BNSF Stephen Street Bridge (Lemont)

Located in Lemont, this through plate girder bridge carries the former Santa Fe over Stephen Street. Between 1898 and 1900, the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal was constructed nearby, and the Santa Fe would realign the tracks to accommodate a new bridge over the canal. During the first years of the 20th Century, the Chicago Sanitary District and the Santa Fe negotiated constructing an underpass at Stephen Street, with the Sanitary District taking the lead on the project. An agreement was reached in 1903, where the Sanitary District would furnish a plate girder span, and the Santa Fe would install and maintain the span. Work on the bridge would be completed in 1904, and the bridge has remained largely unaltered since.

The bridge consists of an 80-foot through plate girder span, set onto concrete abutments. The girder span was originally fabricated in 1898 by the Detroit Bridge & Iron Works, but was extensively reconstructed to accommodate a skew prior to being installed here. The girder was originally intended to be a fixed span for the Panhandle Bridge across the canal in Chicago, but was unneeded after the design was revised. An additional identical span was reused at Kedzie Avenue in Chicago for the Illinois Central Railroad. The girder uses a typical design, including a traditionally composed floor and square ends. This design of bridge was commonly used by railroads throughout the United States, as it was durable and easy to construct. Overall, the bridge appears to be in fair to good condition, with no significant deterioration noted. The author has ranked the bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design.