The Bridge is Up

The Columbus Bridge being raised, as viewed from Upper Columbus

Askew

Symmetry IV

North Avenue Bridge

Bridges

Scene from the el as it crosses over the Chicago River

Walking on Air

The North Avenue Bridge over Lake Shore Drive.

Traffic

Just a glimpse of a slow traffic day on the river.

The Old-Fashioned Way

I know a lot of cities have started using these new-fangled computer database thingies to track maintenance and repair projects. But the old-fashioned way seems to work just fine. ;)

High Bridge

Finally figured out that this bridge, part of the Chicago Skyway, is called High Bridge. What an original name.

Stand-Off

It was a stand-off. The traffic was stopped so the bridge could be raised so the Odyssey could sail up the Chicago River. But ...

The bridge wouldn't go up so the the Odyssey was stuck in place ... along with the traffic. I hope everyone involved at least noticed and enjoyed the pretty blue water (and the pretty blue sky) for a while why they were stuck.

Bridgehouse View

Cool view out of one of the round windows in the Southwest Tower of the Michigan Avenue Bridge (where the Bridgehouse Museum is located).

Looking Good for 90!

The Michigan Avenue Bridge is 90 years old today. Of course there was a celebration: cake and free admission to the Bridgehouse Museum (that I didn't know was there despite passing it many times).

These are the four bridge towers of the "old girl".

Clockwise from top left

Defense, Pioneers, Regeneration, Discoverers.

A Day Only a Boater Would Love

No, my camera lens does not need a good cleaning. ;)

This photo was one of the early bridge runs (when the Chicago Bridges are raised to allow the sailboats to get to the harbors from their winter storage homes) this year. However, since the

weather today looked almost exactly like this, I figured it was OK to post a slightly older (really only two weeks) photo.

Up Up and Away

OK this picture is from the middle of February. You can tell because it is sunny and the sky is blue. It has been rather gray and dreary the last few days.

This is the Kinzie Street Railroad Bridge. I have to admit that until I took this picture and was doing the research on this bridge, I thought it was being repaired because it always was in the raised position. I did think it was a little odd that the repair was taking so long (I first noticed this bridge last year). The bridge allowed railroad traffic over the Chicago River. The main user was the Chicago Sun-Times printing plant. After the printing facilities were relocated, there was no need for this railroad bridge, so it is permanently raised.

State Street Bridge

Although the bridges over the Chicago River are usually referred to by the street the bridge is on, most have more formal names. For example, the official name for the "State Street Bridge", which has these two decorative designs, is "The Bataan-Corregidor Memorial Bridge".


According to the plaque and Wikipedia, Philippine and American troops had held Bataan for 14 weeks until finally surrendering it to the Japanese on April 9, 1942. The U.S. and Filipino army recaptured the island in 1945.

Up Close

One of the Chicago River tour boats was passing under the Lake Shore Drive bridge just as I was walking over it. Couldn't resist taking a chance on a photo. I zoomed in a little too much - I thought the bridge was higher - and got quite the close-up.

Chicago Bridges

Here is another one of the art panels that line the Chicago Riverwalk. This one is about the Chicago Bridges. Apparently, after the Chicago Fire, the bridges were re-built as wooden swing bridges. The first iron bridge was built at Rush Street in 1856. It was destroyed by a cattle stampede (those were the wild early days of Chicago) in 1863 but re-built a year later.

Riverwalk Extension

I've previously posted a photo of the city's project to extend the riverwalk. This is the view of the work they're doing from Michigan Avenue to Wabash.

May Theme Day: Shadows

Today is Theme Day and the theme, chosen by vote, is Shadows. ( Click here to view thumbnails for all participants )

I was walking along the Riverwalk in early April (shortly after the theme was selected) and noticed that the shadow in the Chicago River, created by the Columbus Street Bridge, was pretty interesting. It resembled a pool that is used for swimming races - the kind with the lane dividers. The shadows from cars, taxis, and trucks that drove over could be the racing swimmers.

Here's a side view of the shadow and the bridge that created the shadow. Plus there's some bonus shadows: the railings from the Riverwalk create some geometric shadows along the sidewalk.

First Bridge Run of the Season

Another sign of Spring in Chicago is the twice-weekly bridge run. Along the Chicago River, the bridges are raised to allow sailboats to get to the harbors from the boat storage yards. Saturday was the first run for 2009. The number of boats will increase through the Spring, but there were only about ten boats in this "parade". These are the hardy sailors who brave the fluctuating temperatures (Saturday it was 73 degrees and sunny; today, Sunday, it is 50, foggy and rainy) to be the first ones in the harbors. (Yeah, it really is worth it.)

Although I think they tested the Lake Shore Drive bridge, shown here, earlier this month, they must not have been able to test the Michigan Avenue bridge. It was stuck for over an hour on Saturday afternoon.

Testing 1..2..3

I'm not 100% sure, but I think the Chicago Transportation guys were testing the gates in preparation for the upcoming sailboat "bridge runs". In the Spring, there are scheduled "bridge lifts" on Saturdays and Wednesdays so the sailboats can get to their summer homes (Chicago Harbors) from their winter homes (various boatyards). The first one is Saturday April 18.

Yes, I know --it ties up traffic.
But it is really beautiful to watch the sailboats come through.