CME.06 – Relocation and Repurpose of the Chicago and Northwestern Railway Bridge

• Azan Ahmad
• Eric Bliss
• Nguyen Ly
• Omair Subhani
• Saharah Witte
• Robert Wysocki

The Carroll Street Bridge is a fixed trunnion bascule bridge, a movable bridge, that holds great historical importance to the city of Chicago. The Carroll Street Bridge is a former railway bridge that has been out of commission for several years. The project at hand pertains to the relocation and adaptive reuse of the Carroll Street Bridge. The task entails disassembling and transporting the bridge from its current location on Kinzie Street to Bubbly Creek, where it will be transformed into a pedestrian and bicyclist crossing to allow people to pass safely and enhance recreation and walkability in the area. However, the project poses several potential challenges, including structural considerations such as ensuring the bridge’s integrity during dismantling, transportation, reassembly and accommodating the conditions of the new location. In order to accomplish this we will reverse the construction process of the existing bridge to be able to transport its structural components to the new location by barge along the Chicago River. At the Bubbly Creek location, new abutments, piers and additional composite bridge spans will be designed to accommodate the new conditions. Logistics, budgetary constraints, and city planning will also need to be addressed throughout the project’s duration. Therefore, careful planning and execution will be necessary to accomplish this project successfully.