island. The city will be replacing the 111-year-old Bascule Bridge with an interim span while building a permanent Bascule replacement. The bridge was originally built in 1903 and has served as an integral link across Goose Island for cars, bikes, pedestrians and trains over the years, but currently isn’t wide enough to accommodate the size and flow of modern traffic. The Division Street Bridge is one of several Bascule bridges that made the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois’ 2013 list of the 10 most endangered historic places in the state.

(click here to continue reading Replacement Of Division Street Bridge Begins Monday: Chicagoist.)

Per Historic Bridges, this bridge was last rehabbed in 1992, but as these photos demonstrate, the bridge is a little rickety.

Somebody's Lunch
Somebody’s Lunch

Division Street Bridge
Division Street Bridge

Division Street Bridge
Division Street Bridge

Circumstantial Evidence - Panatomic X

Circumstantial Evidence – Panatomic X

Division Street Bridge is still Standing
Division Street Bridge is still Standing

String and Steel Melodies
String and Steel Melodies

More history:

Crossing the North Branch Chicago River Canal onto or off of Goose Island, this is one of the very first highway bascule bridges built in Chicago, constructed just a couple years after Cortland Street. Given the influence that Chicago’s development of the bascule bridge had on bridge construction nationwide, this prototypical example of a Chicago type trunnion bascule bridge is nationally significant and its preservation should be given a paramount level of priority.

 Roemheld & Gallery of Chicago were both the designers and builders of the bridge. This bridge is similar to bridges like Cortland Street, but it has one very unusual and distinctive characteristic which sets it aside from these other bridges. The overhead sway/portal bracing for this bridge is composed of simple plate steel with decorative designs on them that includes an upside-down “Y” design with a circle around it that is used in Chicago to refer to the three branches of the Chicago River. The symbol became an officially designated symbol appearing in Chicago’s municipal code as the “Municipal Device.” Easy to miss unless you are looking for it, the symbol can be found on buildings and structures throughout the city including on a few other bridges. This Division Street Bridge however is the only bridge in the entire city that includes this design in its overhead bracing. The bridge is different from the other early bascule bridges including the bascule bridge in sight of this one also on Division Street, which have a more intricate network of built-up sections of v-laced and latticed steel for bracing. The plates with the Municipal Device symbol on this bridge are an interesting and decorative element that adds a lot to the bridge.

(click here to continue reading Division Street North Branch Canal Bridge (Division Street Eastern Bridge) – HistoricBridges.org.)