Construction continues around the clock on Chicago’s Wells Street Bridge, as crews feverishly work to replace the south leaf section of the bridge.
The project is scheduled to last nine days with the bridge reopening for the morning rush on March 11, 2013. The north leaf section will be replaced in the spring, beginning April 26th through May 5th, thus concluding the $41.2 million project, according to the Chicago Department of Transportation.
South cutaway section of the old Wells Street double-decked steel truss drawbridge
The 90-year-old Wells Street Bridge is a double-decker steel truss drawbridge that crosses the river. The lower deck carries some 77,000 motorized vehicles over the river every day, with additional thousands of pedestrians that use the sidewalks that run along either side. The upper deck carries the CTA’s Brown and Purple El lines. The drawbridge that has now been cut away was originally built in 1922. The river crossing at Wells has a history that goes back even further than this bridge. Before this steel truss drawbridge, there was a swing bridge that was constructed in 1856, but it was destroyed in the famous 1871 Chicago Fire. Going back even further, we find the first river crossing at Wells was a floating bridge that was built in 1841.
The half-million-pound bridge replacement leaf that was floated up the river by barge and is now installed.
Iron workers work on sections of the Wells Street drawbridge over the Chicago River March 6, 2013
Remaining north section that will be replaced in the spring:
More photos of the Wells Street Bridge project on the Chicago Street Photography Meetup Group.