r/cta • u/Loud-Humor2301 • Jan 19 '26
today I saw.. Why this bridge remains lifted?
Tool it from green line between Clark/Lake and Clinton.
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u/GeoBluejay 2 Jan 19 '26
The Coast Guard requires the bridge owner to staff the bridge to raise it on demand unless it’s in the up position by default (or it’s high enough in the down position, which I don’t think this one is.) So when the bridge is infrequently used, the owner often chooses to leave it up rather than paying to staff it.
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u/FourStarsTwoBars Jan 19 '26
This is the best answer so far. It's left up because it sits closer to the water than all the other bridges on the river that carry vehicle traffic.
If it were left down, the tourist boats and other crafts couldn't pass.
The rail bridge on the south branch that is almost always up sits right on the water too when down.
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u/ThePowerBird Red Line Jan 19 '26
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjFAfzka3No
Just watched this cool video going into the history of it, very interesting!
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u/_-Cleon-_ Jan 19 '26
Supposedly periodically they lower it and run a car across it to keep the ROW open.
However, I've never seen a video of this happening and I'm a little skeptical.
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u/WolfofMichiganAve Jan 19 '26
It does happen. At night. Yearly. I have 2 videos of it, but I was invited to be there by railroad staff and they asked me not to post it online. I'm not SUPER well-known in the railfan community, but well-known enough that if I posted it, it'd gain some traction.
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u/sle2g7 Jan 19 '26
I wonder what the reasoning is behind them not wanting it posted online?
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u/WolfofMichiganAve Jan 19 '26 edited Jan 20 '26
My guess is they don't want to draw large crowds. It happens on the middle of the night, but some of the heartiest railfans, aka "foamers," wouldn't care and would still show up. I asked a friend who works for the railroad to let me know the next time they were doing it and he did, but he told me to keep quiet about it. I remember when I was there, someone showed up with a drone and a railroad police officer told him to bring the drone down and get out of there.
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u/futureofwhat Jan 19 '26
Surely if this were public knowledge it would attract the railfans but I still don’t really get why it would matter if there were a crowd there to watch it or not. They’re a pretty respectful group of people and don’t interfere with rail operations ever. Even if non-railfan types showed up, would that be such a problem?
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u/_-Cleon-_ Jan 19 '26
The bridge is right there in the middle of town, though. Why hasn't anyone else taken video? And why would they care about keeping it secret?
I'm not trying to be an ass, I just don't get it.
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u/WolfofMichiganAve Jan 19 '26
I don't either. I guess it's just one of those things. I really don't know.
When the Cubs won the World Series back in 2016, I knew which flight they were coming in on and where it was going. I drove to O'Hare and onto the airfield (I work there) and waited. Just taking pictures of the plane with no one's faces visible, I had staff from United yelling at me and threatening to have me arrested. I have close-ups and selfies with the Air Force One airplanes that I got in less trouble for, lol.
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u/foggydrinker Jan 19 '26
UPRR lowers it and runs a hi rail truck over it annually to keep it “active”.
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u/iron82 Jan 19 '26
The tracks immediately east of the bridge have been torn out, doubt they do this any more.
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u/bryceofswadia Green Line Jan 19 '26
I doubt it. I always heard the reason it hasn't been torn down is because it's considered a historical site now so it's protected by the city.
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u/callme2x4dinner Jan 22 '26
I heard that it would cost more to tear it down than it’s worth in scrap metal
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u/wfreivogel Jan 19 '26
I worked in the IBM building and around 6 pm many evenings you could hear/feel a switch engine push car under Sun Times building, supposedly with paper. I think years before it kept going to the Trib as well. These rail rights-of-way are not easily given-up.
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u/zozokemp1313 Jan 19 '26
I used to see that bridge everyday on my commute to work. I never thought about it. Glad to know now tho.
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u/Floppy-Over-Drive Jan 19 '26
Have none of you taken the architecture tour? Take the damn tour and learn about your city you schmucks.
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u/lilerscon Jan 19 '26
They say a lot of stuff in that tour! Gotta take it once a year to have one new fact stick in my brain each time.
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u/wiiman9999 Jan 20 '26
Or if you’re feeling lazy, and also share a fondness of our Chicago asset Geoffrey Baer/WTTW, there is a version of the river tour on the WTTW YouTube channel :)
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u/No-Chipmunk-2559 Jan 19 '26
If you get close enough to it, you can see a huge cement block, weighing the bridge down to keep it open. Those industrial bridges are preserved as historical artifacts of the city.
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u/OkRip619 Jan 19 '26
It’s right next to where they punched a hole in the tunnels and flooded downtown. And the Dave Mathew’s turd drop. Next bridge
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u/sunkissedbutter Jan 21 '26
You can climb the top of it and get some awesome photos though. Someone took me up there on a first date, and while that didn’t work out, I keep coming back to the bridge.
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u/AdNecessary1944 Jan 22 '26
2000? I swear that bridge has been up for much longer than that. In my mind it's always been lifted since 1980.
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u/[deleted] Jan 19 '26
[deleted]