The current bridge over the Sanitary and Ship Canal has an interesting history.  It was built in 1940. It replaced a swing bridge built in 1900.    Bridge substructure contractor was M.J. McDermott and Company.  Superstructure contractor was Strobel Construction  Company.  It was a fixed plate girder bridge.  It was a ten lane bridge.   It offered a 21 foot clearance.

The clearance of the bridge was inadequate for the passage of newly constructed World War II naval ships from Great Lakes Shipyards to the Gulf of Mexico.  In 1942, the city of Chicago signed an agreement with the Naval Department.  The city agreed to convert the bridge from its current configuration to one of the largest vertical lift bridges at the time.  In a few short months, towers were added along with the machinery necessary to operate the bridge.  The bridge was operational April 5, 1943.   One interesting fact was that traffic on the bridge was not seriously affected during the conversion project.

 

Some time after the 1972 photo was taken the lift towers were removed and the bridge became a fixed one.

The bridge is metal through girder.  It is 295 feet in length.  The road way is 107 feet in width.  Length of maximum spam is 108.9 ft.   The deck width is 145.3 ft.  There are bilateral side walks measuring 9.5 feet.    It consists of one main span and two approach spans.   Vertical clearance is 22.0 feet.

Bridge inspection report as of 10/2011:  Deck condition rating  6 out of  9 Satisfactory. Superstructure rating 5 out of 9 Fair.    Substructure rating 5 out of 9  fair.