Volunteer Bridge
Looking southeast; note pedestrian bridge as rebuilt in 2010 is not level with original bridge deck.
Photo taken by Frank Hicks in February 2011
BH Photo #194169
Unless I am missing something, I am not buying that this bridge was built in 1907.
https://archive.org/details/sim_enr_1902-10-09_48_15/page/n2...
https://archive.org/details/sim_railway-age_1902-09-26_34_39...
The first article lists a 158'7" skewed through truss at Elgin, although the map on the previous page does not show this railroad crossing the C&NW at Elgin. Perhaps they meant the Elgin branch? Measuring the truss on Google Earth gives a very similar dimension. The second article lists a truss on the Elgin branch over the C&NW (likely this span), but the dimensions are off.
I suspect that this is the bridge the first article mentions, and the previous wooden bridge pictured (http://bridgehunter.com/il/du-page/bh76769/) was possibly a temporary bridge
Really nice restoration and re-purpose of this bridge. It is perfect for the path and is completely functional for path users. I used to walk the prairie path all the time to avoid walking down streets and this bridge was the last part when coming into Wheaton. Had it not been there, it would have meant inconvenient detours.
Thats an awesome rebuild they did! Keeping the original while tacking on a newer addition.
I visited this bridge in February. Photos 11, 18 and 19 all show some of the severe deterioration on this bridge. Fortunately the recent rehab should keep this bridge around for a bit.