from the onset of civilization settlements formed around water and Chicago is no exception in fact
one of Chicago's trademark features is the river system separating the city in
many directions as it grew as a result a long list of bridges would be completed
linking the town together as it evolved in a city with such industrious achievements as
reversing the flow of the Chicago River and massive tunneling efforts to create
Modern Sanitation the city Bridges remain an essential accomplishment but did you know that
of the many iconic Bridges Chicago has today some were lost today we discover the history
of Chicago's River bridges I'm your host Ryan sokash and you're watching its history
you guys will love the story of Chicago's River bridges but first a special thanks to the sponsor
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to understand Chicago's need for Bridges we need to go back to the beginning of the city
as a settled Territory between 1816 and 1828 the soldiers of Fort Dearborn cut a series of canals
Through The Sandbar at the mouth of the Chicago River this was the most practical course to
keep Supply boats readily able to serve the fort however as a result of strong River tides and the
low skill set of the workforce these channels clogged up regularly keeping the vessels from
arriving or causing them to beach before reaching the offloading points in March of 1833 the United
States Congress gave the fort 25 thousand dollars to establish a permanent professional port to
supply these significant Far West outposts major George Bender started working before relinquishing
control to one of his Junior officers James Allen the culmination of their work on July
the 12 1834 allowed a 91 tons Schooner to pass through the canal and Supply the growing Garrison
and settlement the ship was appropriately enough named Illinois this became the first successful
shipping canal running through the Chicago area but it wouldn't be the last you see in 1848 the
Illinois and Michigan Canal linked the Chicago and Illinois rivers joining them at the Old Chicago
Portage For the First Time by introducing this canal you could now travel from New York City
to New Orleans through the United States interior by Waterway and water alone other canals would be
built to join them such as the Chicago sanitarian ship canal as the name implies it was open to
alleviate the need for Chicago sanitation which had drastically deteriorated as the city grew I
actually just posted up some amazing images of this on our Instagram archive so make sure you
check that out after our video anyhow this measure increased shipping access through the Chicago
Des Plaines River by connecting the two opening at almost the very start of the 20th century on
January the 2nd 1900 the canal was created as a series of locks 28 miles long the design of
these locks after the fact was largely irrelevant but what did matter was that continued dredging
to reverse the flow of the mighty Chicago River also allowed straightforward navigation when it
opened it was an engineering Marvel in its size and the outstanding accomplishment of overcoming
nature in such a powerful yet intelligent way the sanitarian shipping Canal was three times the
size of the i m Canal 202 feet wide and 24 feet deep the methods pioneered in the construction
here would be instrumental in constructing the Panama Canal which began work just four
years later these waterways were essential in the expansion of Chicago and its geography and
population wealth but they illustrate created a certain problem that hadn't been thoroughly
planned for you see the city had grown to such a point that the canals actually divided multiple
neighborhoods and sections this issue really snuck up in a way as at the start when the i m
Canal was the most famous and least wide it didn't really seem to present a significant hurdle so to
temper this issue the city began constructing Bridges soon after these Canal projects started
before the first Bridges there was what the inter-ocean newspaper called the competition of
native canoers and quote a small Scout owned by an entrepreneuring European man he eventually drove
the native canoers out of business one could even say that he was on the path to moderate
wealth until the local authorities prevented him from charging any more tolls for crossers so long
as they lived locally strangers and Pastor buyers on the other hand well he could charge them if he
pleased the first bridge in Chicago was built just after permanent settlers began arriving in
Mass a Timber Bridge was built along the North Branch over the Kenzie River the first moving
Bridge would be set up two years later in 1834. interestingly it was paid for by local European
settlers and natives nearly equally once completed use was light apparently the gatekeeper could go
for weeks or even months without raising the bridge River traffic at that time was still
meager in slow nonetheless when the bridge was opened it was an incredibly laborious task an
impressive site leaving strong Impressions on the young settlement back then the Twin Towers at both
Riverbanks were soon called The Gallows bridge in writing from the time they were immortalized with
the simple phrase the two Gallows frames one on either side of the river frightened timid
people at night an improvement was thought to be made in 1856 with The Swinging Bridge Crossing
at Rush Street however this presented another significant problem as this was the start of a
burgeoning city's history perhaps the Follies of this design weren't genuinely noticed until
construction ended and practical traversing issues began boats frequently crashed trying
to maneuver through it as did carts and carriages on the bridge the bridge lasted until 1863 when
a herd of cattle crossing the river overstressed The Fragile structure sure and the entire Bridge
collapsed later in the 1890s a jackknife Bridge was proposed but the idea wasn't popular so it
would be here that the two most iconic styles of bridges were introduced vertical lift Bridges such
as the Canal Street rail Bridge began to appear as did the Scherzer rolling lift Bridges these
would become the most predominant Bridge Styles in Chicago and the former would take a widespread
nickname the bascule bridges in French bascu refers to a balancing scale and many draw Bridges
operate under a similar system in older and more open Bridges the counterweights meant to create
a seesaw effect could be located on top of the bridge making a metal frame similar to a seesaw
or a balancing scale their designer was William Donald Scherzer the son of German immigrants born
in Peru Illinois with an extensive bridging and Engineering history and the professional education
he gained at the Polytechnic College in Zurich Switzerland he went into business in 1893 refining
the bascule bridge system in his Bridges the leaves pivot around the base axis on each
Riverside dramatically reducing the friction from lifting and lowering the sections a significant
benefit was that when the two teams were both raised almost the entire channel was made clear
allowing more lenient vertical passage and wider freeboard shortly after going independent this
design was used by the city of Chicago to build two new moving Bridges the first to be completed
was the Van Buren Street bridge in 1895. the caissons were made at the Docks up River framed
in Timber and reinforced with 50-foot vertical Timbers from the center the ports were filled with
just enough concrete to achieve neutral buoyancy from there they were floated down the river to
the construction site then the remaining depth of the caisson was filled with concrete to sink in
in place permanently as construction continued heavy iron frames and casting were laid over the
concrete and then secured to form the bearings for the segmented girders once the leaves from
each side were completed the rail Bridge weighed an estimated 2 million five hundred
thousand pounds but could be lifted and lowered in a matter of seconds this was accomplished by
four 100 horsepower engines buried under troop Street and running to the opposite Riverside by
underwater cables using this power the two sides would lower or raise Stone weights on either side
to allow either Road or river access just as with a balancing skill on the east side of the bridge
the master or engineer had control of 48 separate rail switches to govern the Train's access over
the Bridge's four lanes on the 12th of May 1895 trains crossed the Chicago River between Van Buren
and Jackson Street connecting Chicago in ways that had previously seemed impossible sadly Scherzer
would not live to see his design be proven as he died in 1893 during construction he was only 35.
the construction meant that road vehicles and pedestrians could regularly cross the Chicago
River while at the same time allowing rivercraft free movement but perhaps more importantly
railroads could now realistically cross the rivers and canals of Chicago as no previous
design had managed to do need I remind you of the situation with the cows through Decades of trial
and error and nearly A Century Of Constant habitation and Industrial growth Chicago had
already erected and demolished dozens of bridges just as the centuries started to turn and just
as the sanitarian shipping Canal was nearing its completion they finally had to design that
worked which the entire city could admire and to top it all off this design was economically
practical the rail Bridge only cost around 200 thousand dollars roughly the same as a regular
drawbridge but far more practical for the tight Chicago environment the original rail Bridge
was soon exceeded by the track lift bridge for the PCC and STL Railway Bridge this was part of
a comprehensive railroad system connecting Pittsburgh Cincinnati Chicago and St Louis
to pre-established Hubs and more Eastward cities such as Columbus or Richmond stemming from their
base in Pittsburgh this connected the town to a popular and wide spanning train system
used for progressing deeper West matching the massive influx of business savvy Travelers and
immigrants traveling to the City by boat through the inter-water river Canal system coming from the
opposite end of the compass was the CTT railroad bridge the CTT line came from Central California
and was owned by the famous Union Pacific Railroad making Chicago at last the Nexus point between the
Pacific and Atlantic coasts the Dual track 225 20 windleaf Bridge was the largest bascule bridge in
the world and connected the railroad directly to the Chicago Grand Central Station it was finished
by 1899 but was taken down in 1929 when the river was straightened for easy shipping despite the
central location and impressive scale of 178 feet from bank to bank it was not replaced ever
the DuSable bridge on Michigan Avenue is an icon of Chicago the bridge began Construction in 1918
and opened in 1920 at 399 feet long and weighing 7 000 short tons on average it carries over 30
000 commuters every day between both levels of traffic like the previous Bridges we covered
it's hoisted up by the Scherzer lift method using 108 horsepower engines to move 1 595
short ton counterweights the Bridge's function is actually something of a novelty these days
you see in the past Bridges could be opened up to 3 000 times a year but now it's more
scheduled only being extended to all vessels in the spring and fall when they do open the city
finds it a sight to behold as the entire Waterway opens up and every bridge goes
into a vertical position as a large variety of private boaters sail under either to enjoy the
spring lakes or sequester themselves of sinland during the chaotic and dangerous winter months
decorative work for the bridge took eight years they are marked with iconic Stone control and
viewing Towers two on each side and rows of flags around the guard rails on each Bridge house is a
collection of partitioned Stones depicting scenes of Chicago's long history among others they depict
Pioneers first finding the portages and Valiant but failed defense of Fort Dearborn during the war
of 1812. another sculpture regeneration shows the city overcoming The Great Fire of 1871 one Tower
the McCormick Bridge house was even converted into a community art museum in June of 2006.
38 movable Bridges connect Chicago neighborhoods and business districts this is more than other
famous American cities such as New York and throughout its history from the 1830s to now
Bridges have been built torn down washed away collapsed under the weight of a herd
of cattle all the same Chicago really set the tone when it came to the elegance and regality
of bridge technology in fact the second name for the Scherzer Bridges is the Chicago style
despite the city's easy access to water from the great lakes and rivers it would not have grown
as massively as it eventually did without these incredible marvels of technology and we'll leave
it there for today hit that subscribe button and until next time this is Ryan so cash signing off