One of Chicago’s oldest bridges will soon become a memory.
As we reported earlier this year, the eastern Division Street Bridge is going to be torn down and replaced with a newer, and admittedly better, bridge. But that doesn’t mean the old bridge doesn’t deserve some appreciation.
It was built over a hundred years ago and its design was considered revolutionary at the time. As Chicago Architecture Blog contributor Patrick McBriarty describes it:
This first-generation Chicago-type bascule bridge, built in 1903, is slated for reemoval and replacemnet with a new four-lane fixed bridge by the Chicago Department of Transportation in 2014. This bridge most closely resembles the initial designs [that] City of Chicago engineers developed around the turns of the last century. It was the second Chicago-type drawbridge in the world to be completed.
Patrick made this video of the bridge as it stands now for posterity, showing many of its unique features.
