UP Eisenhower Expressway Bridge

Located between Western Avenue and California Avenue, this through plate girder bridge carries the Union Pacific Rockwell Subdivision over Van Buren Street, Congress Parkway and Interstate 290 (Eisenhower Expressway). During the late 19th Century, railroad traffic within the City of Chicago posed a serious hazard to the general population. Starting in the mid-1890s, the City of Chicago passed a number of ordinances mandating the elevation of tracks within the city. An ordinance was passed on January 17th, 1897 requiring the elevation of the parallel Rockwell Line of the Chicago & North Western Railway (C&NW) and the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad (Pan Handle) between Roosevelt Road and Fulton Street. Construction began soon after, and was largely completed in 1897. Typical of early track elevations, this project used stone for retaining walls. This project was one of the first large scale track elevation projects in Chicago. Spans at Van Buren Street and Congress Parkway would be constructed, using a standard 70-foot through plate girder span, set onto stone abutments. An elevated electric railroad ("L") crossed above the line on a large truss span between the two streets.

In the early 1950s, construction began on the Eisenhower Expressway, which cut through the west side of Chicago. The spans across Van Buren Street and Congress Parkway would be connected by six steel stringer spans, including two of 68 feet, two of 53 feet and two of 43 feet. The new spans would utilize a ballast deck, and would be set onto concrete substructures. The north abutment of the Congress Parkway bridge and the south abutment of the Van Buren Street bridge would be reconstructed with concrete, and the "L" lowered and relocated to the median of the expressway. Like the reused through girder spans, the new bridge would be constructed for five tracks. Work on the structure was completed in 1952, giving the bridge its current configuration.

The 1897 spans are typical for early track elevation projects, consisting of a traditional floor constructed of stringers and floorbeams, covered by a sheet metal deck. In addition, the ends of the girders were rounded. Lassig Bridge & Iron Works fabricated the girders for this track elevation project, and the company fabricated numerous spans for the C&NW. This type of structure was initially popular for grade separations in Chicago, but fell out of favor as trough floor spans and concrete spans became more economical. The metal floor of this design of bridge was susceptible to pooling water, which would cause corrosion to the steel. In addition, the through girder design limited horizontal clearances on the bridge. The steel stringer spans utilize a typical design for expressways in Illinois, with a minimalist design and fascia girder. Overall, the bridge appears to be in fair to poor condition, with significant deterioration, such as section loss, noted on the through girder spans. The western track of the through girder spans has been removed, and the bridge now serves two tracks. The author has ranked this bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design.