Kinzie Street Bridge

Kinzie Street Bridge
Kinzie Street bridge across the north branch of the Chicago River in July 31, 2010
Coordinates41°53′21″N 87°38′22″W / 41.889076°N 87.639371°W / 41.889076; -87.639371
CrossesChicago River
Named forJohn Kinzie
OwnerCity of Chicago
ID number16602826628
Preceded byGrand Avenue Bridge
Followed byLake Street Bridge
Characteristics
DesignBascule Pratt through truss
Total length195 feet (59 m)
Width60 feet (18 m)
Longest span136.2 feet (41.5 m)
No. of spans1 main span and 2 approach spans
Load limit48.5 tons
No. of lanes4
History
DesignerAlexander von Babo, City of Chicago
Constructed byJohn J. Gallery
Construction start23 January 1908
Construction end10 May 1909
Construction cost$218,707.86
Opened1909
Rebuilt1999
Statistics
Daily traffic6,650 (As of 2014)
Location
Map

The Kinzie Street Bridge is a single-leaf bascule bridge built in 1909 that spans the Chicago River in downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States.[1][2]

Incidents

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In April 1992, rehabilitation work on the pilings for the bridge damaged a freight tunnel located under the Chicago River. The tunnel breach eventually led to the Chicago flood, which flooded the Chicago Loop with an estimated 250 million US gallons (1,000,000 m3) of water.[3]

In August 2004, a Dave Matthews Band tour bus passing over the bridge dumped 800 pounds of human waste through the open metal grate bridge deck into the Chicago River. The waste landed on an architecture tour cruise boat and passengers passing under the bridge at that time.[4]

References

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  1. ^ "Kinzie St Bridge". Chicago Loop Bridges. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
  2. ^ "Kinzie Street Bridge". Historic Bridges. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
  3. ^ "1992 Loop Flood Brings Chaos, Billions In Losses". Chicago: WBBM-TV. April 14, 2007. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved January 11, 2008.
  4. ^ "On This Day In History, Dave Matthews' Tour Bus Dumped Human Waste On Chicago River Tourists". CBS Chicago. August 8, 2018. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
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