Joliet, Illinois

The landmark bridges of Joliet are its six bascule highway bridges over the Des Plaines River, all built in the 1930s. Four of them are magnificent Scherzer Rolling Lift bridges, and the other two are Chicago-style trunion bascule bridges. The river has heavy boat traffic, so they open frequently, and when you visit you are likely to get to watch (or be inconvenienced by) the bridges being raised. The rolling lift bridges are satisfyingly noisy when they operate, and their big cable supports give them almost a whimsical appearance. The elongated city park on the west bank of the river is a great place to watch the boat and bridge action.

The five moveable bridges in the Downtown area, all have nearly identical, distinctive art-deco railings. This railing design has been replicated on newer sections of the city's riverwalk.

Joliet has other interesting bridges too, such as the CSX Railroad lift bridge over the Des Plaines River, and the BNSF Railroad bridge over the I&M Canal, a Baltimore truss which is so severely skewed that it has interesting optical illusions from most viewing angles. It's also home to the badly deteriorated I-80 bridge, which carries 10,000 semi trucks daily, and is scheduled for replacement.