CPKC Milwaukee Avenue Bridge (Irving Park)

Located in the Irving Park neighborhood of Chicago, this through plate girder bridge once carried the Metra Milwaukee District North line over Milwaukee Avenue. During the late 19th Century, railroad traffic within the City of Chicago posed a serious hazard to the general population. Starting in the mid-1890s, the City of Chicago passed a number of ordinances mandating the elevation of tracks within the city. As a general rule, these ordinances required the railroad line to be elevated, and underpasses to be constructed at street crossings. An ordinance was passed on February 21st, 1898 requiring the elevation of the Mayfair Division of the Chicago & North Western Railway (C&NW) and the Chicago Division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway between Milwaukee Avenue and Irving Park Road. Contracts for the work were let in 1898, and the project would be completed in 1899. This section of track elevation required few retaining walls, and the elevation was mainly accomplished by lowering the streets.

The bridge carrying the Milwaukee Road over Milwaukee Avenue consisted of a heavily skewed four span through plate girder bridge, set onto concrete abutments and steel bent piers. The two roadway spans of the bridge were 48 feet in length, while the two sidewalk spans were each 30 feet in length. Typical of track elevation structures along this line, the bridge utilized a deep taper on the ends of the girders, and the floor of the bridge was constructed of parallel floorbeams, covered by a sheet metal deck. Lassig Bridge & Iron Works fabricated the steel for the bridge, and railroad labor constructed the abutments of the bridge. This type of structure was initially popular for grade separations in Chicago, but fell out of favor as trough floor spans and concrete spans became more economical. The metal floor of this design of bridge was susceptible to pooling water, which would cause corrosion to the steel. In addition, the through girder design limited horizontal clearances on the bridge. Numerous repairs had been on the bridge, including replacement of the bracing between the columns of the piers. By the 21st Century, the bridge had become inadequate for traffic. The bridge was demolished in 2023 as part of a project to replace the structure and the adjacent Grayland Station. A new bridge opened to traffic in 2024. Overall, the bridge appeared to be in fair to poor condition at the time of replacement, with deterioration noted throughout the structure. The author has ranked the bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design.