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impending demolition of 1914 chicago avenue bascule bridge on the horizon

although i'm not well-versed in bridge technology - in this case, a pony truss bascule bridge completed in 1914 - i figured it was worth an afternoon to document the historic chicago avenue bridge and operator houses not only to gain an appreciation for its materials and construction methods, but create a thorough visual record of it before its impending demolition.

i feel the loss of this bridge will damage the historic fabric of the neighborhood. definitely not looking forward to seeing schmidt, garden, and martin's montgomery ward complex juxtaposed against some undistinguished and humdrum replacement.

the superstructure for the chicago avenue bridge was built by the ketler-elliott erection company. the substructure was completed by the byrne brothers dredge and engineering company. alexander von babo was the city's engineer for bridge design. steel and/or iron was supplied by the cambria iron company, johnstown, pa.

note: historic images courtesy of the university of illinois at chicago and historc american building survey. 

additional images from afternoon photoshoot:

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