There is a Norfolk Southern Railroad Bridge over the Little Calumet River in Calumet City, Illinois.  It is located 9.5 miles from the entrance of the Calumet Harbor.  It is between the T.J. O’Brien Lock and dam and the Bishop Ford Steel Bridge.  

     This bridge is a Warren through Truss bridge.  It is 300feet in length. It is currently open.

 

     This is a vertical lift railroad bridge over the Calumet River System.  It is 6.8 miles from the entrance of the Calumet Harbor. It lies between the 106th Street Traffic Bridge and the Torrence Avenue traffic Bridge. 

     This is a tower driven vertical lift bridge. Spans are suspended between 210 feet towers. Towers are supported by concrete piers.    Lift is 125 feet. Span is raised and lowered by an elaborate system of cables and pulleys.  It was built and fabricated by the American Bridge Company and Corbett Construction Company. Bridge is no longer operation also. It was built in 1967-8. Architect was James Peterson. 

     Prior bridge at this site was an early Strauss bascule type.  It was a single leaf truss.  It was built in 1910.

     The Chicago and Western Indiana Rail Bridge is the elevated span.  The Torrence Avenue traffic bridge is the lower span.

 

The Thomas J. O’Brien Lock and Dam is the uppermost one on the Illinois Waterway. It is located 7 miles from Lake Michigan. It is positioned between the 130th Street Railroad Bridge and the Norfolk Southern Little Calumet Railroad Bridge.

The lock was designed by the Army Corps of Engineers.  It was constructed from 1957 to 1960.  It was opened in 1965. The main purpose of the lock is to regulate the flow of water from Lake Michigan into the Illinois Waterway.  It has a lift of three to four feet.  The lock measures 1000 X 110 feet.  

     The lock was named after Thomas J. O’Brien a long time Democratic congressman from the Chicago area.

 

     The current bridge is a polygonal Warren through truss with riveted connections  over the little Calumet River.  It was built in 1966.  It crosses the river between the 130th Street Traffic Bridge and and the T.J. O’Brien Lock.

  Open deck plate girders provide an approach to the structure.  It rests on concrete piers.    Main span is 273 feet. Structure length 431 feet.    The bridge is used by the South Shore Line. 

     Previous bridge was a lost Through  truss bridge over the Calumet River.  It was built in 1908 by the American Bridge Company.  It was taken down in 1966

  

    This is a traffic bridge on the little Calumet River.  It is located approximately 7.9 miles from the entrance to the Calumet Harbor.  It is located between the Norfolk Southern RR Bridge and the 130th Street Railroad Bridge.

     It is a subdivided polygonal through Truss.  It is a unique bridge of this type in the Chicago area.   It is a fixed bridge.  Its main span is 230 feet.  The structure length is 369 feet. The roadway width is 44 feet.  There is one main spam and two approach spans. It was built in 1949.  Stephen J. Michude  was the Chicago Bridge and Viaduct Engineer

     The bridge is currently open.

     Inspection as of 10/2011.

     Superstructure was 6 out of 9. Superstructure

    Substructure was 4 out of 9. Poor

     Overall appraisal deficient

This is a  lift railroad bridge on the Calumet River system approximately 7.2 miles from the entrance of the Calumet Harbor.  It is located between the Torrence Avenue traffic Vertical Lift Bridge and the 130th Street Traffic Bridge.

This is a vertical lift bridge.  It has bolted connections but riveted built up beams.  The design is Warren Truss.  There is one main span and 2 approach spans.   Main span length is 320 feet.    Apparently it can only be photographed from the water.  It is listed as open.   It was previously owned by the Nickel Plate RR.  Current owner is Norfolk Southern.

It was built by the American Bridge Company in 1971.  Previously, there was a swing bridge at the location.

 

 

 

 

These bridges are owned by the Norfolk and Southern Railroad.   They are located on the Calumet River 3.0 miles from the entrance of the Calumet Harbor.  They are located between the 95th street bridge and the I 90 Skyway Bridge.

Visible from the Stevenson Expressway near Ashland Avenue is an unusual looking bridge.  This was called the Chicago and Alton Railroad Bridge.  It spans the south branch of the Chicago River.

The first bridge at this site was a bob tail swing bridge built in the 1880’s.  The current bridge was a replacement for this.  It was jointly used by the Chicago and Alton Railroad, Illinois Central Railroad, and the Santa Fe Railroad.  Construction began in 1905 and was completed in 1906.  John Page of Page and Schnable designed the bridge and later patented it.  It is a rare Page bascule structure.  In this design, the counter weight  is  built into the approach system.  The steel in this structure came from the Lassig Plant in Chicago.  The main span  is  a single leaf Page bascule.  The superstructure  is  riveted steel Warren through truss.  It  is 150 feet in length.   The approach span is riveted steel plate girder.  It was 64 feet in length.  The bridge rests on concrete abutments.   The roadway width is 34.3 feet.    The bridge tender house is at the north approach.

American Bridge company was the superstructure contractor.  The bridge was erected by Kelly Atkinson Construction Company.  Substructure contractor was Thomas Phee Company was the substructure contractor.  Electric contractor was G.P. Nichols and Brother of Chicago.

The bridge in currently not operational.  It is currently used by Metra, CN and Amtrak.

Photos added 5/7/18