North Halsted Street Canal Bridge, Spanning North Branch Canal at North Halsted Street, Chicago, Cook County, IL

Significance: Spanning the North Branch Canal at North Halsted Street in Chicago, the North Halsted Street Bridge is a double-leaf, fixed-trunnion bascule with a rigidly attached, below-deck counterweight. Completed in 1908, the bridge embodies a design developed during 1899-1900 by the bridge division of the Chicago Department of Public Works, under the supervision of Chicago City Engineer John E. Ericson. The North Halsted Street Bridge was the eighth bascule of its type erected by the city. Its construction marked the end of the initial development period of the "Chicago Type Bascule." Subsequent bascules designed by the city introduced a number of technological refinements and displayed an aesthetic concern that was totally lacking in the North Halsted Street Bridge and its predecessors.
Survey number: HAER IL-160
Building/structure dates: 1908