UP Mound Avenue Bridge (Racine)

Located in Racine, this steel stringer bridge carries the former Chicago & North Western Railway mainline over Mound Avenue. Prior to the construction of this bridge, Mound Avenue and Maple Street came to an unusual intersection, and crossed the railroad at a grade crossing. In the early 20th Century, the City of Racine began working with the C&NW to construct a subway at this location to eliminate the dangerous grade crossing. After years of negotiations, a subway would finally be constructed in 1915. Currently, the bridge consists of a double track trough floor steel stringer bridge, composed of two 22-foot and two 11-foot spans. The bridge is set onto concrete abutments and steel bent piers. In addition, the bridge runs at a heavy skew, and the beams are not continuous through the structure. The superstructure consists of a typical trough floor span, with longitudinal beams forming channels. These channels are filled with concrete, asphalt cement and ballast to give the structure strength. The abutments are composed of typical concrete structures, with stepped wing walls extending perpendicular to the track. The piers are composed of steel columns, connected by a transverse plate girder and supported by concrete footings. American Bridge Company fabricated the superstructure and bents, while an unknown contractor constructed the concrete substructures. Trough floor stringer spans were popular in the early 20th Century, as they were durable, easy to construct and met requirements for grade separations. Since the initial construction, the bridge has seen few alterations. While the bridge was constructed for two tracks, only the eastern track remains in service today. Overall, the bridge appears to be in fair condition, with no significant deterioration noted. The author has ranked this bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design.