Wells Street Bridge
Videos
Video Illustration of the Wells Street Bridge Reconstruction The Chicago Department of Transportation is rebuilding the 90-year-old Wells Street Bridge over the Chicago River. This video is an illustration of the work that will be performed in early March 2013 to replace a large section of the south leaf of the movable bridge. City of Chicago video posted to BridgeHunter by Roger Deschner | |
Wells St Bridge Reconstruction CDOT is rebuilding the historic Wells Street Bridge over the Chicago River. This video highlights the complicated engineering and construction work to replace the bridge sections that span over the water.
For more info visit cityofchicago.org/cdot City of Chicago video posted to BridgeHunter by Roger Deschner | |
Wells Street Bridge Movie Contractor's video showing construction of new south leaf at Bubbly Creek, floating it upstream to Wells Street, and the process of installing it to replace the old span. Nice shots of other bridges being raised to allow the barge carrying the new span to pass. 2 in 1 Contractors video posted to BridgeHunter by Roger Deschner |
Description
Double deck bascule bridge over Main Branch Chicago River carries Chicago Transit Authority Brown and Purple Line 'L' trains on its upper deck, and cars and pedestrians on its lower deck. Fixed warren pony truss approach span carries trains over the intersection of Wacker Drive and Wells Street at the bridge's south end.The bridge was originally built in the upright position, leaving the previous swing bridge in service during construction. Remarkably, when eventually lowered, everything fit.
This bridge is under major rehabilitation as of 2013, involving the replacement of the outer sections of each leaf. The new replacement sections have been carefully designed to be nearly identical in appearance to the originals, with identically-shaped gusset plates, even using built-up lattice members to match the originals. The videos here show the rehabilitation process in great detail. The entire project has been guided by the necessity of maintaining CTA 'L' traffic with minimum disruption, while allowing the bridge to be raised to allow river traffic to pass during construction, and still preserving the integrity of this crucial yet historic piece of infrastructure.
Facts
- Overview
- Bascule bridge over Main Branch Chicago River on N. Wells Street in Chicago
- Location
- Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
- Status
- Under major rehabilitation. Open to railroad traffic only. Closed to cars and pedestrians.
- History
- Built 1922, rehabilitated 2013
- Builders
- - Fitzsimons & Connell Dredge & Dock Co.
- Fort Pitt Bridge Co.
- Ketler & Elliot Co.
- Design
- Double-deck warren pony truss bascule bridge with one fixed warren pony truss approach span at south end
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 268.0 ft.
Total length: 345.0 ft.
Deck width: 38.0 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 12.4 ft.
- Recognition
- Eligible for the National Register of Historic Places
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +41.88806, -87.63361 (decimal degrees)
41°53'17" N, 87°38'01" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 16/447433/4637541 (zone/easting/northing)
- USGS topographic map
- Chicago Loop
- Inventory numbers
- IL 016-6054 (Illinois bridge number)
BH 15176 (Bridgehunter.com ID) - Inspection (as of 12/2010)
- Deck condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Serious (3 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Appraisal: Structurally deficient
Sufficiency rating: 19.0 (out of 100) - Average daily traffic (as of 2010)
- 4,900
Update Log
- April 7, 2013: Updated by Roger Deschner: Extensive revision reflecting current rehabilitation project
- September 30, 2012: New photos from Steve Conro
- May 14, 2010: New photos from J.R. Manning
- March 4, 2010: Updated by Robert Stephenson: Bridge design
Sources
- HAER IL-52 - Chicago River Bascule Bridge, Wells Street, Spanning South Branch Chicago River at North Wells Street, Chicago, Cook County, IL
- James Baughn - webmaster [at] bridgehunter [dot] com
- Robert Stephenson - seinfeld99 [at] yahoo [dot] com
- J.R. Manning - thekitchenguy [at] sbcglobal [dot] net
- Mike Roegner
- Steve Conro - sconro [at] yahoo [dot] com
- Roger Deschner
- Historicbridges.org - by Nathan Holth
Comments
Replacement of the outer section of the north leaf was completed on time this morning, and CTA trains resumed using its upper deck for this morning's rush hour. The Brown and Purple Line 'L' trains carry an estimated 77,000 passengers daily over this bridge. The lower deck remains under construction, and will be closed to cars and pedestrians until November.
Chicago Tribune article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-well-street-bridge-cta,0,4653495.story
Chicago Tribune photo gallery. Last photo is especially interesting, from 1921: http://galleries.apps.chicagotribune.com/chi-130228-wells-street-bridge-pictures/
The Wells Street Bridge will be closed to CTA rail traffic again for 10 days, starting after the evening rush hour on April 26, 2013, for replacement of the outer half of the north leaf with a fairly exact replica that was prefabricated off site at Bubbly Creek and floated here on a barge. Chicago Transit Authority web site: http://www.transitchicago.com/wellsbridge/
The outer half of the south leaf was already replaced several weeks ago.
And don't worry, Jack Wooten, this is a good historically sensitive rehab/restoration, not a demolition. When done, the only way you will be able to tell which are the new or old parts of the truss structure will be the use of bolts on the new sections instead of rivets. They're intending it to last another 90 years. Look at the videos and photos.
Any bridge fans who can make it to the Chicago Loop April 27-May 5 should come watch, and photograph, this remarkable project underway. The best vantage points will be along West Wacker Drive. Work will be underway 24 hours/day on a precise schedule.
I do not know your concerns on this bridge, but I truly feel someone some wherE suggested all truss bridges need to be destroyed, but if i can any help on finding a way to save the bridge I will help get you in contact with various contacts for support, does your area have a topic or discussion venue, any agency provide form for contact. just a couple of suggestion which I hope will help. I HAVE CONTACTED PRESERVATIONS SITES THEY MAY BE ABLE TO HELP, JUST DO NOT GIVE UP, I HAVE NOT GIVEN UP ON MARION MEMORIAL AT HALETOWN TN YET EVEN THOUGH THEY HAVE THIS BRIDGE READY TO HIT THE TN RIVER, HOPE THIS HELPS YOU MAYBE YOU ARE NOT AS BEHIND AS ME GOOD LUCK AND HERE IS HOPING YOU CAN SAVE THIS
BRIDGE. jackwooten372YAHOO.COM WILL TRY TO KEEP UP WITH
YOUR ENDEVOR. jackwooten 37@yahoo.com
FYI, I believe what the poster below refers to is only a particular stage in the heavy rehabilitation of this bridge. The overall project is longer in duration. My records indicate that expected completion for the entire project is November 2013.
The historic Wells Street Bridge is currently closed for one week for rehabilitation. CDOT and CTA hope to correct the "Serious" superstructure condition noted in the most recent inspection.
The timeline for this project is being kept as short as possible, because of the disruption to Downtown traffic and to the two extremely busy CTA "L" rail lines that run on the upper deck of the bridge. They also want to complete this project before the annual springtime migration of sailboats down the river into Lake Michigan, which will require the bridges to be lifted. While the bridge is closed, "L" passengers are being carried around it on shuttle buses and on (already crowded) Red Line trains. It is a major disruption, affecting the entire North Side of Chicago, because regardless of its historic quality, this bridge is a crucial link whose maintenance is vital.
Here's a photo from the CTA collection of the Wells street bridge being built. The trains are passing on the original swing bridge. The bascule bridge was built in the upright position straddling the swing bridge, and then lowered after the swing bridge was dismantled. And of course, upright for the bascule bridge doesn't mean 90 degrees upright. That a bridge could be built in that position and have everything fit once it's lowered I think is pretty amazing. The Lake Street bridge was built the same way.
Webmaster's note: The photo that was here has been incorporated into the main site.
Photo taken Sept. 7, 2007
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/il/cook/wells-street/