Rating:
2 votes

Fondulac Drive Bridge

Tazewell County, Illinois

Photos 

Zoomed-in view looking south

Photo taken by Jacob P. Bernard in December 2010

Enlarge

BH Photo #189498

Map 

Street Views 

Description 

This bridge is very unusual, as the southwest end of the bridge literally slants down to a lower ground. It is also unusual because a new ramp was later threaded between a bent and an abutment.

Fondulac Drive runs from southwest to northeast. Underneath it, I-74 runs from southeast to northwest here, even though it is signed east-west. This creates some confusion as to orientation of photos and Google street views. Just keep in mind that the lower end of the bridge is southwest, and that the new I-74 eastbound ramp is threaded between the southwest bent and the southwest abutment. There is no ramp between the northeast bent and northeast abutment - that ramp runs under the main span next to mainline I-74 West.

The 52.5 foot vertical clearance over mainline I-74 easily allowed these new ramps to be built at a higher elevation than mainline I-74.

Facts 

Overview
Warren deck truss bridge over I-74 on Fondulac Drive in East Peoria
Location
East Peoria, Tazewell County, Illinois
Status
Open to traffic
History
Built 1958, rehabilitated in 1997
Builders
- Illinois Highway Department
- Ralph C. Hahn
Design
Cantilevered Warren Deck truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 240.2 ft.
Total length: 420.0 ft.
Deck width: 28.9 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude
+40.66873, -89.57264   (decimal degrees)
40°40'07" N, 89°34'21" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
16/282546/4505166 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Peoria East
Average daily traffic (as of 2014)
800
Inventory numbers
IL 090-0089 (Illinois bridge number)
BH 47193 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection report (as of September 2017)
Overall condition: Fair
Superstructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 75.3 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com

Categories 

Built 1958 (368)
Built during 1950s (4,007)
Cantilevered (309)
Cantilevered truss (250)
Deck truss (1,924)
East Peoria, Illinois (13)
Have street view (28,892)
Illinois (4,929)
Illinois Highway Department (3)
Interstate 74 (5)
 Open (40,968)
Owned by state (16,553)
Ralph C. Hahn (2)
Riveted (2,507)
Span length 175-250 feet (2,058)
Tazewell County, Illinois (84)
Total length 250-500 feet (5,506)
Truss (35,407)
Warren deck truss (667)
Warren truss (6,998)

Update Log 

  • October 23, 2021: Updated by Roger Deschner: Added photos, builder, clarification of orientation in photos
  • December 4, 2018: New photo from Melissa Brand-Welch
  • December 1, 2010: Updated by Nathan Holth: Merged NBI Data.
  • December 1, 2010: Added by Jacob P. Bernard

Sources 

  • Jacob P. Bernard
  • Nathan Holth
  • Melissa Brand-Welch - melissabrandwelch [at] msn [dot] com
  • Roger Deschner - rogerdeschner [at] gmail [dot] com
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Comments 

Fondulac Drive Bridge
Posted October 23, 2021, by Roger Deschner (rogerdeschner [at] gmail [dot] com)

I have copied Ralph C. Hahn's great early images of this bridge, with annotation and probable dates, to "Photos". The color photo of the bridge under construction is especially interesting. It shows a worker riveting, and the bright red oxide metal primer. (Nathan - you can remove these pictures themselves from "Comments".)

Mr. Hahn was apparently one of the chief engineers for this project. These great photos and drawings were found by his stepson, John Becker.

Fon du Lac Drive Bridge Tazewell County Illinois
Posted October 3, 2021, by John_B (becker_jc at yahoo dot com)

Added seven images from the estate of Ralph C. Hahn P.E.

Fondulac Drive Bridge
Posted December 1, 2010, by Nathan Holth (form3 [at] historicbridges [dot] org)

This is a very nice bridge, especially to find on a freeway. Its inclined design reminds me of something you would find in Pennsylvania, not so much Illinois.