Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, Bridge No. Z-2, Spanning North Branch Canal at North Cherry Avenue, Chicago, Cook County, IL

Significance: The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway's Bridge No. Z-2 is not only one of a few remaining swing bridges in Chicago, but is also of a rare asymmetrical or "bob-tail" type. The pivot pier is on shore rather than at mid-channel, with the resulting asymmetric truss balanced by a concrete counterweight, an early use of that material on a movable bridge. Aligned with Cherry Avenue, the bridge once carried limited vehicular traffic in addition to freight trains, making it perhaps the only surviving bridge in Chicago that once served that combination of modes. The bridge was crucial to the development of Goose Island, carrying the only rail line serving the industries and freight yard there.

Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N645

Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N964

Survey number: HAER IL-143

Building/structure dates: 1901-1902 Initial Construction

railroad bridges swing bridges railroad companies transportation chicago milwaukee railway paul railway bridge north branch canal north cherry avenue cook county illinois canadian pacific railroad chicago department of transportation milwaukee and st paul railway chicago richard m daley eric n delony historic american engineering record s l kaderbek domagoj kranjcevic jet lowe justin m spivey thomas r walker wisconsin bridge and iron company photo ultra high resolution high resolution st paul saint paul library of congress

1901

Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/

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