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Murray Baker Bridge

Peoria County, Illinois, and Tazewell County, Illinois
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Photos 

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View from a distance

This photo was taken by Jay Babin from behind the Wal-Mart
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Overview

These photos were taken April 2005 by Brent Freesmeyer just after the bridge was closed for rehabilitation
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Oblique view

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Construction work underneath

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West end

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Amputated truss

This photo taken by Nick Volk shows the truss amputation in progress. He writes, "I had the pleasure of working on the recent rehab of the bridge as the Resident Engineer for the Illinois Department of Transportation. As an FYI, this shortening of the truss is the first time something like this has ever been attempted."
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Construction scene

These photos from Jay Babin show the bridge after the west end was "amputated" to accommodate an upgraded interchange
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After the amputatation

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Overview of shortened bridge

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Close-up of new portal

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Main span

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Underneath main span

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View from riverfront park

After the original north approach span was demolished, it was replaced by a modern plate girder span.

Photo taken by Jacob P. Bernard in December 2010

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taken from Peoria riverfront

Photo taken by Kim Harvey in July 2010

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another angle taken from Peoria riverfront

Photo taken by Kim Harvey in July 2010

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Map 

Street Views 

View Uglybridges.com report

Facts 

Overview
Cantilevered through truss bridge over Illinois River on I-74 in Peoria
Location
Peoria, Peoria County, Illinois, and Tazewell County, Illinois
Status
Open to traffic
History
Built 1958; rehabilitated 1984 and 2005
Design
Cantilevered Warren through truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 600.0 ft.
Total length: 3,216.0 ft.
Deck width: 55.1 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 17.7 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude
+40.68889, -89.58367   (decimal degrees)
40°41'20" N, 89°35'01" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
16/281680/4507432 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map
Peoria East
Inventory numbers
IL 090-0001 (Illinois bridge number)
BH 15585 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection (as of 10/2010)
Deck condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Good (7 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 36.7 (out of 100)
Average daily traffic (as of 2009)
58,900

Categories 

Built 1958 (198)
Built during 1950s (2,252)
Cantilevered (234)
Cantilevered truss (214)
Flared (407)
Functionally obsolete (6,785)
Have street view (8,178)
Illinois (2,234)
Illinois River (46)
Navigable waterway (1,345)
Open (26,685)
 Owned by state (9,136)
Peoria County, Illinois (29)
Peoria, Illinois (12)
Span length 500-1000 feet (300)
Tazewell County, Illinois (31)
Through truss (8,514)
Total length over 2500 feet (525)
Truss (22,513)
Warren through truss (785)
Warren truss (3,554)

Update Log 

  • December 11, 2010: New photos from Kim Harvey
  • December 6, 2010: New Street View added by Jacob P. Bernard
  • December 1, 2010: New photo from Jacob P. Bernard
  • November 30, 2010: New Street View added by Jacob P. Bernard
  • April 12, 2010: New Street View added by Nathan Holth
  • March 13, 2006: Posted photo of the truss "amputation" from Nick Volk

Sources 

  • Jay Babin - jabab [at] yahoo [dot] com
  • Brent Freesmeyer - bcfreesmeyer [at] msn [dot] com
  • Nick Volk
  • Wikipedia
  • Nathan Holth
  • Jacob P. Bernard - jacob_bernard [at] yahoo [dot] com
  • Kim Harvey
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Comments 

Murray Baker Bridge
Posted September 10, 2010, by Todd D. Walker (mrwalk08 [at] aol [dot] com)

Getting out the dynamite solves nothing unless the bridge is unsavable. Pennsylvania, and in some cases Missouri, rabid UCEB roll really stinks. Reconfiguring a truss such as in the case with this bridge, I strongly agree, is the feasable thing to do. This truss is a very handsome bridge indeed.

Murray Baker Bridge
Posted September 9, 2010, by Ian Anderson (macsignals [at] gmail [dot] com)

We all know in PA this bridge would have been blown to pieces, then halfway through the construction of the new UCEB PennDOT would have run out of money or some other problem would have arose.

What was done here, literally chopping off a portion of the truss to accommodate a new interchange, has to be one of the most creative fixes ever, not to mention a good use of available money.

Murray Baker Bridge
Posted June 3, 2009, by Jon Burkholder (jonburkholder1770 [at] hotmail [dot] com)

Murray Baker was one of the founders of Caterpillar, the farm equipment company.

Murray Baker Bridge
Posted May 28, 2009, by Larry Baker (bake007 [at] comcast [dot] net)

Can someone tell me who Murray Baker was and why he has a bridge named after him???

Murray Baker Bridge
Posted March 21, 2006, by Dale Ross (drossque3 [at] aol [dot] com)

Hello,

I am trying to locate a nice picture of the Murray Baker Bridge. Do you have one in your archives? I would especially like one of the new rennovated bridge.

Thanks,

Dale