Chicago River Movable Bridges

The historic Chicago River was a key element in the rise of Chicago from a sleepy lakefront town to the metropolis and major transportation hub that it is today.

The river seems to be most widely known for being dyed green for the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade and is also known for having its direction reversed at the beginning of the 20th Century. The Chicago River flows backwards, away from its mouth at Lake Michigan, and the river is actually higher than the lake. A lock raises and lowers watercraft that enter and leave the river. Despite the St. Patrick's Day dye job, the river is naturally a greenish hue, caused by the clay that forms the river bed and natural algae growth. Some buildings along the river use similar green hues in their fasçades to pay homage to the river.

Looking south at the South Branch of the Chicago River. In this photo, you can see the Lake Street, Randolph Street, Washington Street, Madison Street, Monroe Street, Adams Street and Jackson Boulevard bridges. The Lake Street Bridge is a double deck bridge, the upper level carries the "L" Lake Street Division (Green Line) across the Chicago River. On the south and east sides of the river (on the left side) is Wacker Drive, itself one long bridge that follows the river. The tall building on the right is the Boeing World Headquarters, it occupies the air space rights above the odd-numbered tracks that lead to Union Station. A similar air space is on the south side of Union Station where the even-numbered tracks enter the station.

Hover over a bridge to see the name, click on the bridge to be taken to its page.

38 movable bridges span the river today, down from a high of 52 movable bridges that once crossed the north, south and main branches of the Chicago River. The bridges include trunion bascule, Scherzer rolling lift, swing bridges and vertical lift bridges.

The Main Branch of the Chicago River, looking east, toward Lake Michigan. The large building on the left is the Merchandise Mart. In this photo, you can see a portion of the Orleans/Franklin Street Bridge, the Wells Street, LaSalle Street, Clark Street, Dearborn and State Street bridges, and you can just see the south control tower of the Wabash Avenue (Irv Kupcinet Bridge.) From there, the river turns slightly north before resuming its eastward journey to Lake Michigan. Like the Lake Street Bridge, the Wells Street Bridge carries the L (Brown Line) across the Chicago River.

In 1853, an excursion boat called the SS Eastland capsized and rolled over at its mooring at the Clark Street Bridge. 844 souls perished in the disaster, most of the victims trapped below deck as the ship rolled over. A memorial marker is placed at the spot.

A 1908 railroad bridge, parallel to the Kinzie Street Bridge, is fixed in the open position, a Chicago historical landmark. The Galena & Chicago Union Railroad built a pontoon bridge at the location in 1852, the first railroad bridge to span the Chicago River. The original was replaced with a swing bridge that was too fragile, and it was replaced by another swing bridge in 1898. The Army Corps of Engineers ordered all the swing bridges in the North Branch removed to clear river navigation, so the current single-leaf, single track bascule bridge was built. The Galena & Chicago Union Railroad was the precusor of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway. (The C&NW carried the transcontinental railroad from Chicago to Council Bluffs, Iowa where it met up with the Union Pacific.) The bridge in question once carried tracks that served the Merchandise Mart, continuing below the massive building to Navy Pier. Long abandoned, the only freight carried by the bridge in recent years served the printing facilites of the Chicago Sun-Times until 2001.

No longer used, this bridge is a Chicago Historic Landmark and remains in place, fixed in the open position.

After the paper moved its printing operation, the line was abandoned and the bridge parked in a permanently open position. Because of the historical significance of the G&CU Railroad and the C&NW Railway in Chicago's development, the bridge was declared a Chicago landmark in 2007.

Wolf Point is one of the most valuable pieces of real estate in downtown Chicago. Several developments have been planned for this location, none have come to fruition. You can see four bridges in this photo, taken from the Lake Street Bridge. From the left, you can see the Kinzie Street Bridge, C&NW Bascule Bridge, Franklin-Orleans Street Bridge and Wacker Drive. Above Wacker Drive, you can just make out the truss of the Wells Street Bridge.