Wells Street Bridge To Close For One Year
By JoshMogerman in News on Jul 22, 2012 8:00PM
Figures in the public eye get some work done as they age. In Hollywood, its cliché. In Chicago, it’s a matter of public safety… To celebrate her 90th birthday, the Wells Street Bridge is getting more than just a facelift.
After a low rating in the National Bridge Inventory last year, the city’s second longest span will close to pedestrian and vehicle traffic for a full year starting this December while major structural repairs are made for the first time since the mid 1950’s. Purple and Brown line trains across the double-decker bridge will only be impacted with reduced schedules during weekends. Given the daily traffic impact, we hope the City has learned a thing or two from their recent big bridge repair projects that will keep the project moving along on time.
The Wells Street Bridge was a bit of a marvel when it was built (check out this laudatory clip from Engineering World in 1922). Daniel Burnham recognized the importance of connecting both sides of the commercial thoroughfare and called for the massive bridge in his Plan of Chicago to alleviate crossings at a troubling stretch of the Chicago River (the original pontoon bridge was swept away by an icy flood in 1849).
It is no surprise that a half century of heavy use has taken a toll. The City recognized the structural issues would need quick attention, highlighting the project in its ambitious transportation plan earlier in the year. Consider the multimillion dollar project, which will replace structural elements and includes some long-delayed aesthetic elements, a much-deserved gift to keep one of the city’s most photographed bits of infrastructure looking good (and safe) for decades to come. Ninety years later, it is still a wonder: