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

 

The 95th Street traffic bridge over the Calumet River is 2.8 miles from the entrance of Calumet Harbor.    It lies between the Ewing Avenue traffic bridge and the Norfolk Southern Railroad Bridge.  The current bridge is the third one at this site.

The first bridge was built in 1891.  It was a hand operated Howe truss swing bridge.   It was constructed by the Chicago Forge and Bolt Company.  In 1899, the bridge split in two falling into the river blocking navigation.

The second bridge was built in 1903.  It was described as a fixed trunion bascule bridge.  It was built by Roemheld and Gallery.  Its dimension were 319.5 feet long and 60 feet wide.  This bridge was operational for 50 years.

Planning for the current bridge began in the early 1950’s.  Construction began in 1955.  It was operational on 6/271958.  This is a six lane bridge.  Clearance between the river and the bridge is 21 feet.

The bridge design is pony truss bascule.  The builder of the bridge was Overland Construction Company.  Engineer/Design was the city of Chicago.   Main span length is 239 feet.  Structure length  is 343 feet.  Roadway width is 62 feet.

Inspection as of 10/2011 is as follows.   Deck condition 6 out of 9 Satisfactory.  Superstructure 4 out of 9 Poor.  Substructure 5 out of 9  Fair.  Overall appraisal structurally deficient.

An interesting fact about this bridge is that it was featured in a film sequence of the Blues Brothers.

 

2.5 miles from the entrance of the Calumet Harbor is the Ewing Avenue traffic bridge.  The original bridge at this site was built in the 1890’s.  It was a hand operated iron swing bridge.  Its dimensions were 200 X 34 feet.   When the decision was made to replace this bridge, it was moved to a slightly different location to serve as a temporary structure to maintain traffic in this area.

The current bridge was built in 1914.  It was rehabbed in 1992 and 2013.  The superstructure was built by Ketler-Elliot Erection Company.  Substructure was built by Byrne Brothers.  The bridge design was a pony truss double leaf bascule.    This is an unusual structure on the Calumet River.  Other unique features include concrete counter weights and creosoted wooden deck.  Parts of the steel were from the Cambria Company.

The largest span measures 228 feet.   Total structure length is 337.8 feet.  Deck width is 36 feet.

Last bridge rating was:  Deck 7 out of 9  Good;  Superstructure 4 out of 9  Poor; Substructure 6 out of 9 Satisfactory.  Overall appraisal Structurally deficient .

As seen in the above photos, the bridge is currently in an opened position due to ongoing maintenance work.