N Wabash Ave Bridge, Chicago, IL (1)

Sailing east under the N. Wabash Ave. bridge - Main Branch Chicago River.

Videos: Site Video / YouTube Video / Narrated Tour on YouTube / Sights and Sounds Under the Bridge

Quick Facts for North Wabash Ave. Bridge

Date Opened: December 20, 1930
Designers: Thomas G. Pihlfeldt, Donald Becker, Edward H. Bennet, Hugh Young
Classification: Single Deck; Rail Height Trusses
Group Age Ranking: 12th Oldest
Clear Span: 232 feet (longest of the group)
Trunnion-to-Trunnion Span: 269 feet (longest of the group tied w/ North Columbus)
Width: 90 feet (4th widest)
Leaf Weight: 2,600 tons
Height above the Water: 22 feet
Average Daily Foot Traffic (1999): 7,047 (11th most)
Average Daily Vehicular Traffic (2006): 5,800 (least traffic volume of the group)
Annual Lifts (2006): 41
Last Rehabilitated: 2003
Cultural: Movies – About Last Night (1986), Straight Talk (1991), Wanted (2008), The Dark Knight (2008)

Drawings:

Elevation Drawing of the Bridge Tender Houses (1930)

General Plan and Elevation Drawing (1929)

Equipment Elevation Drawing (1929)

Aerial view of an open N. Wabash Ave. bridge.

The North Wabash Avenue Bridge connected Wabash Avenue on the south bank to Cass Street (now Wabash Ave) on the north bank. The two streets met on a diagonal line across the river. Shipping interests pressured the permitting agency to maintain a wide channel at this location. As a result this bridge has the longest clear span of any of the bridges.

Bridge tender houses are on the SW and NW corners of the bridge. This bridge was an AISC award winner when it was built.

In 1986, the bridge was renamed the Irv Kupcinet bridge. “Kup's Column” ran for almost sixty years in the Chicago Sun-Times. The Sun-Times building was located near the northeast corner of the bridge (now the Trump tower location). Kup said he “walked across the bridge at least 10,000 times.”

Looking north along the N. Wabash Ave. bridge.

Back to the top of this page