Wabash Avenue Bridge

Wabash Avenue Bridge
Wabash Avenue Bridge at night
Coordinates	41°53′17″N 87°37′37″W / 41.887924°N 87.626839°W / 41.887924; -87.626839Coordinates: 41°53′17″N 87°37′37″W / 41.887924°N 87.626839°W / 41.887924; -87.626839
Carries	Automobiles Pedestrians
Crosses	Chicago River
Locale	Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
Official name	Irv Kupcinet Bridge
Other name(s)	Wabash Avenue Bridge
Maintained by	Chicago Department of Transportation
ID number	000016605226647
Characteristics
Design	Double-leaf bascule bridge
Total length	345 feet (105 m)
Width	90 feet (27 m)
Longest span	232 feet (71 m)
No. of spans	3
Clearance below	22 feet (7 m)
History
Designer	Thomas Pihlfeldt
Opened	1930
Statistics
Daily traffic	5,800[1]
Location

The Wabash Avenue Bridge (officially, Irv Kupcinet Bridge) over the Chicago River was built in 1930. Standing west of the Michigan Avenue Bridge and east of Marina City, the bascule bridge connects the Near North Side with "The Loop" area.

The single-deck, double-leaf bascule bridge was designed by Thomas Pihlfeldt and built by the Ketler and Elliot Company.^[2] The American Institute of Steel Construction awarded it the "Most Beautiful" bridge in 1930.^[2]

The control houses for controlling bridge operations are on the northwest and southwest corners of the bridge. The control houses are identical in design. In 1961 the control houses were upgraded to allow single man operation. Electrical modernization also accompanied this upgrade. While the northern control house is no longer in use, it still stands.^[2]

See also[]

• List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Illinois

References[]

Wabash Avenue Bridge summer 1999 in a photo from the National Park Service

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wabash Avenue Bridge.

• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. IL-48, "Bascule Bridge, Wabash Avenue, Spanning Chicago River at North Wabash Avenue, Chicago, Cook County, IL"
• Google Earth Model