Structure 16651600000000 · Cook County, IL

Canal Street over Union Station Tracks

Carries Canal Street over Union Station Tracks, 500 W & 0 N/s - 130s.

Overall conditionPoor

Set by its lowest-rated component: Deck at 3 of 9.

How ratings work
Decksets the rating3/9 · Serious
Superstructure4/9 · Poor
Substructure4/9 · Poor
0 failed4 poor6 fair9 excellent

Elevation

Side view, colored by inspection rating
SEMI-TRUCK · 72 FT851 FT OVERALL100 FT0ELEVATION · LENGTHS TO SCALE
Deck 3/9 · sets the ratingSuperstructure 4/9Substructure 4/9

851 ft end to end, longest span 42 ft: about 2.4 football fields. Lengths and the semi-truck on the deck are drawn to the same scale. Each part is colored by its latest inspection rating. The inventory records lengths but not heights or the layout of the shorter spans, so those are drawn as typical for a multi-beam bridge.

Built1926rebuilt 1983
Length851.0 ft259.4 m
Daily traffic5,100counted 2022
Last inspectedMay 2023every 24 months

Location

StateIllinois
CountyCook
Location500 W & 0 N/s - 130s
CarriesCanal Street
CrossesUnion Station Tracks
Coordinates41.88021, -87.63964

Physical Characteristics

MaterialSteel
DesignStringer/Multi-beam
Total Length851.0 ft (259.4 m)
Max Span41.7 ft (12.7 m)
Deck Width40.0 ft (12.2 m)
Deck Area3164.7 sq m
Main Spans23
Year Built1926 (reconstructed 1983)

Traffic

Avg Daily Traffic5,100 (2022)
Truck Traffic20%
Lanes On Bridge4

Inspection & Ownership

Last InspectionMay 2023
Inspection FrequencyEvery 24 months
OwnerCity/Municipal Highway Agency
Historical SignificanceBridge is not eligible for the National Register
Scour CriticalNot applicable
Structure Number016651600000000

How Bridge Ratings Work

Inspectors rate each major part of a bridge (the deck you drive on, the superstructure of beams that holds it up, and the substructure of piers and abutments beneath) on a 0–9 scale. A bridge's overall condition is its lowest of those ratings, so one deteriorated component makes the whole bridge "poor."

0Failed
1Imminent failure
2Critical
3Serious
4Poor
5Fair
6Satisfactory
7Good
8Very good
9Excellent
Good · lowest component 7–9
Fair · lowest component 5–6
Poor · lowest component 0–4

A poor rating is not a closure. It means the bridge is flagged for priority repair or replacement; bridges judged unsafe are closed or posted with weight limits. The waterway (channel) rating is reported, but it does not count toward the overall classification.

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