IL-178 Bridges over Illinois River near North Utica, IL

1880+1907: (Bridge Hunter)

1962: (Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; see below for satellite)

2020: (Satellite (eventually))

Satellite

I learned from this video that a cantilever truss bridge was still standing close to where I live. But there are much better videos to watch such as this one.

In fact, I must have come real close to this bridge when I visited Starved Rock Lock and Dam. But a satellite image shows that I would have become frustrated trying to find a view that was not blocked by trees. It looks like other people were also frustrated by the treelines because there are very few elevation photos. Most elevation photos that I found were obviously done with either a boat or a drone.

The first bridge was built in 1880. It was totally rebuilt with a swing span in 1907 after a tornado destroyed three of the five spans. That bridge was replaced in 1962 by the cantilever truss bridge that was high enough it could use fixed spans. The center span was 378'. On Oct 7, 2020, traffic was switched to a $27.4m UCEB (Ugly Concrete Eyesore Bridge) and the cantilever truss was blown up in March 2021. [Bridge Hunters, IDOT] The anchor spans and the suspended span were 216' long. [HistoricBridges]

Steve Forbes posted two photos with the comment: "This is a picture of the old swing bride in Utica along with the bridge that was just replaced in Utica under construction. These pictures are from 1961 and 1962."

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Art Kistler, IDOT photographer, July 1962 via 1907 Bridge Hunter

Art Kistler, IDOT photographer, July 1962 via 1907 Bridge Hunter

Art Kistler, IDOT photographer, Oct 28, 1961, via 1907 Bridge Hunter

Art Kistler, IDOT photographer, July 1962 via 1907 Bridge Hunter

Daily News Tribune, La Salle, IL-Bicentennial Edition via 1907 Bridge Hunter

This IDOT video of the explosion starts with a decent elevation view of the bridge that clearly shows the suspended span. That is a lot of debris left in the navigation channel. I wonder how long it took to clean it up.

IDOT Video of Explosion

It appears that IDOT did yet another steel girder bridge design even though the contractor for the I-355 bridge over the Des Plaines Valley demonstrated that post-tensioned concrete girders are a cheaper method.

IDOT via RoadsBridges

This photo confirms that they used steel girders. As with other IDOT replacement bridges over the Illinois River, this bridge uses bent girders.

Phpto Courtesy of Scott Anderson via StarvedRockMedia

I chose a view that not only captures the truss members and joints, it captures the crane that is probably building the piers for the new bridge.

Street View, May 2018

Street View, May 2018