c. 1902 division street north branch canal bridge photographed by eric j. nordstrom

shortly before the historic division street riveted plate steel bascule bridge (constructed in 1902-03) was fenced off in preparation for demolition, i spent an afternoon photodocumenting it from what felt like every conceivable angle to satisfy my mind's eye. accessing the hydraulic machinery below or underside of the bridge was rather challenging, but accomplished nonetheless.

the north branch chicago river canal bridge was designed and built by bridge builders roemheld & gallery of chicago, beginning in 1902. perhaps the most visually distinctive and rather unusual design element that sets this bridge apart from other chicago bridges is the inclusion of the "municipal device" (encircled upside down letter "y"), which represents the three branches of the chicago river. no other chicago bridge contains this design feature in its overhead bracing.

to bolster the visual narrative and/or provide additional context, i included images of the bridge shortly after completion in 1902, along with a great photograph taken in 1930. the third image was taken for the historic american building survey. the remaining images in the "gallery" below are from my afternoon shoot.

i will be providing periodic updates on the demolition status in future posts. in addition, i very much hope that urban remains will get involved in order to rescue any or all of the distinctive ornament found in the overhead bracing and railing located at street level.