Michigan Avenue Bridge

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Michigan Avenue Bridge
Carries	Motor Vehicles, Pedestrians
Crosses	Chicago River
Locale	Chicago
Design	Double-leaf, double-deck, fixed counterweight, trunnion bascule
Longest span	220 ft (67 m)
Total length	399 ft (122 m)
Width	92 ft (28 m)
Clearance below	16 ft (5 m)
Beginning date of construction	1917
Completion date	1920
Opening date	May 14, 1920
Coordinates	41°53′20″N 87°37′28″W / 41.8888, -87.6244

Left: Bridge traffic (Background includes 333 North Michigan, Carbide & Carbon Building, London Guarantee Building, & 35 East Wacker). Right: Chicago Landmark plaque

The Michigan Avenue Bridge is a bascule bridge that carries Michigan Avenue across the Chicago River, the boundary between the Loop and Near North Side community areas, in downtown Chicago. It lies at the foot of the Magnificent Mile, between the Wrigley Building and Tribune Tower to the north and the London Guarantee Building and 333 North Michigan across Wacker Drive to the south, and a quarter of a mile north of the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan Boulevard District.

The bridge was built from 1917–1920 as two parallel bridges that operate independently of one another. It was designed by architect Edward H. Bennett, and is an early example of a fixed trunnion bascule bridge, which later became widely known as a "Chicago style bascule". The bridge features friezes including Wheeler Williams' "Tablets to Pioneers". When the bridge was completed it was the main link between the north side and downtown. It is a double-deck double-leaf bascule with a main span length of 220 feet^[1]. Between April and November each year the bridge is raised about 100 times^[2]; two 108-horsepower motors open and close each of the 3,750-ton bridge leaves^[3].

Left: Partial view of bridge with the former Chicago Sun-Times Building (site of current Trump International Hotel & Tower), Wrigley Building and Tribune Tower. Center: lowered position over Chicago River. Right: In front of Wrigley Building near Independence Day

On June 10, 2006 the McCormick Tribune Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum opened in the southwest tower of the bridge. The museum is operated by the Friends of the Chicago River and allows visitors access to the bridge gear room. During "bridge lifts" the two periods during the year when bridges on the Chicago River are raised to allow groups of small boats onto the lake in Spring, and then back into the river during Fall, one can see the bridge gears in operation as the leaves are raised and lowered.

This bridge is seen in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers as the East 95th Street Bridge. The bridge is also seen in the 1996 film Chain Reaction.

The bridge was built as part of Daniel Burnham's 1909 Plan of Chicago to replace the bridge at the foot of Rush Street.^[4] The bridge was designated a Chicago Landmark on October 2, 1991.^[5]

[edit] See also

• Chicago architecture

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Library of Congress historical photos and documents
• iExplore.com
• McCormick Tribune Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum

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