Chasing Chicago's movable bridges (2014)

(aresluna.org)

61 points | by NaOH 2 days ago

5 comments

  • codechicago277 4 hours ago
    Surprised the article doesn’t mention the McCormick Bridgehouse Museum. It’s something like $5, and you can see the inside of one of those bridges.

    https://maps.app.goo.gl/eUXWfkm8LVuYMDsc7

    • bs7280 2 hours ago
      You can go on bridge lift days during the fall + spring and see inside the engine room while the bridge goes up.
  • nkrisc 5 hours ago
    Great photos, many angles and views I haven’t seen myself. I used to have a desk in a corner overlooking the Congress expressway bridge (looking Southeast) and it was always fun to watch them halt traffic to open that one. I loved riding through the post office and over that bridge as a kid, usually on the way to the MSI.

    I had a friend with a sailboat when I was young and though I did go sailing with his family sometimes, I wish I had the chance to ride with them while taking it past the bridges.

    Another cool bridge to see is the disused rail bridge at the Northern tip of Goose Island. You can see it easily from North Ave. I passed by quite often as a kid and seeing the giant, concrete counterweight suspended up in the air always made me kind of nervous it would crash down as we were passing by.

  • thangalin 2 hours ago
    Canada's largest single-leaf bascule bridge, on Vancouver Island, is a remarkable and stunning piece of engineering.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_Street_Bridge

  • gwbas1c 3 hours ago
    I'm curious why the sailboats need to enter and leave once a year? Is it that they are drydocked over the winter?
    • davidjfelix 3 hours ago
      yes - the lake freezes.

      I should also clarify. The sailboats in particular need the bridges raised which is why they have a scheduled time to exit. Ordinary boats can be removed closer to the water or navigate the river without the bridge being raised. Those boats are also removed for the winter.

    • nkrisc 3 hours ago
      Yes. The lake and river will typically freeze over for most of the winter. Any boat in the water would be smashed to bits by wind-blown ice.
  • alehlopeh 1 hour ago
    In my city we have bridges like this that go up and down dozens of times a day.
    • trhway 7 minutes ago
      One of such bridges in St. Petersburg in Russia is very close to KGB/FSB regional headquarters (it is 2nd building right from the bridge, totally dominating the suroundings) and 15 years ago, when times in Russia were softer, prankers drew a large male organ on the bridge right before the bridge was raised https://plucer.livejournal.com/265584.html

      According to some sources https://www.drive2.ru/b/288230376151944232/ it was even shortlisted in the national modern art competition. That were the times. Today in Russia even just thinking about it would get you 5 to 10 years for discreditation of the state.