Monday, April 27, 2020

Western Avenue Bridge over the 60' Cal Sag Channel

(Satellite, it used to connect Old Western Avenue)

Between 1911-22 a 60' Cal Sag Channel was dug to reverse the flow of the Calumet River. What we see today was the result of widening that channel in the 1960s.

MWRD posted
The original Western Avenue bridge over the Cal-Sag Channel on June 20, 1921, viewed looking north towards what is now Old Western Avenue in Blue Island.
MWRD posted, same comment

MWRD posted
Bridges over the Cal-Sag Channel on March 16, 1917, viewed looking north towards what is now Old Western Avenue in Blue Island, Illinois.

MWRD posted
Workers in action on the original Western Avenue Bridge over the Cal-Sag Channel on June 16, 1921, viewed looking north towards what is now Old Western Avenue in Blue Island, Illinois.

Dennis DeBruler commented on the MWRD post
This 1938 aerial shows that this bridge was west of the Rock Island bridge. In fact, an abutment for the Rock Island overpass is in the lower-right corner of the photo.
When they widened the channel to 120', they moved Western Avenue further east.
Satellite

Michael Brandt posted
A great areal shot of Western Ave in Blue Island going over the Cal Sag. A nice view of Old Western Ave too, I believe Jebens Hardware is also in the picture.
[And a nice view of the Metra/Rock Island Bridges.]


2 comments:

  1. Dennis,

    I'm confused; why are there TWO (road) bridges in the second photo?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, nevermind. This was likely a temporary span (to the left) which they built to allow reconstruction of the existing bridge over the new channel.

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