West Division Street Bridge, Spanning North Branch of Chicago River at West Div, Chicago, Cook County, IL

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Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey

4 drawings
11 b&w photos
14 data pages
1 photo caption pages

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TITLE:
West Division Street Bridge, Spanning North Branch of Chicago River at West Div, Chicago, Cook County, IL

CALL NUMBER:
HAER ILL, 16-CHIG, 162-

REPRODUCTION NUMBER:
[See Call Number]

MEDIUM:
Measured Drawing(s): 4 (24 x 36 in.)
Photo(s): 11 (5 x 7 in.)
Data Page(s): 13 plus cover page
Photo Caption Page(s): 1

DATE:
Documentation compiled after 1968.

CREATOR:
Historic American Engineering Record, creator

NOTE:
Survey number HAER IL-148

Unprocessed field note material exists for this structure (N667).

Building/structure dates: 1904 demolished

Significance: When Chicago became a major commercial and industrial center after the Civil War, the most common American drawbridge was the swing bridge, horizontally rotating on a center pier to open two navigation channels. The center pier, however, became a navigational hazard for the ever-larger craft of the late nineteenth century, especially on crowded, narrow waterways such as the Chicago River. During the late 1890s, Chicago City Engineer John Ericson initiated a planning study to find an alternative to the swing span. Finding inspiration in the 1894 Tower Bridge in London, England, the municipal engineering staff developed a new movable-bridge design. The type was known as a double-leaf bascule, French for "seesaw." Each movable leaf rotated vertically on a fixed, horizontal steel axle, or trunnion, leaving the entire river channel open for shipping. With the front of each leaf counterbalanced by weights at the rear, relatively small motors could open and close the span. Completed in 1904, the West Division Street Bridge was the fourth bascule based on the city's new design.

SUBJECTS:
ILLINOIS--Cook County--Chicago
bridges
bascule bridges
bridge construction

OTHER TITLE:
Division Street River Bridge

COLLECTION:
Historic American Engineering Record (Library of Congress)

REPOSITORY:
Library of Congress, Prints and Photograph Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

DIGID:
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.il0828

CONTENTS:
Photograph caption(s):
1. VIEW LOOKING AT WESTERN PIER SHOWING DECK SUPERSTRUCTURE: FROM SE RIVER PIER.
2. DETAIL OF GIRDER SUPPORT SHOE; FROM SE RIVER PIER LOOKING NORTH.
3. VIEW FROM INSIDE EAST COUNTERWEIGHT ROOM LOOKING EAST AT COUNTERWEIGHT.
4. VIEW FROM INSIDE EAST COUNTERWEIGHT ROOM LOOKING NW AT TRUNNION AND SUPPORT.
5. VIEW OF ANCHOR WITH LOWER BUFFER FROM EAST GEAR ROOM, LOOKING WEST.
6. VIEW OF GEAR DRIVE TRAIN FROM EAST GEAR ROOM LOOKING NORTH.
7. VIEW OF GEAR DRIVE TRAIN WITH LIMITING BAR FROM EAST GEAR ROOM LOOKING SE.
8. VIEW OF UPPER BUFFER WITH TRUNNIONS FROM SE. SIDEWALK LOOKING NW.
9. PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF WESTERN PORTAL LOOKING ESE FROM NW SIDEWALK.
10. PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF EAST SPAN AND HOUSE FROM SW LOOKING NE.
11. VIEW OF TRUNNION SUPERSTRUCTURE FROM SE SIDEWALK LOOKING NW.

CONTROL #:
IL0828

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