Damen Avenue Bridge

Photos

Photo taken by Steve Conro in March 2015

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BH Photo #320130

Map

Street View

Facts

Overview: Steel through arch bridge over N Branch Chicago River on North Damen Avenue
Location: Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
Status: Open to traffic
History: Built 1999
Design: Steel through arch
Dimensions: Span length: 313.0 ft.
Total length: 313.0 ft.
Deck width: 47.2 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude: +41.92806, -87.67806 (decimal degrees)
41°55'41" N, 87°40'41" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates: 16/443781/4642010 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:: Chicago Loop
Inventory numbers: IL 016-6527 (Illinois bridge number)
BH 58413 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection (as of 09/2011): Deck condition rating: Very Good (8 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Very Good (8 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Very Good (8 out of 9)
Appraisal: Functionally obsolete
Sufficiency rating: 76.0 (out of 100)
Average daily traffic (as of 2010): 13,400

Update Log

March 30, 2015: New photos from Steve Conro
October 13, 2013: Added by Steve Conro

Related Bridges

Damen Avenue Bridge (Old) (Successor)

Sources

Steve Conro - sconro [at] yahoo [dot] com

Comments

Damen Ave Bridge

Posted March 22, 2014, by James Baughn (webmaster [at] bridgehunter [dot] com)

Evidently the bridge over the rail yard was called the South Damen Viaduct: http://chicagohistorytoday.wordpress.com/2013/11/12/south-da...

I've added a page for it: http://bridgehunter.com/il/cook/bh60352/

Damen Ave Bridge

Posted March 22, 2014, by victor (vlbrunton [at] juno [dot] com)

Off topic (Not this specific bridge):

There used to be a rather long bridge on Damen Avenue, between Pershing Road and 47th Street (39 to 47 south), a sort of freeway connecting those two points. A rather large railroad yard lies between Pershing and 47th street, and the Damen Avenue Skyway, as I believe it was called, was the only way across the yard.

This bridge was built in the late 1960s, if I recall, and was demolished, never replaced, in the late 1990s. I do not have exact dates on either construction or demolition.

Somewhere in my archives are a handful of aerial photos of this bridge in process of demolition. If I can find them, I will forward them.

While this bridge was a typical "UCEB," it was still unusual in that Chicago had tried to connecting some neighborhoods, and it is a mystery to me why this project and bridge were abandoned.