Monday, June 14, 2021

Ashland Ave. and Webster Ave. Bridges

After taking pictures of these bridges I decided to combine their post since they are so close together.
Ashland: (Bridge HunterHistoric BridgesStreet View3D Satellite)
Webster: (Bridge Hunter, Historic Bridges3D Satellite)

I'm standing with my back against a building and using my widest angle, 18mm, to try to get both bridges in the frame. I'm looking northeast and Ashland is on the left and Webster is on the right. In my viewfinder, I think I had included the south truss of the Webster bridge. Still, this picture catches the first generation pony truss of Webster with its angular trusses and the second generation design in Ashland with the smoothly curved trusses.
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Another overview shot to provide context. This is a photo of the Ashland Bridge from the Webster Bridge.


Webster Bridge

This shows the pony truss design that Chicago used. By putting part of the truss above the road deck, it increases the clearance under the bridge. The raised truss also forms a substantial barrier between the roadway and the sidewalks.

Old West Town posted
Webster bridge, looking south. The Gutmann Leather Tannery seen on left. That place smelled like... yeah. (c. 1916)

Street View, Jul 2017





I have no idea why the camera screwed up the exposure on this one. The sun is behind me. But you can still see where the trunnions are at the bottom of the truss work in the abutment.

Another shot of the trunnion location and of the angular joints the first generation Chicago bridge design.

safe_image for Webster Avenue Bridge Connecting Bucktown And Lincoln Park Reopens After Extensive Rehab
“Built in 1916, the Webster bridge is “a classic example of Chicago-style double-leaf trunnion bridges with pony trusses that were built by the city in the first two decades of the 20th century,” according to the city. It has not been opened for the passage of boats since the ’60s, and it was last rehabilitated in 1967.”



Ashland Bridge

MWRD posted
A view to the northeast showing the nearly complete Ashland Avenue bridge over the South Branch of the Chicago River on October 6, 1902. The bridge was built by the Sanitary District (now MWRD) and was open to traffic in January 1903.

The Strauss trunnion bridge in the background is the UP/C&NW Deering Bridge.











A position meter to show how far open the bridge is.








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